How do I cut and paste on my cell phone?

A recent question at my first Open Tech question session at the Nipigon Legion was “How do I cut and paste on my cell phone”. In recognition of that as well as my upcoming Smartphone and tablet training session on December 17th here is the answer to that question as well as a few other helpful smartphone gestures and shortcuts to help you along the way.

Gestures are the way we interact with our mobile devices since we do not have a mouse; we use the touch screen in new ways. Gestures are comprised of a combination of a single finger, multiple finger and speed of tapping the screen.

To copy and paste text: Find the text you want to copy, tap and hold on the word you want to copy, you can then move the highlight handles to expand what you want to copy. Select copy from the small menu above the text. To paste the text, tap and hold where you want to paste the text and click on paste when the small menu pops up.

Tip #1: Shortcut to your camera? Double press your power button – even if the phone is asleep, it will take you right to the camera.
Tip #2: Access notifications and quick settings? Single finger drag the screen from the top. From here, you can see/clear all your notifications, change basic system settings.
Tip#3: Quickly move to a different spot in text you are writing. If you want to rewrite or add something to a text message or email you are writing, simply click on the spacebar and without lifting your finger off the screen slide it left or right to change the cursor position.
Tip #4: Zoom in or out on a picture or document? Pinch the screen with the thumb to finger to zoom out and use the spread motion to zoom in on something. Once zoomed in you can simply drag around the picture/document at that zoom level.