Didn’t think of this, thanks for the tip!
You are welcome.
I still hope that at some point in the future, we have those buttons on mobile too. Maybe it hasn't been implemented yet, because of space restrictions. If you put too many elements next to the ditor your might end up with only one line for editing text. 
Thanks for the tip on using auto-correct to work around this issue.
I do agree, though, that writing markdown on the Android app is a real pain and the most likely use case is a simple todo list. Evernote uses a simple 1 line toolbar with WYSIWYG type elements on it. Markdown button type shortcuts that only take up 1 line would work really well.
This would make the mobile versions a lot easier to use but is probably difficult to implement!
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Is there a similar workaround for iOS? Markdown is incredibly tedious on a mobile keyboard without some sort of toolbar and I’m very surprised Joplin doesn’t have this yet.
Not sure about the built-in keyboard, but it works with the Google Keyboard on iOS. I think at one point there will be a toolbar. I think there’s a branch on github.
I’ve used the Google Keyboard. There’s a specific markdown toolbar on it? Did not notice that before.
I thought you were talking about this workaround:
I really need this as well. In 2019, even mid range and budget phones have high resolutions with lots of screen space.
A simple one line button row like on desktop makes a lot of sense.
Ah. No. I was talking about the post directly above mine, which links to an Android-only keyboard that seems to provide a nice little editing toolbar allowing for one-touch entering of markdown sequences. Making things bold isn’t so bad, but hyperlinking URLs and having to repeatedly type - [ ] for single checkbox is tedious. Edit: Google found this - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/markdown-keyboard/id945466386 - might be worth checking out. Edit 2: Newp - not for $5…
Right, I enter ti on my Android phone & my iPad and - [ ] shows up in the suggestion bar. So even, if I don’t have continuation or a toolbar, I only have to type ti and click on the suggestion.
Understood. This is still three keystrokes instead of one, better but not perfect. Here’s a pic of what we have in the Notebooks app by way of example.
Here's an idea that might be easier to implement: when you press Enter, if the line is a list item (starts with - , - [ ], - [x] or <number>. , insert the same prefix on the next line. That way you solve the most annoying common problem with typing on mobile phones without having to modify the UI.
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@tessus Thanks for the great hint with the shortcut! 
I also added li shortcut for a list item - and lii for a corresponding sublist item with leading spaces. It's so much easier to enter such lists now. Thanks again! 
Glad it helped.
I just hope that at one point in the future there will be a proper editor on mobile.
The problem is that it's an upstream problem. The react native components for text input are not that great. This is also one of the reasons why there aren't any react-native editors available.
I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Yes iphone has a setting for adding keyboard shortcuts (dig through your settings I can't remember where)
Scarlet note app does markdown shortcuts pretty well, I suggest the devs have a look at it's UX. In the meantime for multiling O keyboard with the auto-text plugin is a good android KB for adding markdown shortcuts
Is scarlet note using react-native? If not, please search for the reasons why there isn't a nicer editor on mobile.
It has been explained many times on this forum.
I want to add my voice to this feature request. In the current state, it makes using Joplin on mobile very slow and cumbersome to use for a shopping list where I need a list of checkboxes with the items to buy. Which in markdown is:
- - [ ] my item
Typing the 2 dashes, brackets and all spaces in between with a smartphone virtual keyboard is not ergonomic and as a consequence, I don't use Joplin for this.
ps : a list auto-comple when going to the next line would also fit my need as mcamou explained