Proud Geek

Where are thou, keyboard shortcuts? Although not as hard to find as the custom vibrations feature, iOS 5′s Keyboard Shortcut feature can still be difficult to find.

First, what are keyboard shortcuts? Ah, I’m sure we all have quick abbreviations we use with our significant others and friends. Like, “owh” or “wdyt.” You can now create custom keyboard shortcuts that expand “owh” to “On my way home!” or “wdyt” to “What do you think?” automatically.

Now, where is it? Um. See, that’s why I need this blog – to teach even myself!

Go to the Settings app, then General, then Keyboard. Scroll to the bottom and then you’ll see a list of (or just one) keyboard shortcuts as well as an option to create your own shortcut.

If you want to create your own shortcut, tap the “Add New Shortcut…” option and then you’ll see a screen asking you to create a phrase and the shortcut itself.

Tap Save and you’ve created your very first keyboard shortcut. Congratulations! Wdyt? Oops, I’d better enter that one into the list …

Ok, I’m back. Here’s a screenshot of the shortcut in action.