Probably a dumb question about cursor placement...

[GeeWillikers]

Okay, so I'm typing along and I notice that in a preceding sentence I have a typo. On a regular keyboard I would just arrow over to the mistake or relocate the cursor with the mouse and fix whatever.

How do you do this on your iPad? trying to relocate the cursor by tapping your finger creates lots of unintended consequences depending on how accurate (or inaccurate) you are.

Any suggestions? Please don't tell me "don't make typos" because that ain't happening.

Thanks!

 

[chiffchaff]

Yes, the lack of arrows on the on-screen keyboard is a much-lamented issue. If you do a lot of typing then an external keyboard might be worth getting. But short of that, you can improve the accuracy of your fingertip cursor placement by touching and holding on the spot you want to put the cursor until the magnifying glass pops up. Then drag your finger to the exact spot you need before lifting your finger. Works well once you get used to it.

 

[GeeWillikers]

This is a great bit of information. I wasn't aware of the magnifying glass trick. It solved my issue completely.

Bought the wife the wireless keyboard. Seemed more like a novelty to me, I enjoy the virtual keyboard on the iPad.

Thanks for e response.

 

[epb]

Thanks for e response.

Yep, you're typing on an iPad alright. The autocorrect feature is a blessing and a curse.

 

[Bremen]

Thanks for e response.

Yep, you're typing on an iPad alright. The autocorrect feature is a blessing and a curse.

lol.... my first few weeks I had to spend forever going back and correcting things..... after two months I am much better... but it still happens....

My big thing is hitting the "N" key, instead of the spacebar....

 

[JDA]

Reviving this year old thread

Yes, not having cursor movement keys to position and highlight text drives me crazy too. I use the ipad to write and capture my thoughts for blogs, business plans, etc. I got the zagg keyboard (ipad 2) which is AWESOME, but I don't want to drag it out every time I get an idea. I found a keyboard app for my small android tablet phone that has cursor movement keys - not perfect, but definitely helps. It looks like the ipad textastic app has a keyboard extension but I haven't found cursor movement keys on it. The cursor movement keys should be available for every app. I posted a request on apple.com/feedback at the recommendation of my local apple business rep.

 

[snoitan]

I've had an iPad since the first Wi Fi version came available and I still fumble around the keyboard all the time.

It'd be awesome if they allowed 3rd party on-screen keyboards to replace the default one.

 

[JDA]

whoa - just found something

I just found something. If I do a 2-finger tap in Textastic, a round cursor movement control pad pops up on the screen. It appears to be related to the select function. I don't know if this comes from ios or the textastic app. I did a brief trial in safari but I could not make it come up on the site I was working on. Haven't researched the textastic docs yet. Cool idea though - I think it should be in ios if it's not already.

 

[bob2]

If only we could move the cursor!!

Yes, missing the spacebar is my biggest problem too. i'll look at the screen and see a string of four or five words with no spacing, and going back to fix is a real headache. You can do the magnifying glass routine, which looks cool, but takes a lot of time. I find it generally easier to highlight the giant word, delete and retype. Have a bluetooth keyboard, but for most of the things I want to do on the iPad, would like to have a simple way of moving the cursor.

I really love the iPad for a lot of things, but I have to say, the autocorrect built into my Droid (the two-year old original) works a lot better, has a lot more functionality and makes typing faster. Also, easier to plug into the middle of text. Not perfect, but easier than on the iPad.

lol.... my first few weeks I had to spend forever going back and correcting things..... after two months I am much better... but it still happens....

My big thing is hitting the "N" key, instead of the spacebar....

 

[s2mikey]

Yep, you're typing on an iPad alright. The autocorrect feature is a blessing and a curse.

It sure is - Ive been saved and aggravated equally by this feature. Sometimes its abilty to know what I meant is amazing. Other times, its so far off that I almost wonder if the ipad is kidding with me .

But, no, there is no good way to place the cursor and there desperately needs to be a delete button to delete characters in front of the cursor!

 

[mjandbj]

magnifier

Awesome! So glad I found this thread about the iPad magnification when typing. I was so frustrated with typing and correcting mistakes that I often wouldn't change them because I just had to retype what where I had made the mistake because I couldn't get my cursor where I wanted it. Now I can So happy about this!