What would you do with an extra twenty minutes of your day? It doesn’t sound like much, but add it up over a week, and you can save an hour using this simple ‘hack’!
In this article, we will show you how to use a shortcut that will save you from having to manually type in your phone number, business name, email address, bank details, or your best friend’s name again – for all your Apple devices.
The Solution? Text Replacement.
Text replacement is one of the best hacks for tradies navigating the IOS software. It helps you add a shortcut for your texts to save you time. Using text replacements can speed up your communication while minimising typing errors.
How it works is when you input a shortcut, it will automatically expand into the full word, phrase, or sentence you have assigned to it. Text replacement for tradies is useful for inserting words or phrases you frequently use, particularly in text messages or emails.
For example, we write “TWG” and it expands to “Tradie Web Guys”. We use this one A LOT, as you can imagine.
Although some commonly used phrases are already set up for you (omw = “On my way”), you can always change them and add more.
How to Configure Text Replacement
To begin configuring your text replacements, simply open the Settings app on your device and follow the instructions below:
- Go to Settings > General > Keyboard.
- Select Text Replacement from the menu.
- Tap the + icon in the upper right corner. Remember that any text substitutions you configure are shown on this screen.
- Enter the sentence you want to abbreviate in the text box. For instance, you may enter a phrase you frequently use, your phone number, or your email address.
- Enter the keyboard shortcut you want to use to increase your Apple device’s productivity. For instance, “800” may be a phone number, “myem” could be your email address, and “tyt” could be a word or phrase.
- On the top right, tap Save. When you tap Save, the shortcut you just added should be visible when you go back to the Text Replacement screen.
To make changes to a text replacement, choose it from the list, press the Edit button, and then select Save.
Create Shortcuts for Text Replacement on your Apple Computer
- Navigate to System Preferences:
- Go to > System Preferences > Keyboard.
- Click the Text tab to see your Text Replacement shortcuts.
- Use the + (Plus) button to add new shortcuts, then type your shortcut and the phrase you want to swap it with.
Type your shortcuts into compatible apps after generating Text Replacements in System Preferences. In macOS, your shortcut is replaced with the entire text when you press Space or add any punctuation.
Text Replacements Across Devices
Shortcuts for Text Replacements that you create on your Mac are also synced with other Apple devices you use through your iCloud account. You can discover your shortcuts on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch by navigating to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement.
As someone who will never set the world on fire with their typing speed, I believe this to be one of the most helpful features of macOS. Neither you nor I have time (or desire) to retype the same information repeatedly.
Any time-saving shortcut is appreciated in today’s world. Hopefully, you’ll find this handy text substitution feature useful as well. If there are any more keyboard skills you’d like to learn, let us know.
Additionally, you can leave a comment below on our YouTube tutorial video if you’d like to share one of your own.
As you can see, the text replacement hack that comes standard on Apple is useful for many people, but if you want to learn more robust hacks with Tradie Web Guys, you can check out our marketing options to boost your company’s growth online!
Looking for more solutions? Get in touch with our team today!
