How to use your mobile keyboard as a text cursor while typing
Android
You’ll need to use either Google’sGboardorMicrosoft’s SwiftKeyfor this.
When you’re typing withGboard, simply swipe along the length of the space bar to move the cursor left or right.
If you’re usingSwiftKey, you’ll need to long-press and hold on the space bar, and then swipe along anywhere on the keyboard to move the cursor. Unlike Gboard, you can drag your finger up or down to move between lines of text quickly.
Alternatively, you can add a row of arrow buttons toSwiftKeyto move your cursor around. You can see these buttons in the screenshot above, at the bottom of the keyboard on the right.
To enable these buttons, open the SwiftKey app, or tap theSettingsbutton on the SwiftKey keyboard (found in the toolbar at the top of the keyboard). Then, selectLayout & keys, and enable theArrow keysoption in the menu there. Exit the menu, and you’ll be good to go.
iOS
iPhone and iPad users already have this feature in the built-in keyboard on iOS; to use it, simply hold down on the space bar and swipe along its length to move the text cursor.
If you’re usingGboard, swipe along the length of the space bar to move the cursor left or right.
If you’re usingSwiftKey, long-press and hold on the space bar, and then swipe along anywhere on the keyboard to move the cursor. You can drag your finger up or down to move between lines of text.
Update (September 15, 2020):On Android, the cursor control feature was previously only available in Gboard and the SwiftKey beta app (and we featured these in the article). Microsoft has now updated its the mainstream release version of SwiftKey to include this feature, so you don’t need the beta to use it. We’ve updated this post to reflect that.
Story byAbhimanyu Ghoshal
Abhimanyu is TNW’s Managing Editor, and is all about personal devices, Asia’s tech ecosystem, as well as the intersection of technology and(show all)Abhimanyu is TNW’s Managing Editor, and is all about personal devices, Asia’s tech ecosystem, as well as the intersection of technology and culture. Hit him up onTwitter, or write in:abhimanyu@thenextweb.com.
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