Now that smartphones have become our de facto communication and note-taking devices, the need for faster typing has become a priority for many. Whether it’s a requirement for your job or a skill that will help you at university or an internship, I have valuable advice for you.
Many people still default to typing every letter on their phone, but there is a better way. I learned how to type insanely fast on my Android phone with a hack, and while it’s not a new feature by any means, I’m going to teach you too. Once you master this skill, your average words per minute will increase.
How to type fast on your Android phone
This demonstration a Google Pixel 8 escape Android 16 and use Gboard like a standard keyboard. After explaining how to use this hack, I will also explain how to apply it on Samsung Keyboard.
As long as you’re using Gboard on an Android phone running at least Android 8, you’re good to go. This “trick” is called swiping, swiping, or Swiping (in Gboard). The idea is that you don’t have to lift your finger for every letter of the alphabet, just save a lot of time for each word. Slide your finger across the keyboard to type faster.
1. Tap the text box you want to type on your phone.
2. Instead of touching the alphabet individually, swipe without lifting your finger. Pause for a microsecond on the letters and lift your finger when you’re done typing the word. A space is added automatically after you lift your finger.
If you are a Samsung Keyboard user, you need to go to the keyboard settings and enable it Swype mode before you slide your finger to type.
Swipe typing on Gboard is smart and intuitive
Just like your swipe typing accuracy, Gboard gets smarter over time. As you swipe over the alphabet, you’ll get word suggestions in Gboard. Over time, you can teach Gboard what your word is by tapping the right suggestion.
Swipe to type also works with words added to your dictionary, such as names, slang, abbreviations, or words in another language. They don’t have to be grammatically correct.
What’s more interesting is that you can swipe to type in other languages too! I tried it with Urdu on Gboard and it works just as well as English. Plus, if you’re using a Wear OS watch with Gboard, you can use this hack on your smartwatch as well.
I get a lot of attention when I scroll text in public and people are always curious about it. Even strangers have asked me to teach them how to use this feature on the train!
It’s not immediately the fastest or easiest trick; you can type slower at first. But once you get the hang of it, it’s very hard to go back to the “regular” way of typing on your smartphone.
