iOS Cursor Trackpad Mode - Change Your Life

December 13, 2018

MacStories via John Gruber:

trackpad mode can be activated in a much easier way in iOS 12: just tap & hold on the space bar until the keyboard becomes a trackpad

This will change your life

On your iPhone and iPad, when you have the on-screen keyboard open and you are entering text, and you want to move around, usually to go back and fix a typo…

  • Put your finger on the space bar and hold
  • You will see the keyboard dim
  • Your finger now controls a trackpad
  • Move your finger around the keyboard and the cursor position on the screen follows
  • Release your finger, and you are back in keyboard mode with your cursor where you left it, ready to fix that typo

Update Sept 2019: For iPhone 11 and other newer devices without 3D Touch the process has changed a bit → Hold down the on-screen keyboard spacebar