I want to type the character “β” in iOS 15.3 on my iPhone XR. (I just copied & pasted it into my preceding sentence).
I want this to work in any app. I would like to just be able to tap&hold on my keyboard so I won’t have to do something like add a language or an app or the like.
If making an adjustment is easy I might also like to be able to type other chem, math, bio symbols as well.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPhone XR, iOS 15
Wm Marston wrote: I would like to just be able to tap&hold on my keyboard so I won’t have to do something like add a language or an app or the like.
That's not possible. To do what you want you have to add a 3rd party math keyboard from the app store. Or if all you need is Greek letters, then add the Greek keyboard which Apple includes in iOS.
Another option is to put the special stuff you need into Text Replacements.
Type with fewer taps - Apple Support
If you are working in the Pages app, it has an equation feature:
Add mathematical equations in Pages on iPhone - Apple Support
To ask Apple to add the ability for users to modify press and hold to a future update, you can use
Wm Marston wrote: I would like to just be able to tap&hold on my keyboard so I won’t have to do something like add a language or an app or the like.
That's not possible. To do what you want you have to add a 3rd party math keyboard from the app store. Or if all you need is Greek letters, then add the Greek keyboard which Apple includes in iOS.
Another option is to put the special stuff you need into Text Replacements.
Type with fewer taps - Apple Support
If you are working in the Pages app, it has an equation feature:
Add mathematical equations in Pages on iPhone - Apple Support
To ask Apple to add the ability for users to modify press and hold to a future update, you can use
Tom,
Your link to Apple's article: Add mathematical equations in Pages on iPhone, omits the link to the blahtex PDF guide that shows what LaTeX syntax is supported in the Pages equation editor. The link to blahtex PDF is included in:
About LaTeX and MathML support in Pages, Numbers, and Keynote - Apple Support
Most of the Greek alphabet can be entered into the Pages equation editor with the letter name preceded by a "\" character (e.g. \beta, \eta, \gamma, etc.). This is illustrated in the blahtex PDF guide.
Everything that you want to do is not possible on iOS but is on macOS except specialized symbology.
Apple's iOS is not an implementation of macOS on the iPhone. It lacks several features of macOS such as the ability to press and hold on a character for a floating palette of diacriticals, the handy Emojis & Symbols panel, or the option modifier key + one or more characters from the keyboard.
Tom Gewecke reminded me of “Text Replacements”. I’ve used those before to ‘autotype’ long names of things. This simple tip will work easily so long as I do not forget that I created it!
And thanks to VikingOSX for your suggestions as well.
Note that some apps, like Word, don’t use Apple’s text replacements, but have their own settings for that.
Is there a way to type special characters like "β" on my iPhone XR?
