Mobile Safari Tips and Tricks

This Tips and Tricks section is a compilation of the hidden features in the Safari browser for iPhone and iPod touch. Documenting these hidden shortcuts, will save you some time and hopefully make surfing Safari on your Apple mobile device more fun. Also check out the new features in iPhone 2.0 Software.

Navigating Websites:

Show the URL Touch and hold any link for a few seconds to show the destination URL. It works on linked images too.
Page Pown Double-tapping an unlinked portion on the bottom of the screen will re-center around your tap.

Move to Top Tapping the top of the screen (below the time) will move you to the top of the page.
Zoom images Double-tapping images will zoom the picture to fit your iPhone display. Double-tap again to return to the original size.
Zoom on text. Double-tap on any text column to have it zoom it and fit the screen. Double-tap again to return zoom out.
Pinch Zoom. Use your thumb and forefinger and move them apart on the screen. Squeeze or Pull apart to zoom in and out.
Scrolling Pages. By default Safari hides the scrollbars on the page, until you start scrolling with your fingertips. Use your fingers (one or two) to drag pages up or down. Flick up or down to scroll faster. Scrolling is locked to go either vertical or horizontal. Tap the page at any time to stop the scrolling.

Typing:

Suggested Contractions To get popular contractions filled in automatically just add a third repetitive letter to get Safari to suggest the contraction word. Examples include “helll” -> “he’ll” , “welll” -> “we’ll”, “weree” -> “we’re” etc.
Keyboard Switching Press the space bar from the .123 keyboard to return to the alpha keyboard. This can be good when you just need a number or a period. If you have the iPhone 1.1.1 update you can simply double-tap the space key to get a period.