Copy and paste comes to the iPhone, unofficially
One of the biggest complaints about the iPhone (something other mobile users cite to prove the superiority of their own operating systems) is the lack of copy and paste. Well, there's now a workaround available, and it's not from Apple.
Pastebud shows off one possible method of implementing copy and paste in the iPhone environment. It uses a combination of bookmarklets and email to copy the text you want from Mail or Safari into Pastebud so you can then paste it somewhere else.
The cool thing about Pastebud is that it doesn't require an app download or a jailbreak. Since it works through email over the network, security is obviously a concern for the developers. They're addressing it by adding SSL and destroy-on-paste, but I don't really have a problem using it for public stuff like mobile blog posts.
I'm not sure how Apple will eventually implement copy and paste, but Pastebud is a good demonstration of one way they could go about it.












Comments
6
Subscribe to commentsblore40Jan 8th 2009 1:09PM
If you think about it, how will you implement cut and paste on the Apple's touch UI? If you swipe a single finger to "select" text, the entire display scrolls in the direction of the swipe. Apple will have to come up with a very cumbersome multi-finger gesture with a context menu to implement cut and paste.
JeffJan 8th 2009 11:36AM
Double Tap. Double tap where you want to start and then hold and swipe.
Or - a multifinger. Insert cursor, tap second finger and go....
btw - this was out a couple weeks ago.
DavidJan 8th 2009 12:11PM
The lack of copy/paste and voice dial are the two big show-stoppers for me getting an iPhone. I use copy/paste all the time on my Centro (and previous Palms) to move text to/from emails, contact entries, and websites. I can't imagine not having it. And, lack of voice-dial (and/or hard buttons for speed dial) make the iPhone useless (and illegal in CA) as a car phone.
Only two hours now until Palm's big announce at CES. I hope they don't blow it!
JamesJan 8th 2009 12:36PM
Opera 9.5 for WinMo supports drag-to-scroll, and the way they do it is a context-menu item to switch between "drag mode" and "select mode". I'm sure they could come up with a multi-touch command for the iPhone, but I think a mode toggle makes the most sense.
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