iPad Keyboard Annoyances

I have a couple of grudges when it comes to using physical keyboards on iPad running iOS 9. Be it Apple’s Smart Keyboard or third-party keyboards like Logitech’s UltraThin or Keys-To-Go.

Apple’s Smart Keyboard

UltraThin

Keys-To-Go

I’m much faster when using physical keyboards on iPad. Especially the 9.7″ iPads, where there’s no number row. But some things are a major bummer.

No option to turn off the caps the lock key

I accidentally hit the caps lock key without noticing it. There’s no visible indication that caps lock has been turned on. So after typing a couple of words I have to erase them, turn off caps lock and type them again.

Spotlight search is slow to accept typing

Using Spotlight on an iPad with a physical keyboard by hitting command+space is slow. You get the normal animation you would get when using the touchscreen. While it’s helpful when using the touchscreen as it mimics the gestures you do, it’s useless when using a physical keyboard as there is nothing to mimic. And because of the animation the typed keys are not registered. You have to wait until the animation has finished. But it looks like iOS 10 is way faster.

Bluetooth losing connection

On keyboards which use Bluetooth to connect to iPads – that means all keyboards but the Smart Keyboard – there are intermittent connection drops which make it an awkward typing experience. Typed characters appear on the screen delayed. Especially using the arrow or delete keys are awkward in this moment as you never know if you hit the keys a sufficient number of times or more.

Solutions

The first two points can be addressed by Apple in a future iOS update. The last one probably not. Bluetooth has always been unreliable for me since – I don’t know – the first time I used it over 15 years ago? I don’t expect it to change anytime in the future.