Enabling the Dvorak keyboard on iPhone is a great way to type more comfortably, while also speeding up your output. If you’re regularly on your phone messaging, emailing or working — especially for long periods — it’s well worth doing.
The Dvorak English keyboard layout is an alternative to the mainstream QWERTY layout used ubiquitously on English keyboards and devices. Dvorak is designed to make typing easier and faster. It does this by putting all vowels next to each other on the left, and placing consonants in order of the frequency they occur in English language, spread across both left and right. This results in a layout that requires less hand movements across the keyboard, making typing more comfortable and increasing output.
I don’t know about you, but as I get older, my wrists and fingers are starting to feel the effects of constant rapid movement back and forth across my phone screen. To me, using the better designed Dvorak keyboard on iOS sounds like a pretty good idea. Thankfully, the Dvorak keyboard layout is built into iOS and is super easy to turn on. Here’s how.
Note: Adjusting to a new keyboard layout takes time and effort, especially after years of touch-typing on a QWERTY layout. You’ll be slow on Dvorak at first, but will speed up as you use it more. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
How to enable the Dvorak keyboard on iPhone
- Open the Settings app and tap General
- Tap Keyboard, then select Keyboards
- Tap an English language keyboard
- Tap Dvorak
Read on to see detailed instructions for each step.
1. Open the Settings app, then tap General.
2. Tap Keyboard, then select Keyboards.
3. Tap an English language keyboard. For example: English (UK), English (US) or English (Australia). The one you see will likely be based on which region you chose when setting up your iPhone.
4. Tap Dvorak.
That’s it! You’re done. You can now eke a few more years out of your finger and wrist joints thanks to the ergonomic Dvorak layout.
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