Simple and smooth gestures are very useful, especially when editing text on a smartphone or tablet. What’s more, they require almost no learning curve and fit seamlessly into practice, unlike shake-undo/redo which feels awkward to perform. With iOS 13, Apple used three finger gestures to offer a more simplified text processing experience. I must say it’s pretty easy to use the new text editing gestures to cut, copy, paste, undo and redo in iOS 13 and iPadOS 13. Don’t you believe me? Try it yourself to see how fast these new moves work!
How to Cut, Copy, Paste, Undo or Duplicate Using Gestures on iPhone and iPad
Without going into the discussion of why it took Apple so long to offer intuitive gestures for these types of commonly performed actions, let me say that three-finger text editing gestures may seem too small to make any headlines, but they will do it. A big difference in the way you edit text on your iPhone or iPad. Therefore, all you need to get the most out of them is to put them into practice right away.
Easily Select Text
As before, you can easily select text on your iPhone or iPad – without having to deal with difficult text selection handles.
To select any word: simply double tap on a word to choose. The word will be highlighted immediately. It’s that simple, right?
To select a sentence: just do one triple tap any word of the sentence.
To select an entire paragraph: all you have to do tap anywhere in the paragraph four times.
Use Smart Selection
The latest iteration of iOS comes with a feature called Smart Select. It allows you to choose an address, phone number and even email while editing the text. Keep in mind, Smart Select only allows you to select one item at a time, so you cannot select two items at once. When editing text, just double tap on a phone number, email address or any information to choose.
Cut, Copy and Paste with Three Finger Gestures
To copy text: Just select using the same gestures mentioned above. Then pinch with three fingers. A copy icon will flash at the top of the screen to confirm that you have successfully copied the text.
To cut text: After selecting the text, simply perform the copy gesture twice. The text will disappear and be stored in the iOS clipboard.
To paste text: Pinch with just three fingers. The text will be pasted immediately. Also, the paste button located at the top of the screen will flash to confirm the action.
How to Use Undo and Redo Gestures
Make sure you’re in text editing mode to get started.
To undo an action: Simply swipe left with three fingers.
To redo an action: All you have to do is swipe right with three fingers. Pretty intuitive, right?
Alternatively, double-tap with three fingers to undo or redo any action.
SEE ALSO: 10 Tips to Improve Security and Privacy in iOS 13
Use Three Finger Gestures to Simplify Text Editing on iOS and iPadOS
Indeed, three-finger gestures made editing text a painless exercise, to say the least. The best part about them is that they are quite intuitive and work with the desired smoothness. More importantly, they seem to be an integral part of editing text on iPhone or iPad – unlike “Shake/Redo to Undo/Redo” (which still exists) which never felt a user-friendly tool, much less improving the user experience.
