If you're an iPhone user and haven’t yet stumbled upon this clever typing shortcut, you're in for a welcome surprise.
A lesser-known feature hidden within the iPhone’s keyboard is gaining renewed attention, and for good reason. It's making everyday tasks like editing texts and emails significantly easier.
In a recent Reddit thread titled "iPhone users: what’s a hidden feature or shortcut you can’t live without?”, one contributor shared a trick that should gain traction over Apple fans who aren’t in the know: “You can long-press the spacebar to move the cursor like a trackpad. Feels like cheating every time I use it”.
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The feature allows users to transform their iPhone keyboard into a mini trackpad simply by pressing and holding the spacebar.
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Once activated, the keyboard goes blank, letting you move the cursor fluidly around the screen — a much more precise alternative to tapping the screen to reposition text manually.
Another user elaborated on the feature’s additional functionality, revealing that multi-touch gestures are also supported: “This also has multi-touch gestures baked into it as well. Point your cursor to the part you want to highlight, and put your other finger to the keyboard. Now drag your finger to highlight text.”
This makes it even easier to select words, sentences, or paragraphs without the usual hassle of holding and dragging those small blue markers.
Users praised the feature’s practical use cases, especially when correcting or revising text on the go. One person commented: “It’s great for correcting a word in a text or email. Beats the backspace key.”
And for those using non-standard keyboard layouts, such as numerical keypads, the functionality isn’t limited to the spacebar alone. Another user noted: “To add to this, you aren’t only limited to the spacebar. You can use the space beneath the spacebar too, which is helpful when you’re on a keyboard which only has numerals etc.”
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To give it a try, simply open any app with a text input field, like Notes or Messages, and long-press the spacebar. Once in trackpad mode, you can drag your thumb or finger to reposition the cursor.
If you want to highlight text — while still holding down, tap the keyboard with a second finger and drag to select.
It’s a remarkably simple feature that many iPhone users are only just discovering, and one that makes typing and editing far more efficient. As that first user aptly put it, it really does "feel like cheating."