How 2... Type e-mails in landscape mode on iPhone or iPod touch

Type e-mails in landscape mode

Etan Horowitz | Sentinel Staff Writer

October 12, 2008

For all of the great features found on Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch, one of the big annoyances is that when you are writing an e-mail you can't turn the phone horizontally to make the keyboard bigger (landscape mode). Although Apple may fix this problem in a future software update, if you can't wait, you can download TouchType, a 99-cent program that lets you write e-mails in landscape mode.

1. Access the App Store on your iPhone or iPod touch or through iTunes when your device is connected to your computer.

2. Search for "TouchType," select it and purchase and install the app.

3. When you want to compose a new e-mail message in landscape mode, tap to launch the app and turn your phone sideways. Type your message in the blank space and when you are finished, tap the send button in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

4. A new e-mail message opens up in your default e-mail account (you can change which account is the default one in the Settings menu) with the text you just entered pasted in the body of the e-mail. Address the message, fill out the subject line and send it as you normally would.

5. To reply to a message using TouchType's landscape keyboard, open the message in the Mail program, tap to reply to the message and then press the home button. Launch TouchType, type your reply in the blank message that appears and click to send it. The text you just typed is then pasted into your reply message and you can just tap "Send" to dispatch your response. If you have multiple e-mail accounts and you are not replying to a message sent to your default account, you'll have to tap the "From" line and select the correct e-mail address to send the reply from.