title: Special Characters
description: Type symbols, accents, and currency
category: Typing
difficulty: intermediate
related_spec: ../specs/typing/special-characters-spec.md
Special Characters
Access symbols, accented letters, diacritics, and currency symbols through long-press menus and short swipe gestures.
Quick Summary
| What | Description |
|---|
| Purpose | Type characters not on main keyboard |
| Access | Long-press or short swipe on keys |
| Types | Symbols, accents, currency, punctuation |
Methods to Access Special Characters
Method 1: Long-Press
Hold any key to see available special characters:
- 1. Touch and hold a key for ~600ms
- 2. A popup appears showing available characters
- 3. Slide to select the character you want
- 4. Release to type it
Common long-press characters:
| Key | Long-Press Options |
| a | à á â ã ä å æ ā |
| e | è é ê ë ē ė ę |
| o | ò ó ô õ ö ø ō œ |
| n | ñ ń |
| s | ß ś š |
| c | ç ć č |
Method 2: Short Swipe
Faster access via quick flick gestures:
- 1. Touch the key
- 2. Flick in the direction of the subkey
- 3. The character types immediately
Example on 'e' key:
- • Swipe North: Number (3)
- • Swipe South: é (common accent)
- • Swipe East/West: Other variations
Method 3: Symbol Keyboard
For extensive symbols:
- 1. Tap ?123 to switch to numbers/symbols
- 2. Tap =\< for more symbols
- 3. Find mathematical, currency, and special symbols
Common Special Characters
Punctuation
| Character | How to Type |
| " (curly quotes) | Long-press " key |
| — (em dash) | Long-press - key |
| – (en dash) | Long-press - key |
| … (ellipsis) | Long-press . key |
| ¿ | Long-press ? key |
| ¡ | Long-press ! key |
Currency Symbols
| Character | Location |
| $ | Main symbol keyboard |
| € | Long-press $ or symbol keyboard |
| £ | Long-press $ or symbol keyboard |
| ¥ | Long-press $ or symbol keyboard |
| ₹ | Symbol keyboard |
Mathematical Symbols
| Character | Location |
| × | Long-press * |
| ÷ | Long-press / |
| ± | Symbol keyboard |
| ≠ | Symbol keyboard |
| ≤ ≥ | Symbol keyboard |
Accented Characters (Diacritics)
For languages requiring diacritics:
Acute Accent (é)
- • Long-press the base letter
- • Select from popup
Grave Accent (è)
- • Long-press the base letter
- • Select from popup
Circumflex (ê, î, ô, û, â)
Method 1 - Long-press (all layouts):
- • Long-press the base letter (e, i, o, u, a)
- • Select the circumflex variant from popup
Method 2 - Dead key (AZERTY):
- • Swipe north on j key to access circumflex dead key (^)
- • Then type the base letter (e, i, o, u, a)
- • The combined character appears (ê, î, ô, û, â)
Umlaut/Diaeresis (ë)
- • Long-press the base letter
- • Select from popup
Tilde (ñ)
- • Long-press n or a/o
- • Select from popup
Cedilla (ç)
- • Long-press c
- • Select from popup
Tips and Tricks
- • Learn subkeys: Check which characters are in which direction
- • Speed: Short swipes are faster than long-press once learned
- • Customize: You can change subkey assignments in Settings
- • Language packs: Some accents only appear with language pack installed
- • Dead keys (AZERTY): Use j-north for ^, d-north for `, d-south for ´, then type the letter
- • All layouts supported: Long-press works on QWERTY, AZERTY, Dvorak, etc.
[!TIP]
If you frequently use certain special characters, consider customizing subkey positions to place them in easier-to-reach directions.
Settings
| Setting | Location | Description |
| Long-Press Timeout | Input Behavior | Time before popup appears |
| Short Swipe Distance | Gesture Tuning | Sensitivity for flick gestures |
Related Features
- • Short Swipes - Gesture-based character access
- • Per-Key Actions - Customize subkeys
- • Emoji - Emoji and emoticons