Fix For "Missing" Tanwin Fatha ( ً ) On iPad Arabic Keyboard

Last modified: Feb 15, 2026 7:03 AM
0 255 Last modified Feb 15, 2026 7:03 AM

To make diacritics on Arabic letters on an iOS screen keyboard, you hold down the special key just to the right of Space to get a popup menu and select the one you want to add to the letter already typed.  The default is the Tanwin Fatha ( ً  ) shown on the key. Normally just tapping that key should produce it, and this is how it works on an iPhone.  


For some reason Apple has decided to do it differently on the iPad, at least in iOS 26:  While the special key still shows Tanwin Fatha, that diacritic is not in the popup menu, and the default is Shaddah. To type Tanwin Fatha  you instead need to swipe down on the special key. 


To ask Apple to make the iPad work in the more logical iPhone manner, you can use Feedback.

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