Use Keyword Shortcuts On Your Smartphone To Avoid Unnecessary Typing

We’re big fans of using text expanders on our PCs to avoid repetitive typing. Did you know that you can also enjoy similar time savings on your mobile device? iOS devices, BlackBerries, Windows Phone and some Android devices have keyboard shortcuts built-in.

We’ve highlighted iOS’s text expansion feature when it was added in iOS 5. On the iPhone or iPad, go to your General settings > Keyboard and you can add shortcuts for things like your email (really useful for logging into sites) and frequently used text. (See our guide for the phrases you should add now.)

Reddit user phatee posted this tip/reminder about mobile phones’ text shortcuts, and here’s how you can get the expansion on other devices:

For Android users, Darkencypher notes that Smart Keyboard Pro ($2.52) has this feature, but Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) users also have this natively built-in under Settings > Keyboard and input > Personal dictionary. (You can also use an alternate keyboard for Android, like Swype, to add custom words to a personal dictionary for faster typing.)

BlackBerry devices have AutoText to correct common mistakes as well as add your own keyword shortcuts.

Windows Phone has customisable text shortcuts and auto corrections as well, under Settings > System > Keyboard > Typing Settings.

Head to your phone’s settings to enjoy less tiny keys pecking.

LPT: Instead of typing out your email on your smartphone to log into certain sites, use a keyword shortcut [Reddit]