How can I disable the shortcut overlay that appears when you long press CMD ?

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How can I disable the shortcut overlay that appears when you long press CMD ?

I really need to disable the shortcut overlay menu for several reasons :

I have been using Mac OS for 15+ years, so I know all the shortcuts I need to know
When I type text, the overly keeps appearing over my text because I inadvertently pressed CMD for too long. So I have to be ultra-fast to type my shortcuts, otherwise it disrupt the flow of my work
The overlay traps the text you type, if you start typing, activate the overlay by mistake which happens all the time, the text you type next is captured by the overlay, so you have to go back twice
I you want to move inside text with CMD-left or CMD right, and the overlay appears, then these shortcuts don't work anymore

Please please tell me that this so called "feature" can be disabled, this is the single reason I'm beginning to hate my iPad Pro, and reverted to my MacBook for most work type situations where I need to do anything serious ...

If unfortunately this can't be disabled, I would like to know if I can change the shortcut that triggers the overly from CMD to ANYTHING else, or if I can set a delay that would be any longer than half a second.

iPad Pro, iPadOS 15

Posted on Jan 3, 2022 1:34 AM

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Answer 1

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LotusPilot

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280,736 points

Jan 3, 2022 3:39 AM in response to Izzy_F

I don’t recall seeing previous complaint of the difficulty you describe. When using an external keyboard, a sustained press of the Command Key is intended to expose the Shortcuts menu - this being divided into categories - and varies by App.

To the best of my knowledge (and now additional research), you cannot disable or redefine this keyboard action. You can, however, use Touch Accommodations to alter how your iPad responds to touch, but this may not best address your difficulty.

These pages from the iPad User Guide may be helpful:

Use shortcuts on an Apple external keyboard with iPad – Apple Support

Adjust how iPad responds to your touch – Apple Support

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Answer 2

Izzy_F Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 6, 2022 8:46 AM in response to LotusPilot

Thank you very much for your clear reply!

It is unfortunate that there is no way to disable or modify this behavior, because if you have issues typing on a keyboard, or you are not fast enough to type shortcuts, the overlay appears all the time and is highly disruptive.

I wish there was a way to explain Apple that this is a major usability issue, maybe they can add an option in the accessibility settings to slow down the delay or to change the shortcut to something else than Command. I almost stopped using my brand new iPad because of that…

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Answer 3

Jan 6, 2022 9:38 AM in response to Izzy_F

Apple do invite constructive comments and feature requests via their Product Feedback portal. For iPad and iPadOS:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

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How can I disable the shortcut overlay that appears when you long press CMD ?

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