How to Use Multi-Tap

Multi-tap maps different letters to each cell phone key.

Modern cell phones must be equipped for text messaging just as fully as they are for calling. Many users, particularly young people, use text messaging more than they do voice calling, so several different styles of text entry have been developed to solve the problem of phone keypads traditionally having less than 26 letter keys. One of these is multi-tap, in which each number key is responsible for more than one letter, and different letters are reached by pressing the key multiple times.

Instructions

1. Open a function on your phone that requires text entry, such as text messaging or saving a person's name to the "Contacts" section.

2. Tap the number key containing the first letter you wish to write. If your phone supports multi-tap, the letters will be written on the keys below the numbers.

3. Tap the key again if the letter you want to type is the second or third letter on the key. For example, if the word you want to write starts with "Y," hit the "9" key three times: once for "W," twice for "X" and three times for "Y."

4. Input two letters from the same key by separating them with a pause. For example, to write the word "high" (whose letters are all printed on the "4" key), hit the key twice for "h," pause; hit the key three times for "i," pause; press the key once for "g," pause and hit the key twice again for the second "h."

5. Separate words by pressing the key designated as "Space" on your phone. Some phones use the "0" key for this, whereas others have a dedicated "Space" key under the numbers.

6. Add punctuation such as commas and periods by tapping the "1" key multiple times. As there are more than three punctuation marks assigned to this key, they are not printed on the keypad, and their order differs between phones. Typically, one or two taps will yield a period or comma, respectively.

7. Press the phone's "OK" or "Send" button when you have finished inputting your text.

References

• "User Manual: Samsung Fantasy;" Samsung; 2005
• MultiTap Phone: Multitap Overview