Bluetooth keyboard

Whilst attempting to write this blog on my Samsung Galaxy Note2, I quickly realised the limitations of the on-screen keyboards, especially while in landscape (horizontal) mode, which most sites seem to work best with. When typing in portrait mode you at least have some screen area to play with and can see what you're doing, whereas using the on-screen keyboard in landscape mode you often can't see the capcha security image letters you need to type in.

Below is the screen before the keyboard appears.

And then the same screen after the keyboard appears. You can't even see the text that you're trying to edit.

With a screen a large as the Note 2 has it's quite ridiculous trying to enter text like that so the only alternative is a separate keyboard. I tried voice recognition but unfortunately it doesn't seem to like my Australian drawl very much.

As I can't seem to be able to find any WiFi Direct capable keyboards yet the only alternative is Bluetooth. I got one from Jaycar on special for $39.00 although I have since seen others elsewhere even cheaper. The best one I've found so far was at umart and was actually smaller than the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 screen which would make it ideal to slip into a leather wallet case even though the keys may not be large enough for any prolonged typing.  So far I'm quite happy with the xc-4945 model that I got from Jaycar, indeed writing this blog with it has turned what was quite a pain into something quite enjoyable. The cursor arrow keys are enough to justify the price I paid and the mouse pointer and everything else is just an added bonus.

How to connect your Bluetooth keyboard to your phone, tablet or other android device.

Pull down the status (indicator) bar at the top of your screen then press the Bluetooth toggle button to on. If already on, turn off, wait for a couple of seconds, then turn back on again. A popup box will appear with the option to make your device visible to other devices. This setting isn't needed to connect to my XC-4945 keyboard however other keyboards and devices might need it set to "visible" by ticking the box. It's a little counter intuitive as it seems like a tick to select the option would be agreeing with the setting as stated "visible only to paired devices", however ticking this option changes the statement to "visible to all devices" with a 2 minute timer counting down. So you only have 2 minutes until the phone reverts back to being visible only to paired devices.

If it works, you'll get another popup asking you to enter a 4 digit number and then the ENTER key on the keyboard. If that succeeds, you should now be able to use the keyboard. Test with the scroll wheel to flip between home screens.

If you can't see or move the cursor (mouse pointer) press the left mouse (trackball) button and it should start working. (The right mouse (trackball) button is a BACK button not the normal mouse right-click).

Unable to connect to or pair with Bluetooth keyboard or device. Incorrect PIN or password.

Occasionally you'll run into problems trying to connect especially if you un-pair and then try to re-pair with the keyboard. I found this out while researching for this post. My biggest and most important tip I can give you is that if you do manage to pair your keyboard, never, ever un-pair it.

Once paired and connected properly most things work as expected. However, for some unknown reason, probably battery life, the keyboard gets disconnected after 5 minutes of non use. It then takes about 3 to 4 seconds to reconnect (by pressing any key on the keyboard) then a further 10 to 15 seconds to fully connect and start working again. Even then you sometimes have to press the trackball mouse button to force it to behave properly. Always use the left mouse button to get the trackball working because the right mouse button doesn't work like a normal mouse right-click, instead it works like the back button on the phone.

There are some apps, currently untested by me, that apparently help with keeping the keyboard connected, probably by doing a connection check every 4 minutes to keep it alive and bypassing the 5 minute Bluetooth timeout. A better approach might be for android to tie the Bluetooth timeout to the screen timeout or let us set our own, or even better, use the new "Activities" profiles to determine when to stay connected and when to drop it. Either way, these are minor issues that will inevitably be fixed with new android updates.

When the keyboard is eventually connected properly it does actually work like a dream. For long winded emails and blog posts, there's nothing quite as liberating as ditching the on screen keyboard. You get the full benefit of every glorious pixel and you can lean back and type in a more relaxed and comfortable position.

Quick tips for android Bluetooth keyboards.

To re-connect an already paired device.

Make sure the phone's Bluetooth is turned on.
Press any key on the keyboard.

Wait 3 to 5 seconds for the on screen popup notice (unless you have popup tips disabled in settings). The keyboard might also flash the connection light (if it has one).

Wait a further 10 to 15 seconds and the keyboard should now work properly.

If the trackball (mouse) cursor doesn't appear or won't move, press the left mouse button (the right button is a back button) and the cursor should now work again.

The screen constantly scrolls or doesn't scroll properly.

The screen will auto scroll when the cursor approaches the edge of the screen, if the screen constantly auto scrolls down, your mouse is probably sitting at the bottom edge of the screen. Move the cursor away from the edge and it should behave normally again. If the screen doesn't scroll, perhaps the cursor isn't over the scrolling part of the page. The scroll wheel only works on the part of the screen that the cursor is actually hovering over and has focus. Move the cursor and left click somewhere to give focus to the screen or scrolling section.

How to change HomeScreens with the keyboard.

Use the cursor trackball and left button to simulate a swipe on the screen or just use the scroll wheel.

Which is the equivalent button on the keyboard for the phone's HOME button?

On the XC-4945 Bluetooth keyboard that I have here both the multimedia HOME button and pressing the trackball scroll wheel down act as the phone's default HOME button.

Other issues and problems I've noticed with using a Bluetooth keyboard with my Samsung Galaxy Note II Android smartphone.

Ctrl + Scroll Wheel doesn't zoom.

Incoming message disconnected the keyboard while in Chrome browser.

Keyboard's "Print Screen" button doesn't add a screenshot to the clipboard.

F3 button doesn't bring up search. In fact none of the F keys seem to do anything.

I'll try to update this page with extra info about bluetooth keyboards as I discover them, but if you have any useful info please add a comment below and perhaps save someone else some pain. Thanks.