In iOS18.3 how do you close the inflated number pad?

Question

In iOS18.3 how do you close the inflated number pad?

I have come back to an iPhone (13 mini as I don't want to use a tablet for phone calls...) from Android and I have to say the usability of iOS 18 is horrific!

Anyway, the number pad seems to have inflated with some space at the very bottom of it which the pushes the rest of the keys up over the onscreen buttons in banking apps making the apps unusable. There seems to be no way of getting rid of the space (which seems to provide some kind of cursor movement if you hold it down), no way of getting to the buttons behind the number pad and no way of getting rid of the number pad when you've finished typing.

Is there anyway of getting rid of the unnecessary space or hiding the keyboard when not needed or even navigating to the buttons (the way you could press tab on a computer)?

[Edited by Moderator]

iPhone 8 Plus, iOS 16

Posted on Mar 18, 2025 8:09 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 18, 2025 9:32 AM in response to KiltedTim

This is what I see in Zoom myself:

Usually, when the keyboard is full, the space at the bottom is used by the language changer icon 🌐

If you only have one input language selected for the keyboard, then no icon will be there, but the space will remain.

The space is also there if the keypad is just for numbers and won't show the language changer icon.

In Zoom, there are no other buttons behind it.

In other apps as mentioned, you can tap anywhere on the screen outside of the input box or the keypad and it should go away. There should also be a "Done" option at the top of the keyboard to hide it.

If you are seeing something else, then as has been pointed out, it may be an issue with the specific app and how it's designed. This is outside of Apple's purview and no setting can fix a badly designed 3rd party app.

Posting a screenshot may give us a better idea.

Blaming Apple at this stage, seems pre-mature.

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Answer 2

Mar 18, 2025 8:38 AM in response to ebitconsultancy

I have no issues with inflated number pads on any app on my iPhone with 18.3.1. Do you have Zoom turned on? Open Settings > Accessibility > Zoom - turn off is on.

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Answer 3

Mar 18, 2025 9:05 AM in response to ebitconsultancy

Can you perhaps take a screenshot also we may see what you see? Make sure to redact any personal info.

The number pad in many instances will a "Done" option at theta to hide it. Also, if you tap outside the area requiring input it should make the number pad go away.

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Answer 4

Mar 18, 2025 10:10 AM in response to ebitconsultancy

ebitconsultancy wrote:

It is the large wasted grey space that pushes the number pad up and that is an Apple issue as is the inability to get rid of the number pad. I totally understand about poor UI design and how that influences things and granted most banking apps are not great in that respect.

But this doesn't happen in previous iOS versions that I've used and only happened since the update to 18

The App designers should be able to design around it, and not put buttons behind a number pad that can't be removed. How was this not caught during testing of the app?

It should be obvious when designing and testing an app that the number pad can't be removed, so why did they insist on adding controls behind it that could not be accessed then? This seems like a failure by the app developers. As other apps don't seem to have this issue. Zoom as can be seen in my screen shot, does not add controls behind the number pad.

Other Apps allow the number pad to be hidden when not in use.

If there is something behind the number pad, can you not scroll it up into view?

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Answer 5

Mar 18, 2025 1:47 PM in response to Phil0124

Sadly not - the popup panel behind the number pad seems locked to the bottom of the screen so without being able to get rid of or shrink the number pad, apps like this are not fully usable.

I think this is mutual culpability on both Apple and the developers. On the developers part they do need to check the behaviour of their software on smaller screens for the short while that they are still available, but on Apple's they also need to consider (and try to remember) usability of their software on smaller devices. Not everyone wants to walk around with an enormous slab of a phone and a lack of consideration on Apple's part for personal preference shouldn't force users to have to buy something they neither need nor want simply because they've found a new way of consuming the space that is there.

In deference to the etiquette here and 'enlightenment' received regarding one of the former founders of this company, all I can say is that it would be great for Apple to stand for something again and remember that its products used to be high quality and usable. After being a mac user and Apple devotee for over 30 years I moved away from Apple products by choice and have only returned to a single one for necessity. I am not impressed and hope that when this iPhone gets obsolesced or stops working, there is another choice from somewhere else.

Thank you everyone who has responded to issue and I wish you the best of luck with your Apple products in the future.

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Answer 6

Mar 18, 2025 9:06 AM in response to ebitconsultancy

I don't use Zoom and I have no inflated number pads in any app, including all my Banking apps. If these are 3rd party apps, you may need to contact the app developers of the apps you're having an issue with. They may not have optimized their apps appropriately.

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Answer 7

Mar 18, 2025 8:43 AM in response to lobsterghost1

I do have zoom on but turning it off doesn't make a difference to the 'grey space' at the bottom of the number pad. It seems to be a functional space from Apple (pressing and holding it allows the cursor to move sideways but without the facility to go to the next field).

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Answer 8

Mar 18, 2025 9:37 AM in response to KiltedTim

I've tried it with and without zoom and it makes no difference.

It is the large wasted grey space that pushes the number pad up and that is an Apple issue as is the inability to get rid of the number pad. I totally understand about poor UI design and how that influences things and granted most banking apps are not great in that respect.

But this doesn't happen in previous iOS versions that I've used and only happened since the update to 18

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Answer 9

Mar 18, 2025 8:24 AM in response to ebitconsultancy

Is this only baking apps? They may be using the same app devs to create their apps and it may be a problem with them rather than apple

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Answer 10

Mar 18, 2025 8:32 AM in response to starmoonsun89

no, there are a few but the banking ones are my biggest issue. It wouldn't be as bad if there wasn't a big chunk of empty grey space at the bottom of the number pad. I ended up having to reregister on an older iPhone which doesn't have iOS 18 on it in order to use the apps then reregister again to get them on my current phone and for all the gazillions of settings and options, you can't sort out simple usability issues like this.

To be honest I wouldn't have left Android to come back to this mess if it wasn't for the better phone call reception of the iPhone.

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