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I find it quite hard to edit spelling mistakes, using just the touchscreen. Currently I try to tap the screen exactly where I want the cursor to be, but this isn't very accurate.
The iPhone has a nice 'magnifying glass' feature which allows you to accurately move the cursor. Is there a similarly nice way to do this in Android?

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4 Answers 4

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If you use swype you can move the cursor by swyping from the swype symbol to the SYM key. That brings up a screen where you can do easy cursor movements and text selection. Also, you can correct words easily by double-tapping on a word; this will bring up the word choice box.

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  • I'm not sure what you mean by swyping from the swype symbol to the SYM key. I know where the swype symbol is, but I'm not sure where the SYM key is. I can't figure out how to do this, but it would really help!
    – Matt Casto
    Commented Sep 14, 2010 at 15:27
  • @Matt - the Swype button is at the bottom left of the keyboard and the Sym button is the one next to it (on the right). Thanks for this tip, Joe.
    – ninjaPixel
    Commented Sep 14, 2010 at 17:34
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Using the trackball or D-pad for this is pretty accurate.

You can easily go up, down, left and right with it.

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  • I have a Milestone and I generally use the touchscreen to write text (the Swype app makes this very fast) so I'd like to be able to edit mistakes without having to slide the screen open. Just wondering if there is a nice way to do this, using the touchscreen?
    – ninjaPixel
    Commented Sep 13, 2010 at 23:09
  • IMHO there is no stock way for doing this without using the D-pad or the trackball.
    – Ben Weiss
    Commented Sep 13, 2010 at 23:54
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TouchPal input method has a (similar to Swype) feature to do cursor movement, copy, cut, paste functions.

You need to long press on the "Edit" key (that's the one to left of the SPACE button, with the pencil icon) and you'll get cursor movements and edit keys keyboard.

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Yes - if you touch into the text on a word and hold, you will usually get a small magnifying glass bubble just above your fingertip that will allow you to drag your finger and change the cursor point.

I say usually because sometimes pressing and holding will bring up the "Edit Text" menu that gives you the options to "Select All", "Copy", etc.

If this happens, just exit out of the menu and try again.

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  • I get the edit text menu every time when using the technique you sugessted to try to edit a typo in an SMS. Doesn't work for me.
    – Mark Byers
    Commented Oct 16, 2010 at 13:57

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