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Five Shortcuts for Faster Text Selection in iOS


Ever need to copy, share, or speak text on iOS? Of course you do. Here are four different shortcuts that can make the process quick and easy.

You may have known one or two of these, but I was shocked by a couple—I had no idea these were built into iOS. Quora user and iOS developer Danila Shukulin rattles them off:

Advanced Selection:

Tap twice on word to select whole word.

Tap 4 times on paragraph to select whole paragraph.

Put one finger in the begining of desired selection and the other in the end and hold for a while. Text between fingers is selected.

Tap twice in the beginning of desired selection and immediately start dragging pin to extend it. (don't detach finger after second tap)

Niels van Hoorn adds:

You can tap once with two fingers on a paragraph to select it as well.

These tricks may not work in every situation, but I tried them out in a few apps and they worked great. Most, in fact, worked flawlessly, but #2 is difficult one to pull off properly. I find it doesn't work more often than not, but if you tap four times at just the right speed, it does work.

Give it a shot the next time you have your iPhone handy—you might be surprised to learn something new!

What cool things can one do with an iPhone and iPad that most people don't know about? | Quora