How to Swipe Text on the iPhone with iOS 13

* This article is from our Tip of the Day newsletter. . *

Slide to Type, or the QuickPath keyboard, has finally arrived on the iPhone with iOS 13! With the QuickPath keyboard you can compose words by swiping from letter to letter without lifting your finger from the virtual keyboard, and the phone predicts what word you want by noticing when you hesitate or change directions. You can also switch back and forth between swiping and tapping to type, as you prefer. When I first heard of this feature I didn't think much of it, but it quickly became my go to method for typing on my phone, and with all the texting and messaging we do these days, that's a big deal. I found I could compose messages one-handed, with increased overall speed and accuracy. Let's get started.

Related: How to Switch between Keyboards on Your iPhone

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How to Swipe Text on the iPhone

We've already gone over how to fix unwanted predictive text suggestions, how to type numbers and stay in the iPhone keyboard, and how to switch between iPhone keyboards. For more great iPhone texting tricks and keyboard shortcuts, check out our free Tip of the Day.

  1. Slide to Type should be on by default in iOS 13, but let's make sure. Open Settings.
  2. Open General.

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  3. Scroll down to Keyboards.
  4. Make sure Slide to Type is toggled on.

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  5. Slide to Type works with the normal iOS keyboard, so you can use it anyplace that you would normally type, such as Mail, Notes, or Messages. Simply begin a new composition. I'll demonstrate in Messages, by composing a reply to a message thread.
  6. Make sure the cursor is in the spot you want to type, and start your word by touching the first letter of the word on the keyboard.
  7. Swipe to the next letter in the move, and the next, without removing your finger from the surface. For example, the word 'hi' would be swiped starting at 'H' and then moving to 'I'.

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  8. Lift your finger when you get to the last letter in the word, or when the predictive text at the top of the keyboard has zeroed in on the word you want.
  9. The keyboard will automatically add a space after each word, so you don't need to tap the spacebar.
  10. For double letter words like "tool," skip the second iteration of the repeated letter, swiping in this case from T to O to L.

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  11. If the word came out wrong, check the predictive text along the top of the keyboard, and tap the one you meant.

And that's it! Slide to Type is easy to use, fast, and accurate. Happy swiping!

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Author Details

Cullen Thomas's picture

Author Details

Cullen Thomas

Cullen Thomas is a senior instructor at iPhone Life. For ten years as faculty at Maharishi University, Cullen taught subjects ranging from camera and audio hardware to game design. Cullen applies a passion for gadgetry to answer questions about iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple cloud services; to teach live classes; and to specialize in the privacy and security aspects of the Apple ecosystem. Cullen has dual degrees in Media & Communications and Literature, and a Masters degree from the David Lynch Graduate School of Cinematic Arts.

Offline, Cullen designs videogames with Thought Spike Games, writes fiction, and studies new nerdery.

Mastodon: @CullenWritesTech@infosec.exchange

Email: cullen@iphonelife.com

Signal: +1-512-814-5526