# Do you type on your smartphone with your thumbs? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 24, 2020, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770 "2020-10-24T16:12:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/21 "2020-10-24T20:22:45Z")
My kids grew up using cell phones and got really good using their thumbs. It really is faster if you can do it, but I have tried but I cannot get the needed precision. I use my index finger and generally use the Android swipe keyboard, so I’m sliding around rather than tapping. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/22 "2020-10-24T20:38:01Z")
I chose “Other” because I either type with my thumbs, when I have the soft keyboard displayed, or I use my index finger when I have “Graffiti” (the texting method from the old Palm Pilot days) displayed. I discovered and loaded the Graffiti app shortly after getting my first Android device. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/23 "2020-10-24T20:45:30Z")
Hmm. I had the French keyboard on, but it was correcting mis-spellings to English. I do not understand it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/24 "2020-10-24T22:51:38Z")
Middle finger. And lots of times it seems appropriate ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/25 "2020-10-24T22:56:53Z")
I swype, usually with my left index finger. But sometimes I use my middle finger. I haven’t used thumbs since I had a physical keyboard on my beloved old Palm Pre. ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/26 "2020-10-24T23:00:14Z")
This is a super interesting question because I didn’t even realize how I was doing this! I favor Big Ass™ phones, and I just tested this out… apparently I type with one thumb (on the left side, where I tend to hold the phone) plus index finger (on the right side). Simultaneously. Weird. I’m also an _extremely fast_ self taught typist (computer addict since at least age 11) and my traditional keyboard typing style can only be described as… bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/27 "2020-10-24T23:28:13Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I swype, usually with my left index finger. But sometimes I use my middle finger. I haven’t used thumbs since I had a physical keyboard on my beloved old Palm Pre. Very similar to you, I use the Apple version of the swype keyboard with my right index finger. Old school hard keyboards, starting with my [Palm Treo](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treo_650) and through my Blackberry years I was a two thumb typist. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/28 "2020-10-24T23:39:49Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > I’m also an _extremely fast_ self taught typist (computer addict since at least age 11) and my traditional keyboard typing style can only be described as… bizarre. You’re far from alone in that. My “home keys” would make a traditional typing teacher cry or scream. But good luck to her (it was always her back in the day) trying to keep up with me. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/29 "2020-10-25T02:11:18Z")
_How_ can you type with your middle fingers? I just can’t even picture this. Are you holding your hand with your fingers splayed apart like you’re holding a tiny tea cup or something? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/30 "2020-10-25T02:23:50Z")
Thumbs. The trick is to let the autocorrect do it’s job - it’s very good at what it does 85% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/31 "2020-10-25T02:28:50Z")
Well, except when my iPhone thinks we’re in Québec. For about a year, it kept auto-correcting “government” to “gouvernement” and I didn’t always notice. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/32 "2020-10-25T02:39:25Z")
Right handed, hold phone in portrait mode with right hand and type with right thumb. On my I-pad I hold in landscape mode use the split keyboard and use both thumbs. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/33 "2020-10-25T03:05:37Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > _How_ can you type with your middle fingers? I just can’t even picture this. Are you holding your hand with your fingers splayed apart like you’re holding a tiny tea cup or something? I hold the phone in one hand, and drag the middle finger of my other hand this way and that. Most of the movement is the arm and wrist. It doesn’t feel very different from using my index finger. The other fingers are loosely curled out of the way. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/34 "2020-10-25T03:13:38Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > So I poke at the letters with my index finger. Oops, I actually use my driving finger, not my index finger. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/35 "2020-10-25T03:26:43Z")
Portrait mode, thumbs. Tried swipe recently, kind of like it, but can’t break the thumbs habit. Used thumbs with physical keyboards back when, on a Blackberry and various slide-out jobbies. Computer, I am a classically-trained home row typist, would make ol’ Mrs. K (high school “keyboarding” teacher) proud! ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/36 "2020-10-25T04:04:54Z")
I generally type with my dominant index finger. I have the swipe keyboard, but sometimes forget to use it. My first smartphone was a company issued Blackberry with physical keys and I used both thumbs for that, but generally find thumbs unwieldy with a touchscreen. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/37 "2020-10-25T04:06:02Z")
What is a swipe keyboard? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/38 "2020-10-25T04:42:48Z")
Hold the phone in my left hand, type with my right thumb. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/39 "2020-10-25T04:51:05Z")
Swipe is dragging from letter-to-letter, lifting your finger between words. It’s the texting equivalent of cursive script, and uses a lot of predictive pattern matching. So the word _pattern_ is “written” by placing your finger on **P** , then dragging a-t-e-r-n, then lifting. I usually do a small loop on a double letter, but the algorithm usually figures it out. It used to require setup to use it, but the modern Gboard (google keyboard) supports swipe with no setup required (well, on my Pixel 3a, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770/40 "2020-10-25T05:14:11Z")
There’s also Swiftkey, owned by Microsoft. That’s the one I use. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-type-on-your-smartphone-with-your-thumbs/923770.md?page=3)