support
Help
TextExpander touch has iPhone-formatted online help.
FAQs
Read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) below. Your question might already be answered.
Can't Find Your Answer?
If you can't find the answer you need in the Help or the FAQs, send an email to TextExpander touch Support. Smile's responsive support team will answer your email as quickly as possible!
We try to answer all our support mail within 24 hours — and most of the time much sooner than that! If you've emailed us and have not had a response within 24 hours, your email may not have reached us for some reason. Please resend it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does TextExpander touch have the same functionality as TextExpander for the Mac?
Given the current feature set of the iPhone OS, TextExpander touch cannot work in the background (as it does in Mac OS X), expanding text snippets while you work in other apps, except for TextExpander-enhanced iOS apps. You must first compose your text in the TextExpander touch Compose screen, and then transfer it to another app.
Does TextExpander touch work on the iPad?
Yes. Although it is designed for the iPhone, you can use TextExpander touch on the iPad at its native size or with pixel doubling. It will also work with TextExpander-integrated apps on the iPad.
Which iPhone and iPad apps have TextExpander-integration built-in?
See this complete list of TextExpander-enhanced iOS apps. You'll find popular apps like Twitter for iPhone, Simply Tweet, Simplenote and WriteRoom, and many others.
I want TextExpander touch in my favorite app. What should I do?
Let the developers know! Send an email and give them the link to our free SDK: http://www.smilesoftware.com/sdk. Developers are usually responsive to customer requests. You can also email us and let us know that you think your favorite apps would be great with TextExpander integration, so we can contact the developer as well.
Do I need TextExpander for the Mac to use TextExpander touch?
No. You can use TextExpander on your iPhone without having TextExpander on your Mac. You can create snippet groups, add new snippets, and assign abbreviations to them on the iPhone. You can also add Predefined groups (like AutoCorrect or Symbols), as well as add external snippet groups that you have uploaded to the internet.
Can I transfer my snippet groups from TextExpander on the Mac in TextExpander touch via WiFi?
If you use TextExpander for the Mac, it is very convenient to add the snippet groups on your Mac to TextExpander touch via your local network. Important: Your Mac and your iPhone (or iPod touch) must be on the same WiFi network. "Share groups on local network" must be checked in TextExpander preferences on your Mac.
1) From the Groups screen of TextExpander touch, tap the plus (+) button at the bottom.
2) Tap "Add via Local Network".
3) Tap the name of the Mac you'd like to add from.
4) Tap the name of the group you'd like to add.
5) An alert will appear in your TextExpander Preference Pane on your Mac, asking you to confirm that you want to send the group to your iPhone. Click "Send".
Can I sync with the TextExpander snippets on my Mac?
Syncing is not yet available between TextExpander on the Mac and TextExpander touch. You can replace snippet groups on your iPhone with the latest version from your Mac, but you cannot integrate new snippets in the same group via syncing.
Tip: We recommend setting up a group for snippets you create on your iPhone, keeping them separate from the groups on your Mac. Then you can periodically update the iPhone with the latest version of snippet groups from your Mac without erasing snippets created on the iPhone.
Which Twitter clients can TextExpander touch directly send text to?
- BirdFeed
- Twitterrific, Twitterrific Premium
- Twitter for iPhone (formerly Tweetie)
- Twittelator Pro
- TwitterFon, TwitterFon Pro
Are there any limitations to the suppported Twitter clients?
Currently, TwitterFon(Pro) only supports links, so if you send something other than a URL it won't deal with it gracefully.
Why can't I use other Twitter clients with TextExpander touch?
Some Twitter clients, such as TweetDeck and Birdfeed, do not support a URL schema such that they can be launched by TextExpander along with message content.
Other Twitter clients we may not have researched or may not be familiar with. Please let us know about them.
How do I add a snippets file via a URL?
First, you need to upload a snippets file to your server. Here's an example URL for a snippets file:
http://www.smilesoftware.com/te/example.textexpander
Then follow these steps:
1) Under Groups, tap the plus (+) icon.
2) Tap "Add Group via URL."
3) Enter the URL location of your snippet file.
Why doesn't TextExpander touch support rich text and images?
The iPhone's text views do not support rich text and images. The Mail application is an exception because it uses an HTML editor rather than the standard text view. There's also a bit of a Catch-22 in that the iPhone does not include code to access rich text strings as stored in your snippets and so there's no way for us to convert them to HTML "on the fly" on the iPhone. Perhaps we can improve this, though even if we do, it will only work for pasting into Mail.
What does TextExpander touch do to my Address Book?
By default, nothing. Prior to TextExpander 1.1, this is where TextExpander wrote the info to be shared when you enabled Share Snippets under Snippet Sharing in the TextExpander touch Settings. The purpose of this is to allow other iPhone applications access to the TextExpander data so that they can offer TextExpander functionality directly in their app using our free TextExpander engine library. TextExpander 1.1 and later write shared snippets to a persistent clipboard behind the scenes, so any “TextExpander” entry in your Address Book is no longer used and can be deleted.
Developers who are interested in integrating TextExpander functionality in their iPhone apps can download the TextExpander touch SDK.
Can't Find Your Answer?
If you can't find the answer you need in the Help or the FAQs, send an email to TextExpander touch Support. Smile's responsive support team will answer your email as quickly as possible!
We try to answer all our support mail within 24 hours — and most of the time much sooner than that! If you've emailed us and have not had a response within 24 hours, your email may not have reached us for some reason. Please resend it.
Video Tour
Check out this quick video tour of TextExpander touch's features.
Use TextExpander in other Apps
Many iPhone apps have TextExpander touch support, such as Twitter for iPhone (formerly Tweetie), SimplyTweet, Simplenote and Write Room. View the complete list of TextExpander-enhanced iOS apps.
textexpander for the mac
TextExpander saves you countless keystrokes on your Mac! Works with formatted text, images and scripts, too. And you can import your snippet groups directly into your iPhone snippet library.