Follow the text caret

While you type, the camera follows the text caret, not the pointer resting somewhere else on the screen.

Grist — typing a new customer row cell by cell, with the camera following the caret

What it does

When you type, your pointer usually sits still somewhere else on the screen. With Follow the text caret on, a zoom that follows the cursor follows the blinking text caret instead. The camera moves along as your text grows, and moves on when you jump to the next cell or field.

Typing runs along a line, so the camera keeps that line near the middle and pans along it gently. Shortly after you stop typing, the camera goes back to following your pointer.

Turn it on or off

Open the Zoom tab in the inspector on the right.
Under Automatic zoom, switch Follow the text caret on or off.

It’s on for new recordings, and the preview changes as soon as you switch it.

When it can’t follow

No Accessibility permission: Framecast reads where the caret is through the Accessibility permission while you record. Without it, zooms follow the pointer. See Permissions.
Password fields: the camera never follows the caret into them.
Fixed point zooms: a zoom set to Fixed point stays where you put it. See Add and edit zooms.

Tip: with Frame what you click on as well, a one-line field is framed whole while you type in it.