“Ah, Helmut, you want the German classes.” You got the classes and the language, too? Now get the umlauts: find out here how to type umlaut characters on iPhone and iPad.
First, Shake and Bake
The bread that you do not cut but break—by laying it on the table upside down and pressing down with gentle pressure—is special in the way it is made as well.
Schüttelbrot does not come from a mold, and each loaf (or sheet?) is unique. For Schüttelbrot (“shaken bread”) is shaken flat during production.
Now, of course, I’ll have to find out how to type that ü character to order some:
How to Type Umlaut Characters on iPhone
Using any Standard QWERTY, QWERTZ or AZERTY Keyboard
Time needed: 1 minute
To enter any umlaut character on an iPhone using iOS:
- Position the text cursor where you want to insert the umlaut character.
Here’s how: Tap and hold the Space bar, for instance, then move the cursor.
- Now tap and hold the character without umlaut “dots” corresponding to the umlaut you want to enter.
Example: To type
ë, tap and hold E on the U.S.-English iPhone keyboard.
Capital umlauts: For capital letters, first tap Shift (⇧), of course. - Now move the finger in the direction of the umlaut until the character you want to insert highlights.
- Let go to insert the umlaut.
Keyboard alternatives: Some international language keyboards offer dedicated keys for common umlaut characters; see below for enabling these.
Office: Inserting umlaut characters with the iPhone keyboard also works in Word (and other Office apps), of course.
More German: How to Type Eszett ‘ß’ (“German B”) on an iPhone
More of everything: How to Find and Type Special Characters on an iPhone
Using a Keyboard That Includes Umlaut Keys
To add a keyboard with dedicated umlaut keys to your iPhone:
- Open the Settings app.
- Select the General category.
- Go to Keyboards.
- Select Keyboards again at the top.
- Choose Add New Keyboard….
- Select a language that is commonly written with umlaut characters.
Example: German would, of course, be one such language. - Select a keyboard layout different from QWERTY, QWERTZ and AZERTY.
Why: These layouts typically include umlauts only using the method above.
Example: For German, choose the German layout.
Now, of course, you can
- tap individual umlaut keys to insert their characters.
How to Type Umlaut Characters on iPhone
A form, site, or app does not accept umlaut characters; what can I use instead?
If true umlauts get jumbled or are not accepted in certain text, you can use US-ASCII alternatives:
aefor äefor ëifor īoefor öuefor ü
Can I also copy and paste umlauts for use on an iPhone?
Yes.
You can copy the umlaut characters easily using buttons for pasting anywhere on iPhone.
(How to type umlaut characters on iPhone tested with iOS 15–17; first published May 2022, last updated March 2024)