Using iPhone 3.0's new copy and paste feature

June 20, 8:03 PMApple Products ExaminerLisa Spangenberg

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I can't tell you how very very cool it is to be able to Copy and Paste. Apple has again come up with very smart ways to use gestures on the iPhone's (and iPod Touch's) screen to issue commands. The procedure is slightly different if you are copying text from a locked document, like a Web page, versus a "writable" document, like a Note.

Copying a writable document

To Copy from a writable document like a Note:

1. Touch and hold your finger on the screen to display the Magnifying Glass.
2. Drag your finger to where you want the text selection to end. Note: Drag without lifting your finger off the screen.
3. A small "balloon" block appears with an option to Select or Select All.
4. If you touch Select, the screen displays two little draggable dots, to allow you to change the size of the selection.
5. Select All selects all of the current screen/document.

Copying a locked document

You can also copy text from a locked, or unwritable document like a Web page:

To Copy from a locked document:

1. Touch and hold your finger on the screen to display the Magnifying glass.
2. Drag your finger to where you want the Selection to begin.
3. The word to the left of the insertion point will be highlighted, with two small draggable dots around it, and a small ballon around the word Copy.
4. Use the small blue draggable dots to Select the text you want to copy.
5. Touch the Copy balloon.

In iPhone 3.0 right now you can Paste to both the Mail and Memo applications; I expect we'll see a flurry of application updates with support for Cut,Copy and Paste in the next few weeks.

To Paste using an iPhone.

1. Go to the place you wish to Paste the Copied text, and touch the screen.
2. Lift your finger when you see the Magnifying glass.
3. You'll see a small "balloon" with the word Paste; it will also probably say Select and Select All. Touch Paste to Paste the text from the iPhone's clipboard.

Bonus iPhone editing tip; want to undo the last few things you typed? Shake the iPhone, carefully and you'll have a choice of screen buttons; Undo Typing and Cancel.