Iphone Keyboard Problem Switching In & Out Of “123” keyboard

I have been having the same problem on both the iPhone 12 and 13. I went through all the keyboard settings and changed the Haptic Touch from “fast” to “slow”. It is in settings>accessibility>touch>Haptic Touch.

Ever since I made that change it doesn’t switch to numbers while I am typing.

Try ordering a case with a wide side like the casetify. It stopped doing it for me once I got that. The new design is too maximized for the screen and there is very narrow room to the edge of the screen. The way we hold the phone makes you press the shift key without realizing. It seriously worked for me!

I just had my husband and son stand over my shoulder and watch me type several messages to demonstrate the same problem you’re having. They both noticed that the fleshy part of my hand between my thumb and index finger touches the 123 button when I reach for the letter “T”. I’ve now got my left index and middle fingers straddling my pop socket and I’m no longer having the issue with the keyboard. This took me YEARS to figure out!

Liza you are a genius! the way I held my phone slightly went over the edge thereby causing my hand to be the culprit! If I concentrated on not allowing my hand to rest in that spot it didn't continue to happen. It does how ever make texting super uncomfortable. I'm not into talk to text, it's none of anyone's business what I'm texting someone and my case is coming tomorrow - hope it helps

Yo Apple - fix this....and give Liza a job!

I had the same problem when I upgraded from the XR to the 13. The issue was fixed when I put a case on my 13. Without a case it seems that the way I was gripping the phone was inadvertently touching the numerical option when I was typing.

I have had this issue through three phones and was about to lose my mind. I figured it out (at least for me).

I went to general/settings/keyboard/

Then I turned off both the "predictive" and the "slide to type" and it fixed it immediately.

Hope this helps as I totally get how frustrating it is.

I realized it’s not my thumb hitting but 123 button but rather my palm hitting it while I type from my left hand! Does that make sense? That’s why you need the wider case to make more room. It’s just the way certain people tend to hold their phone. Or try texting without your palm hitting the side at all on the left.

I know what the problem is. Its a result of crappy design, not because of a software bug. The screen stretches to the edge of the phone, so your hand hits the button, even if it doesnt actually look or feel like its happening. Get a bulky case like an otterbox, i bet you money the problem will stop.

i bought the SURPHY Liquid Silicone Case from Amazon for £15 or so and it’s helped improve the situation with typing. It has quite a thick and raised lip to stop my thumb webbing hitting the keys.

Turn off slide to type under settings > general > keyboard

The same thing keeps happening to me, and as far as I can tell I think the cause is that the rectangular "123" button in the lower left corner is so close to the edge of the screen that it gets activated by the meaty part of my palm when I'm reaching up or across with my left thumb while typing. So I think the solution might be as simple (and unattainable) as Apple shrinking the width of the "123" button and shifting it towards the space bar so that it is less likely to get grazed unintentionally by a non-finger part of the hand and activated. Short of having to wear some non-conductive fingerless gloves to keep my palms from contacting the edge of the screen or growing longer thumbs, that is..... Actually, wearing some bicycling gloves would be a good way to test if inadvertent palm contact is what is turning on the number keyboard.

I think I know what the issue is. It’s related to the design of 13. There is not enough gap between keyboard and edge of phone so it’s your hand tapping the shift key that triggers the numbers. Took me a while to figure out wtf was going on on my side too. I think if you get a case that provides a little gap, it might help.

This is basically a combination of poor design and the way you hold your phone when you type with both hands. I noticed that if you hold your phone further down on your left hand it will ever so slightly touch the edge of the display when you're reaching across the keyboard, causing it to switch in the middle of typing. The same thing doesn't occur with iPhone 12, just 13. Hope a software update will remedy this someday.

Changing it from English US to English UK fixed it for me

Hello and welcome to Apple Support Communities tanjapop,

We see that you're having an issue with the keyboard on your iPhone. We'd be happy to look into this with you.

First, we'd like to have you restart your iPhone and test to see if the issue remains. If the issue remains, the next thing you can try is to reset your Keyboard Dictionary. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset. A pop up should show Reset Keyboard Dictionary.

Restart your iPhone

If the issue remains after trying these steps and you're running the latest version (15.0.1) of software, you'll want to reach out to Apple Support.

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