J.Neechie

Q: Arrow keys anyone???

Where are the arrow keys on the IPAD keyboard?

iPad, iOS 4

Posted on Jan 17, 2011 6:30 PM

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Q: Arrow keys anyone???

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  • by marsheng,

    marsheng marsheng Dec 30, 2012 2:12 PM in response to J.Neechie
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    Dec 30, 2012 2:12 PM in response to J.Neechie

    You can use as many argument as you like, I WANT cursor keys. If anyone knows of an app that works with all iPad apps, I'm ready to purchase.

     

    PS typed on my PC.

  • by Chris CA,

    Chris CA Chris CA Dec 30, 2012 2:53 PM in response to marsheng
    Level 9 (79,653 points)
    iTunes
    Dec 30, 2012 2:53 PM in response to marsheng

    marsheng wrote:

     

    I WANT cursor keys.

    There are none.

     

    If anyone knows of an app that works with all iPad apps,

    Currently not possible.

  • by Mickchev,

    Mickchev Mickchev Dec 30, 2012 4:48 PM in response to Chris CA
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 30, 2012 4:48 PM in response to Chris CA

    The best solution I've come across is Arrow Keys Mail. It's a very nice text editor and it uses the standard apple keyboard with a row of extra keys on top. Including foward and back arrow keys, plus (gasp) forward delete and backspace too. Also TAB, colon, semi colon, parentheses, #, @ - and /. Very cool. The copy function copies everything to the clipboard. I think it's $0.99 and very well worth it. Apple is too busy jumping the shark to worry about such details.

  • by Sdthib2922,

    Sdthib2922 Sdthib2922 Jan 7, 2013 12:30 PM in response to Demo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2013 12:30 PM in response to Demo

    Actually, if the word or phrase is where you want to place the curser, you cannot. So any sarcastic remarks concerning the fact that the ipad is a touchscreen, seem to be made out of ignorance than really understanding the question or device!

    try placing the curser into a part of the URL you may want to change, and you can enter it before or after, but not Within the URL itself. Same goes for searches and trying to insert the curser into a word! I know, I have had this same problem sine I purchased my ipad. Instead, I have to erase the entire phrase or word and restyle it---therefore, the need for arrow keys!

  • by tonefox,

    tonefox tonefox Jan 7, 2013 12:43 PM in response to Sdthib2922
    Level 6 (9,298 points)
    Jan 7, 2013 12:43 PM in response to Sdthib2922

    I have no difficulty in prodding a cursor into the middle of a URL or a search term.   ?

  • by anotherscott,

    anotherscott anotherscott Jan 7, 2013 12:48 PM in response to J.Neechie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2013 12:48 PM in response to J.Neechie

    Yes, it is possible to place the cursor within a word. It is touchy and time consuming though. Cursor keys would often be much, much better.

  • by Kilgore-Trout,

    Kilgore-Trout Kilgore-Trout Jan 7, 2013 12:50 PM in response to anotherscott
    Level 7 (32,679 points)
    iPad
    Jan 7, 2013 12:50 PM in response to anotherscott

    Touchy and time consuming?  No, not so much.

  • by anotherscott,

    anotherscott anotherscott Jan 7, 2013 12:55 PM in response to J.Neechie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2013 12:55 PM in response to J.Neechie

    Obviously, not for you. For me... tremendously. I use programs that give me cursor keys, I find it to be enormously better.

  • by Kilgore-Trout,

    Kilgore-Trout Kilgore-Trout Jan 7, 2013 12:58 PM in response to anotherscott
    Level 7 (32,679 points)
    iPad
    Jan 7, 2013 12:58 PM in response to anotherscott

    Then perhaps you should consider buying a device that actually has a curser (in the programatic sense). IOS doesn't.

  • by anotherscott,

    anotherscott anotherscott Jan 7, 2013 1:07 PM in response to J.Neechie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2013 1:07 PM in response to J.Neechie

    As I said, I use programs that give me cursor keys. It would be nice if Apple supported it system-wide, but at least I have found reasonable workarounds.

     

    Likewise, the standard keyboard should include a number row. It made sense to leave it off on the tight-for-space iphone screen, but there's no reason to leave it off the iPad. With every password needing combinations of letters and numbers, it's a real nuisance to go back and forth all the time, and there's no reason it has to be that way.

     

    But suggesting that you buy another device isn't viable if the things you want to do are specific to or otherwise best accomplshed on the iPad. So you live with the trade-offs or find ways around them. But hopefully, if Apple senses that these improvements are desired, they can be provided in the future.

  • by cherylannefromlittleton,

    cherylannefromlittleton cherylannefromlittleton Jan 7, 2013 1:25 PM in response to Kilgore-Trout
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2013 1:25 PM in response to Kilgore-Trout

    James, if you're happy with it, great. I would definitely be able to type faster on it if there were cursor keys. I do a LOT of typing. There are several apps on the iPad that incorporate their own arrow keys, so I know it can be done and probably isn't difficult. If they weren't beneficial, normal keyboards wouldn't have them. You wouldn't have to see them if you don't want them; it could be an optional pop-up. So please be happy with your keyboard, and let us have our say here.

  • by cherylannefromlittleton,

    cherylannefromlittleton cherylannefromlittleton Jan 7, 2013 1:26 PM in response to Chris CA
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2013 1:26 PM in response to Chris CA

    Maybe not available, but definitely possible.

  • by Chris CA,

    Chris CA Chris CA Jan 7, 2013 1:32 PM in response to cherylannefromlittleton
    Level 9 (79,653 points)
    iTunes
    Jan 7, 2013 1:32 PM in response to cherylannefromlittleton

    cherylannefromlittleton wrote:

     

    Maybe not available, but definitely possible.

    How?

  • by Kilgore-Trout,

    Kilgore-Trout Kilgore-Trout Jan 7, 2013 2:00 PM in response to cherylannefromlittleton
    Level 7 (32,679 points)
    iPad
    Jan 7, 2013 2:00 PM in response to cherylannefromlittleton

    An "optional pop-up"? So let me get this straight ... rather than placing your finger on the screen to locate the typing point (basically one action) you want to tap something to produce an "optional pop-up",  tap the arrow key (however many times you need it to get it to the insertion point), then tap somethning to hid the "optional pop-up".

     

    Let's suffice it to say Steve Jobs and the design team got it right the first time. And the existance of a key on a "normal keyboard" as you refer to it in no way makes its appropriate for a touch screen device.

     

    You don't want a mbile device, you want a laptop. The iPad isn't a laptop.

  • by Rick J. Brown,

    Rick J. Brown Rick J. Brown Jan 7, 2013 2:46 PM in response to Kilgore-Trout
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2013 2:46 PM in response to Kilgore-Trout

    You don't want a mbile device, you want a laptop. The iPad isn't a laptop.

     

    Personally, I want a multi-touch mobile device which also makes as easy as possible for me to enter and edit text.  Don't get me wrong--I think the "tap on the text" feature, and the little magnifying glass, are awesome, and useful, and I like showing them off to my friends.  Those UI elements are ideal and simple for selecting a word, and for placing the cursor in the general area of where you want it.  And I'm sure that users who are more dextrous than I, are well able to finger-jiggle the cursor to exactly the spot they want, every time, in the blink of an eye.

     

    But as for myself:  Once in while I can finger-jiggle the cursor to the right spot within about a second.  Often it takes longer.  And often I think I've got it in the right spot, but then my finger slips just a little as I'm lifting it off the screen, and the cursor moves to the right or left.  Then I have to go back and finger-jiggle some more.  Usually I get it within the second try.  But by that time I've spent 2 to 3 seconds doing something that an arrow key would have accomplished in a small fraction of a second.  For somebody like me who types a lot and who types fast, and who repositions the cursor frequently, that extra second or two of wasted time gets annoying really fast.

     

    Now, if it were the case that the popup keyboard were just too crowded to fit the extra keys, I'd understand, and I'd happily accept the inefficient finger-jiggle as unavoidable.  But as I see it, they could easily shrink and/or eliminate one of the ".?123" keys, and/or shrink the spacebar just a little, to accomodate a left-arrow and a right-arrow key (I'm not even asking for up/down arrows).  Indeed, they could even make arrow keys an option in "general settings," for those that don't like 'em.

     

    Or, if Apple are amazed at my ineptness at finger jiggling, they can make arrow keys an "Accessibility" setting.  I don't care.  All I know is that arrow keys would make it easier for me -- and apparently for a lot of other people on this thread -- to get the most out of my iPad.  I don't think "efficient text entry for everyone" is such an esoteric request for a mobile device.

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