A certain brand of keyboard aficionado should be quite pleased if they own iPhones today. That’s because Apple finally made the Dvorak keyboard available natively in iOS 16. Ars Technica and The Verge report that Apple slipped the 86-year-old layout into the most recent iOS update.
August Dvorak and William Dealey developed the Dvorak keyboard layout in the 1930s to make a keyboard that required less finger movement to type than the traditional QWERTY keyboard. The design never caught on with the general public. However, it attracted a small but committed user base that extols the design’s superiority in terms of typing speed, fewer errors, and reduced repetitive strain injuries.
Until now, Dvorak keyboard users that owned iPhones had to download third-party keyboards to use their favorite layout on their smartphones. However, Android users have had Dvorak installed natively on their devices since 2012. Apple has included native support for Dvorak in Mac computers since 1998. Why Apple excluded Dvorak from iOS for this long and why it quietly decided to change that remains unknown.
If you’re one of the few who have been waiting for an iOS-native Dvorak keyboard, you can switch over by going to Settings > General. Then tap on Keyboard > Keyboards. Next, hit English (US). And finally, tap on Dvorak.
Sources: The Verge, Ars Technica
