Character-by-Character Insertion Point Movement in iOS iWork Apps

Interesting tip: in the new iOS iWork apps, you can move the insertion point one character at a time by swiping left/right. This isn’t a system-wide shortcut, though — it only works in Numbers, Pages, and Keynote.

Update: You can swipe with two fingers to move forward/back a word at a time, and three for the entire line — but I find these gestures hard to use, especially on the iPhone. If they’re not perfectly horizontal they scroll the view.

Update 2: DF reader Dave Tach, via email:

For whatever it’s worth, the trick seems to be to peck in the direction you want the cursor to move rather than to swipe. If your fingers stay on the glass for more than the tiniest fraction of a second, then you wind up scrolling the view.

This works like a charm for me, and is especially helpful for the word-wise two-finger gesture.

★ Thursday, 13 October 2011