I'm a little jealous of those Gen Z'ers who can bang out words using only their thumbs, but spelling words swiping one finger across a keyboard is a close second but it takes a bit of brain rewiring to master. For example, in the images below I spell the word "instead" by placing my index finger on the "i", dragging that finger to the "n", onto the "s", etc., tracing out the word never lifting my finger off the screen until touching the last letter "d". It's critical to get the first letter touched correctly, but most often sliding your finger close enough to the other letters so its algorithm can properly guess the word is enough. Various apps have provided this capability for years, but when Apple added it to iOS 13 back in 2019, it went mainstream. I find it's most useful on small screens like an iPhone or my Pixel 7, less so on larger devices like the iPad.
If you try this, you will understand my earlier comment on brain rewiring. Your brain is used to your fingers tapping keys and remembers where the keys are in that context. But it doesn't know where those keys are in the context of swiping, so it takes some time to build up that mental pathway.
More information can be found at the link below.
