Article
Select Text Quickly: iOS
Here is a little-known feature that makes text selection on iOS devices quick and easy!
Students frequently need to move through a document and qickly select a desired amount of text. In iOS 9, Apple came out with a new and improved method to select text on iOS devices. Do you know about and use this feature?
Select Text Quickly Commands
- Open a Pages document and tap the screen to see the cursor (‘editable textfield’)
- Move the cursor to the desire location by either tapping where you want the cursor or by dragging two fingers to move the cursor around the screen
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When the cursor is in the desired location, select a word: two-finger double tap
- Note: Double tap anywhere on the screen; you do not have to double tap near the cursor
- To select the entire sentence: two-finger double tap again
- To select the entire paragraph: two-finger quadruple tap
- To select a desired amount of text: two-finger double tap and drag (do not lift fingers until desired text is selected)
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Once the text is selected, bring up the Tool Bar for options: one-finger tap on the highlighted text
- Toolbar options are Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Speak, Highlight, Comment, Style, Phonetics
Note: This text selection method is only available when you are in an ‘editable textfield’, meaning that there is a cursor and you can type on the document. Example: When in a textfield in Pages and when writing an email. Selecting text using this method does not work when reading an email that was sent to you, when reading an Internet article or book.
By Diane Brauner
