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​There's A Secret One-Handed Keyboard Hidden Within Your iPhone

​There's A Secret One-Handed Keyboard Hidden Within Your iPhone

It's only available to a number of trial users for now, but there's a worldwide release expected for later this year

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

We struggled enough to write what we need to say on iPhones ('Ducking hell', etc.), and then Apple went and made the screens even bigger, leaving yet more scope to screw up typing.

The new iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X handsets are way bigger than older models, making it tough for us to write a quick message without holding on with both hands.

But now Apple seems to be sympathising, having created a one-handed keyboard option as part of its latest software update. It's only available to a number of trial users for now, but there's a worldwide release expected for later this year, so you won't have to wait too long.

Available with the latest version of iOS 11, once activated, the keyboard shifts either to the left or right of the screen, meaning you can tap away at the entire keyboard with just one hand.

Once you've downloaded iOS 11 and selected 'one-handed keyboard' under 'keyboard' in the general settings, open up your keyboard and press and hold the globe/emoji icon on the left of the space key.

Apple

"If you have multiple keyboards enabled, you can quickly access one-handed keyboard options at the bottom of the input switcher menu by pressing and holding on the globe key," the on-screen information will tell you.

You then get a pop-up menu, which gives you the option of moving the buttons to the left or right of the screen.

Apple

If you've got 'Plus' versions of the iPhone 6, 7 or 8, you'll get a keyboard closer in size to the one on the smaller 4.7-inch version of that device.

You can also move it back to normal by tapping the arrow in the blank space created after moving the keyboard, or by holding down the globe/emoji icon again and selecting the central icon.

That's not the only potentially big recent news for Apple, which is rumoured to be making a bid for Netflix. No bid has been confirmed yet, but Citi analysts Jim Suva and Asiya Merchant believe that there's a 40 percent chance of Apple trying to buy the streaming service - and it's all thanks to the US government's planned corporate tax cut.

"The firm has too much cash - nearly $250 billion (£184bn) - growing at $50bn (£37bn) a year. This is a good problem to have," Suva and Merchant told clients in a note last month.

"Historically, Apple has avoided repatriating cash to the US to avoid high taxation. As such, tax reform may allow Apple to put this cash to use. With over 90 percent of its cash sitting overseas, a one-time 10 percent repatriation tax would give Apple $220bn (£162bn) for M&A [mergers and acquisitions] or buybacks."

Er, Apple and chill, anyone?

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Phones and Gadgets, World News, News, Technology, Apple, iPhone