We spend so much time looking down at our phones that it is literally killing us. So it’ll save you time (and, perhaps, your life) to enable text shortcuts on your iPhone or iPad.
Just go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Add New Shortcut. From there you can create a shortened code for any phrase you use frequently. For each shortcut you add, anytime you type in the code, on any screen, the phrase will automatically appear. (Check out my instructions with screenshots here).
But what are the best shortcuts to add? Here’s a list of the ones I’ve found most useful:
btw—by the way
idk—I don’t know
imo—In my opinion
lol—haha (for those of you who loathe to use text slang)
np—No problem
obvi—Obviously
omw—On my way!
rl—Running late
drv—Can’t text, driving
mv—In a movie
phone die—My phone’s about to die
gml—[your Gmail address]
yml—[your Yahoo Mail address]
Since you probably sign your name on a lot of things, you can also add a shortcut with your initials that will spell out your full name. For instance:
Ji—jobsiphone
This is what your shortcuts folder will look like once you start building up an inventory:
Go ahead, add some. You could potentially never have to write a full sentence into a text message again.
Got a better text shortcut for us? Let us know in the comments!
