Question: Is there some way to have a keyboard of type UIKeyboardTypeNamePhonePad start in phone number pad mode rather than alphabetic? The keyboard works well for what I need but I'd like it to start in the "other" mode since that is more likely what the user will enter.

Answer: 
I believe that by setting the `keyboardType` property to `UIKeyboardTypeNumbersAndPunctuation`, you will default to the numbers and punctuation view, while still having the option of returning to the "ABC" view. Apple's documentation on it: <http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/uikit/reference/UITextInputTraits_Protocol/Reference/UITextInputTraits.html>

Related question: [how to show numbers in the default keyboard initially for UITextField](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6234698/how-to-show-numbers-in-the-default-keyboard-initially-for-uitextfield)
In the textfield in question, You set the kind of keyboard you would like it to "activate":

```
[self.myTextfield setKeyboardType:UIKeyboardTypeNumberPad];

```