Hack of the week: Make love to your apostrophe

When I’m using my smartphone, I almost develop a facial tick whenever I’m typing a word that needs an apostrophe. Usually, I’m on the go and want to minimise keystrokes and tap out a super quick message. But then comes a word that needs an apostrophe like:

I’ll
He’ll
We’re
We’ll

And I’m torn between my need for speed (which would result in words like “ill, hell, well, and were”) … and my inner editor, who simply cannot bear the thought of someone reading sentences littered with such crimes to punctuation.

But then I discovered this hack. You may already know it. When I discovered it, the angels sang, the sun emerged from the clouds and stress immediately left by body. (I know, dramatic, but true).

So what is it?

If you’re typing a word like he’ll … type the last letter twice (in this case the letter l).

You’ll find that your smartphone recognises that there’s meant to be an apostrophe in there and inserts it.

It works for all those other pesky words like she’ll, we’ll, we’re, and I’ll too.