Magic Keyboard tip: how to switch between iOS software keyboard and your hardware keyboard
With an external (hardware) keyboard like the Magic Keyboard connected to your iPad, the onscreen (software) keyboard doesn’t appear. Apple in its wisdom does allow you to switch between the hardware and software keyboard, but it could have definitely done a better job surfacing that feature for average users who may be unaware it exists in the firsts place. Follow along with our step-by-step tutorial to learn how to quickly switch iPad keyboard between the stock iOS keyboard and your Magic Keyboard or any other physical iPad keyboard.
How to switch between hardware keyboard and iOS onscreen keyboard
To quickly switch between the onscreen software keyboard provided by iOS and your Magic Keyboard or other hardware keyboard for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, do this:
1) Open an app on your iOS device that accepts text input and tap the text field.
As an example, you could open Notes, or tap an existing chat in Messages or open Safari and tap the Smart Search field at the top. The key thing to remember here is that valid text field which accepts keyboard entry must be selected for the keyboard to become active.
2) With the text field selected, do the following to switch between the software keyboard and that hardware keyboard connected to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch:
Use onscreen keyboard
To use iOS’ onscreen software keyboard when a hardware accessory such as the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro is connected, first tap the down arrow key on the Magic Keyboard to bring up special controls like cut, copy and paste at the bottom, then touch and hold the chevron in the bottom-right corner until the stock software keyboard appears.
Use Magic Keyboard
To get back to using your Magic Keyboard when the onscreen keyboard is active, tap the bottom-right icon that looks like a keyboard with a downwardly-pointed arrow. This will hide the onscreen keyboard and make the hardware keyboard active again.
Do you happen to be using Apple’s Magic Keyboard for Mac with your iPad Pro?
TIP: Accessing the Emoji picker on iPad hardware keyboards without the Globe key
If so, simply press the Eject (⏏) key on the keyboard to use iOS’ software keyboard. To switch back to using your Magic Keyboard, press the Eject key again.
To see all the iPad keyboards from Apple, visit apple.com/ipad-keyboards
The 11-inch Magic Keyboard is available from Apple in exchange for $299. The 12.9-inch version is $349. The Magic Keyboard is compatible with the 2018-2020 iPad Pro models.
Need help? Ask iDB!
If you like this tutorial, pass it along to your friends and leave a comment below.
Got stuck? Not sure how to do certain things on your Apple device? Let us know via [email protected] and a future tutorial might provide a solution.
Submit your own how-to suggestions via [email protected].
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2020/04/27/hardware-keyboard-software-keyboard-switch-iphone-ipad-tutorial/
Leave a Reply