Last week at ABA TECHSHOW, one of the tips that I discussed in one of my iPhone presentations was the ability to hold down on a key on the iPhone U.S. keyboard to see a pop-up list of additional letters or symbols that are not on the main keyboard. For example, if you hold down the letter "E" you will see the following:
When I was preparing my slides, I couldn't find a good comprehensive list of all of the additional letters and symbols that could be typed by holding down a key, so I created my own list for my presentation, and here it is for those of you who could not attend.
The vowels A, E, I, O and U:
The consonants C, L, N, S, Y and Z:
The punctuation marks and symbols:
Additionally, there are many characters that the iPhone is capable of creating or viewing that cannot be typed from the U.S. keyboard, even if you hold down a key. However, there is a simple web app called created by developer Neven Mrgan called Glyphboard that you can use to access some of those characters. (For example, I wrote this post last year about using Glyphboard to create an en dash.) To use Glyphboard, go to this address on your iPhone: http://mrgan.com/gb/ Then follow the
on-screen directions and press the plus sign at the bottom of your
Safari screen to Add to Home Screen. Then click on the icon that you
just added to your home screen to start the web app, and you can copy a
special character from Glyphboard and then paste it someplace else, such
as in an e-mail. Glyphboard includes 48 special characters.
Note, however, that some of those characters may not display on a PC. The following characters can be created with Glyboard and should display on most PCs (although this can vary from browser to browser and setup to setup), so you are likely safe to add them to your e-mails and text messages if you want to be fancy:
☺ ♥ ♪ ♫⇧ ↑ ↓ ← → ♀ ♂ – © ™ ∞ ± ≠ π ² ¼ ⅓ ½ ¾ ¶ ♠ ♦ ♣
On the other hand, the following characters can be created and displayed on the iPhone using Glyphboard but are unlikely to display correctly on a PC (although again this can vary from system to system), so think about what kind of computer the other person is using before you include them in an e-mail.
☹ ★ ✔ ♨ ☂ ✈ ⌚ ⌘ ⌥ ⌃ ☞ ☮ ☯ ✿ ✉ ☎ ✄ ☠ ☃ ✪
And just in case you are viewing this post on a PC and the above line looks like gibberish to you, here is an image of those characters that iPhones and Macs can see:
I hope that you find this list helpful.
Very good idea for a blog post, and I particularly love what you did with the pics.
I don't know how many times I had to answer to a fellow lawyer or friend who just got an iPhone asking me how to type "è" or "ò" on the iphone.
If you give me permission, I'd love to translate your post and publish it in Italian on my blog www.iAvvocato.eu (needless to say, clearly stating that it is a translation, and linking the original source)?
It would really be great as next time somebody asks I would just refer them to the post, therefore fullfilling the main aim of opening my blog in the frist place: saving time!
[Jeff responds: Giovanni -- permission granted; feel free to translate and republish!]
Posted by: Giovanni Mameli | March 29, 2010 at 04:14 AM
Done. Thanks a lot Jeff.
In case you are curious to see how your words look in Italian, this is how: http://www.iavvocato.eu/?p=198
Posted by: Giovanni Mameli | March 29, 2010 at 10:51 AM
We all know that Apple is very protective of its intellectual property. Given that mindset, one would think Apple would give us the ability to type ® and ™ with the iPhone so that its customers could protect their intellectual property. For example, I have registered AdvocatesLawFirm.com ® and include it in my iPhone signature block. To get the ® symbol, I had to copy and paste from emoji. I shouldn't have to do that with something as important as protecting my legal rights. Hopefully Apple will correct this shortcoming in the next update.
Posted by: Ron Murphy | March 30, 2010 at 12:03 PM
What a cool post! I had no idea! Can't wait to use the Section symbol!
Posted by: William Carleton | March 30, 2010 at 06:52 PM
I have but one lamp wait which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past.
Posted by: jordan retro 11 | July 14, 2010 at 04:52 AM
Love Glyphboard. Hope he adds ®.
Posted by: John | November 23, 2010 at 02:40 PM