Arrow keys

[Breitling65]

How do you deal with missing arrow keys on iPad keyboard? My fingers can't find right spot in text to place cursor. Possibly one reason I like android is that you could get replacement keyboard program.

 

[Dvmpiper]

If you hold your finger on the text where you want to place the cursor, a magnifying glass looking thing pops up and you just slide your finger back and forth until you see the cursor where you need it. Then lift your finger and edit away!

 

[Breitling65]

If you hold your finger on the text where you want to place the cursor, a magnifying glass looking thing pops up and you just slide your finger back and forth until you see the cursor where you need it. Then lift your finger and edit away!

That is slow, I could stretch text and place where I need that is slow too.

 

[Tseg]

How do you deal with missing arrow keys on iPad keyboard? My fingers can't find right spot in text to place cursor. Possibly one reason I like android is that you could get replacement keyboard program.

Option #2 is to zoom with your fingers.

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

How do you deal with missing arrow keys on iPad keyboard? My fingers can't find right spot in text to place cursor. Possibly one reason I like android is that you could get replacement keyboard program.

Welcome to the Forum. OK - there are no arrows on the on-screen keyboard but there are a couple of tricks.

(1) If you touch and hold an area of text a little pop-up magnifying glass will appear that allows you to navigate around the text much more easily. You can place the cursor on a word then, when you release the word, the iPad will offer you several options - 'select', 'select all' etc. If you place the cursor between words, it just stays there and you can start typing or editting at that point.

(2) You can use the iPad's 'pinch' gesture to expand or contract the page - using two fingers, usually your thumb and first finger, make a pinch (to contract) or move your two fingers apart (to expand). This 'blows up' the text, making it easier to find the appropriate place to put your single finger subsequently to select the word or insertion point.

(3) In Safari, if you double-tap the screen, that enables a zoom function. Double-tapping again returns you to normal. The pinch gesture works too.

(4) Tapping the screen with three fingers at once enables the 'Accessibility Options' for those with impaired vision and permanently expands the font size - another three-finger tap takes the iPad back to normal.

(5) I use a Bluetooth keyboard which has cursor keys on, like a regular PC keyboard.

If you go to the iPad iBooks app you can download the iPad2 manual from there for free and all these gestures and more are explained.

If you have any problems, don't hesitate to get back to us.

Tim
Scotland