Apple’s New Floating Keyboard

iOS 13 has this new keyboard you can use. If you hold the keyboard icon

You can select the Floating keyboard which will shrink the keyboard down to one side so you can more easily type with one thumb on the iPad (especially the Pro models).By default it comes in on the left side, but it can be moved anywhere on your screen. The iPad will remember the position so when you need the keyboard, it comes back into position.

It’s fine for regular peck typing, but it allows for swipe typing that many users report as a faster and highly intuitive method of typing.

The ability to move the keyboard, and be able to access it using one thumb, is allowing me start writing again.

I am losing dexterity in my left hand, so it is difficult to use my left hand and thumb to type, and typing with just my right hand on an iPad Pro is slow and tedious.

Granted I was overcoming my limitations with the large keyboard by using the dictate function, but it was a little annoying as I needed to have an environment without other talking or sounds. If it picked up another voice, I’d get erroneous text in my writing.

If I were in a public space, I don’t necessarily want everyone hearing what I’m saying.

Also, when dictating, I’d have to go back and edit out my filler words (um, uh…etc.) I use when thinking of the next thing to say. This got frustrating, or I had to be careful of my speech pattern.

The swipe is fairly accurate in predicting the word you mean to type. In the few (and far between) incidents where it picked up a different word, in the predictive text area will be three other words that could have been the word you meant to type and, by selecting one of those words, you can replace the mistaken word.

Even if both of your hands work fine, so accessibility is not as much of a concern, the smaller keyboard would be useful for anyone, but it’s especially useful from an accessibility standpoint.

With NaNoWriMo coming up next month (it’s October as of this writing) more people can now participate, those for whom writing has become difficult and a chore.