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Bluetooth keyboard - but I lose the on screen keyboard

A

askywalker

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 18, 2007
167
0
I am hoping that I am just missing some settings for the bluetooth keyboard. Can I enable the on screen keyboard as well?

I was hoping that I could use whichever one I wanted - saving the keyboard for the big typing marathons, but still walking around with it and using on screen when passing it around etc...

Anyone know a way? Only way I have been able to is to go into the settings and turn on/off bluetooth, but that is not very convenient.
 
I think pressing the eject or maybe escape button on the bt keyboard may bring it up. Been a while since I tried the keyboard with my iPad and don't have it to hand just now but I'm sure it was something like that.
 
markab said:
I think pressing the eject or maybe escape button on the bt keyboard may bring it up. Been a while since I tried the keyboard with my iPad and don't have it to hand just now but I'm sure it was something like that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately Escape and the eject aren't working for me. Will keep poking.

Side note - it is nice to have the volume, brightness etc.. working from the keyboard.
 
The only solution I've been able to find is to power off the BT keyboard when you are not actually using it.
 
The Eject works to bring up virtual keyboard but only when you have clicked in a text box and the cursor is flashing.
 
That is good to know about the eject key. I hope they come up with something that can be triggered from the ipad - since it is usually when holding the ipad that you realize that you need the keyboard.

I didn't even realize that holding the button for a few seconds acted as a power toggle. When I put the keyboard in my bag, I often end up with dead batteries (something has been pushing on a key I suppose). I end up finding a coin, taking out one of the batteries, and reversing that process when taking it out of my bag. Does this power off help with that? Anyone else find a faster workaround for carrying this thing around with you? The mouse has a nice physical slider, so no problems there...
 
This is what I was worried about since I'm thinking of getting an apple bluetooth keyboard instead of the keyboard dock. So when I have the ipad on my desk, and I'm using the bt keyboard but decide to walk away with the ipad, I would have to turn off the bt keyboard? Since I would still be in bt range I would not be able to bring up the onscreen keyboard correct? Thanks
 
My workaround is to go into the iPad's settings and turn Bluetooth off when I'm not using the keyboard. If you need to use Bluetooth for something else, you can also unpair the keyboard, though pairing it up again is a bit of a pain.
 
Skystar said:
This is what I was worried about since I'm thinking of getting an apple bluetooth keyboard instead of the keyboard dock. So when I have the ipad on my desk, and I'm using the bt keyboard but decide to walk away with the ipad, I would have to turn off the bt keyboard? Since I would still be in bt range I would not be able to bring up the onscreen keyboard correct? Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes, that's correct. It's funny because the Bluetooth range is sometimes greater than the wifi range on my 'pad.
 
Night Spring said:
My workaround is to go into the iPad's settings and turn Bluetooth off when I'm not using the keyboard. If you need to use Bluetooth for something else, you can also unpair the keyboard, though pairing it up again is a bit of a pain.
Click to expand...

This is what I do as well. Turn off the bluetooth via the iPad settings when not using the keyboard. I also do this when I'm taking the iPad with me in my car on my way to meeting. I'll disable the bluetooth.
 
Yeah Im actually trying to figure out if I'm going to even need it. This is day 14 and so i have to either return it or forever hold my peace.

The problem is, i only use it for like 10 minutes at work. I don't even bring it home and i can type decent on the touchscreen where i'm not like "gosh, i would like a keyboard"

only thing nice about having the keyboard is that i can keep the ipad vertical and have a full keyboard to use. But using the bluetooth keyboard makes me feel so disconnected. The ipad loses some of its personal connection to me, if people can relate to that.
 
Why would you want the BT keyboard on when you aren't using it anyway? It's easy enough to turn it off and on. Combined with the eject key for when it is on, this is a non-issue IMO.
 
pooryou said:
Why would you want the BT keyboard on when you aren't using it anyway? It's easy enough to turn it off and on. Combined with the eject key for when it is on, this is a non-issue IMO.
Click to expand...

For example, I walked out of the room with the iPad (or iPhone) and the keyboard is in the other room. Now I can't type...

(Or I was in the car and the keyboard was in the trunk, but still on...)

There should be an easy way to get the on-screen keyboard. And I thought I read about and easy way but I can't find the information.

Gary
 
Thanks for the tips. I am using the Apple aluminum miniature wireless keyboard on my iPad to type this reply.

What I discovered:

1. Once paired you don't need to re-pair with the iPad.
2. To bring up virtual kb press the eject button on the physical kb.
3. To bring up the virtual kb while away, turn the physical kb off by holding the power button down (left side battery compartment) for 3 seconds till the green light goes off.
4. To reconnect the physical kb just press the power button for a second.
5. Not having a mouse at the same time feels very weird. Will take some getting use to using the touch screen instead. :apple:
 
garylapointe said:
For example, I walked out of the room with the iPad (or iPhone) and the keyboard is in the other room. Now I can't type...

(Or I was in the car and the keyboard was in the trunk, but still on...)

There should be an easy way to get the on-screen keyboard. And I thought I read about and easy way but I can't find the information.

Gary
Click to expand...

I've had the same problem. That BT signal is powerful. :)

Was wondering why my on-screen keyboard wasn't coming up and realized that I had mistakenly turned the BT keyboard back on when I was slipping it back into its case.
I didn't know anything about the Eject function. Now I do. :)
 
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