If you’re a user of TextExpander on the Mac or iOS, you should be well-acquainted with the idea of typing a brief shortcut to get a large mass of text. For everyone else, iOS 5 now offers something similar, baked right into the OS and ready for use in any application. To get started, simply open the Settings app, tap on General, then scroll down and tap on Keyboard. At the bottom of that page you’ll see a section labeled “Shortcuts”, with the built in “omw” for “On my way!” shortcut listed, and an option to add new shortcuts. Tap this option and make as many as you’d like—just remember to use letter combinations that aren’t all that common. Once you’re finished, you can use the shortcuts in any app, anywhere you can type—the completed phrase will appear just like a spelling suggestion, meaning it takes only a tap of the space bar to complete, and can therefore save a lot of time and frustration.
Using text shortcuts in iOS 5
