5 tips for texting in cold weather
As the weather cools down, gloves can force you to choose between freezing your communications or freezing your fingers off. Here's how you can change a pair of regular gloves and make them touchscreen-friendly!
Texting in cold weather requires slight changes to the way you normally use your phone, but the cold shouldn't keep you from using your phone entirely. Needing to be outside in colder weather does require as much, if not more, of your concentration as a fair-weather day out, so don't allow yourself to become distracted on your phone when the weather requires your full attention.
To make texting easier this winter, try these five tips.
Photo by Meghan Schiereck
Voice Texting
For the most part, voice texting is a pain and not always reliable, but when you have to be hands-free, it is the best and fastest option. Voice-activated features on phones keep getting better and smarter, so when you are outside in the cold and need an option that doesn't include your hands, voice texting is the best option.
Short Keys
Short keys are not only fast and easy to use, but they can make it easier to text in the winter when you want to respond to a text with a quick answer. Texting abbreviated responses or common phrases into your phone will produce a longer response for you to select as your text response. Most phones already have short key options installed, and as you use the feature, it should become easier to text on the go.
Texting Gloves
Texting gloves have been around since the touchscreen was introduced, with just about every outerwear brand offering an option. Depending on the type of winter weather you are most often out in, shop for a pair of winter texting gloves that provide warmth, dexterity, and the ability to touch the screen in the same way your finger would.
Stylus
If you gave texting gloves a try, but you still aren't able to text coherently or comfortably, a stylus might be the answer. An iPhone stylus or touch pen can be used while wearing regular gloves. They are small enough and easy to carry, but the right stylus will provide you with enough of a grip to work just like a pen in your hand.
Wait
This tip is probably not the one you want to hear, but sometimes a text just has to wait. Winter weather can be brutal, and when you are outside walking in the elements, texting is not the best time to be distracted and on your phone. Keep the phone put away, watch for ice and snow in your path, and answer those texts when you are indoors again. Snow falling and melting on your screen is enough of a reason to keep your phone in your pocket anyway.
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