What the Tech: Smartphone texting tricks

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Every day nearly 300 million Americans use their phones to send messages over text, Facebook messenger, or another messaging app - but most are just plain old text messages.

That’s fine for most.

But have you ever wanted to make your message stand out? Consumer technology reporter Jamey Tucker uncovers some hidden smartphone tricks to impress your friends.

These texting tricks will really up your messaging game. And I’ll bet whoever you send them to, will text back “how did you do that?”

Send emojis, memojis, or short text on an iPhone with some flair. Rather than tap “send,” hold down the “send” button. You can then choose to send it with a slam, loud, or gentle effect, or fill the screen with balloons, confetti, or fireworks.

Instead of typing out phone numbers or something else in print, tap where you’d typically write, and scan text. This is handy for sharing phone numbers on business cards or signs or even text shown in photos.

Emoticons are fun but impossible to type. Tap the globe, then keyboards, and add Japanese-Kana, then the symbol that looks like two squinting eyes and a mouth. The down arrow reveals all the emoticons to choose from. That’ll leave them scratching their heads.

On iPhone, focus mode can give you a break from texts, calls, and notifications. Swipe down to open the control center. You can choose to allow messages from specific people and apps. Turn it on and anyone trying to get in touch with you will get a message saying you have notifications silenced. You’ll get the notifications all at once when you turn focus mode back off.

Then there’s the three-finger magic trick that blows everyone’s mind. On my iPhone, I copy some text from a website by pinching the screen with three fingers like I’m picking it up. I can now paste that copied text into another app by releasing it. You can do this with photos on your camera roll too. And, if that’s not crazy enough, I can paste it on another device the same way. Three fingers pinching, three fingers releasing.

You can use this in text messages and Facebook posts. I will tell you when I tried copying and pasting from an iPhone to an iPad, I got mixed results, but you should really try it.

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