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Sticky for Bluetooth keyboards

Could we have a sticky listing bluetooth keyboards that people have found work with the Sensation?
Maybe just start by everyone who has had a keyboard working posting the make and model in this thread?

mrcharly said:
Could we have a sticky listing bluetooth keyboards that people have found work with the Sensation?
Maybe just start by everyone who has had a keyboard working posting the make and model in this thread?
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i-Tech virtual kb. Oldie but goodie. I had to buy the drivers from a site (I forget where lol) Works like 80% of the time, but cool looking! LOL
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My rom is Android revolution HD 6.4.0
My bluetooth keyboard is a dell Y-RAQ-DEL2
Seems to work ok. Wish I had a bluetooth mouse to go with it. Pairing is simple. Just go to the bluetooth screen on android. Now turn the keyboard on and hold down the pairing bluetooth button on the back til the dell keyboard is detected on the android side. A key will be listed so just type it in and the pairing is finished.

Rom: VI 4.0
Bluetooth keyboard: Apple bluetooth keyboard
I did pair the mouse but it didn't seam to do anything

I've had luck using the keyboard for the Motorola Xoom/Atrix. You just need to put the keyboard into computer pair mode by turning it on while holding keys V+A+R, and you can pair it to admitting else with Bluetooth. I've used it with my sensation, Xoom and touchpad.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

Hi,
I just bought this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004EFZ2FA/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=
So far it's okay. The keypad is fairly squashed and is a bit awkward to use because it's laid out in a 'chocolate box style' rather than staggered, but at the same time it's not quite small enough to hold in your hands and reach all of the keys with your hands. The keys feel pretty cheap, but for £20, what do you expect, especially as it has a mouse too : )
However, having said that, now that ICS is here the mouse function works everywhere, not just in certain apps. This gives almost full control of the phone. The only thing missing initially (that I've noticed) was the ability to press 'Menu'. I've solved this by altering the keyboard layout file as per the instrustions here: http://chris.boyle.name/2010/08/android-keymaps. I chose to re-map the 'Alt Gr' to menu.
By trial and error I'm finding all sorts of Ctrl key combinations to do various things, such as open bookmarks in the web browser (Ctrl B), history (Ctrl H) and so on.
On the plus side it will be small enough to go in a suitcase to take on holiday along with my MHL cable so I can plug it into tvs in the hotel room. Yeah baby!!!

[Q] Issues with USB wireless keyboard via OTG

I purchased a Rapoo E9070 wireless keyboard with high hopes that it would work great as a full size typing companion for my Tab S 8.4 LTE. At first it wouldn't work with just the OTG cable, but I finally got it to register key presses after installing External Keyboard Helper Pro. There's just one problem: it gets disconnected the moment I hit the CapsLock key or the Numpad Enter key. The second I hit one of those keys, i get a keyboard connected-keyboard disconnected infinite loop in my notification bar, until I pull out the OTG. Plugging it back i fixes everything, but it's really annoying, especially in the middle of a meeting where I use my unorthodox combo of tablet + full size wireless keyboard the most.
Anyone have similar experiences or know of a workaround for this?
TIA!

My Logitech wireless keyboard works fine with the unifying receiver plugged into an OTG cable even without any app. Have you tried setting up the wireless keyboard on a computer first?

snapper.fishes said:
My Logitech wireless keyboard works fine with the unifying receiver plugged into an OTG cable even without any app. Have you tried setting up the wireless keyboard on a computer first?
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Yes I'm typing with it right now. First time I plugged it in to my PC, it just downloaded a driver and is working perfectly with no need for any tweaking or other installs. I don't know much about how hardware communicates, but I'm thinking it might have something to do with Samsung devices not having a dedicated caps lock key on it's on-screen keyboards (you press the shift button twice to lock caps, and once more to release). Maybe the Tab S simply doesn't recognize the code the caps lock key throws at it, so it goes haywire and kicks the keyboard off or something.

pawces said:
Yes I'm typing with it right now. First time I plugged it in to my PC, it just downloaded a driver and is working perfectly with no need for any tweaking or other installs. I don't know much about how hardware communicates, but I'm thinking it might have something to do with Samsung devices not having a dedicated caps lock key on it's on-screen keyboards (you press the shift button twice to lock caps, and once more to release). Maybe the Tab S simply doesn't recognize the code the caps lock key throws at it, so it goes haywire and kicks the keyboard off or something.
Does your keyboard have a caps lock or numpad enter key? do they work?
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There's no num pad, but there's a cap lock. I can bring the keyboard back home tonight test it. (I normally keep the keyboard in office)
edit: So I took the keyboard home but forgot to bring the receiver
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I am going to bring the tablet into work tmr.

Alright I did the test. I used a Logitech K360 keyboard, and in contrary to my memory it DOES have a numpad. Both the cap lock and the num lock worked as they should. The Enter key also works.
You said that you had to download a driver in order to use your keyboard on the PC. Do you know if your keyboard can be used with the generic keyboard driver that comes with Windows?

i uninstalled the rapoo driver from my PC and it still seems to work fine. Anyway, I guess not all wireless keyboards are equal, so I'm just going to take this as a learning experience and test accessories thoroughly before buying. The rapoo will just be relegated as my desktop keyboard, and I'm now in search of a folding BT keyboard for the tab along the lines of this thing -> http://www.amazon.com/iLepo-Foldable-High-touch-Bluetooth-Microsoft/dp/B00S7W41P8/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1426581018&sr=1-3&keywords=flyshark

[NO ROOT] No navbar | Pie controls - Free your screen and prevent burn-ins

Don't you hate the navbar?
Isn't it way to big and destroys look of the beautiful big screen?
And what about burn-ins?
There's a simple solution.
Completely hide the navbar and use PIE instead.
And it even makes one hand usage easier. Especially for S8+.
You no longer have to try to reach the statusbar or the back or recents button - doesn't matter on which hand you hold the phone.
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Info:
This is a no-root solution. This won't trip knox nor will you loose your phones guarantee.
Anyway, all these steps are described as is and everything you do is on your own risk.
Don't blame me if anything goes wrong. But there isn't anything risky at all, so you should be safe.
Step-by-step guide:
Go to PlayStore and download Shortcutter Quick Settings and Pie Control
Go into Android settings and select developer settings at the very bottom (if you don't have it, do the steps described here)
Activate USB-Debugging
Make sure ADB and the needed drivers are installed on your computer. If not, do the 15 seconds installation described here.
Connect your phone to your computer and approve/allow all dialogs coming up on your phone.
Open CMD on your computer and write in the following 'adb shell pm grant com.leedroid.shortcutter android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS' (without asterics)
Wait few seconds. Then you can disconnect your phone again from your computer.
Open the app "Pie Control" you installed before on your phone and select 'Side'.
Activate the option 'ENABLE SIDE AREA' on the top using the slider
Click on the 'Level 1' tab and remove all entries there using the recycle bin icon.
Click on the first entry on Button 1, 2 and 3 and add the navigation buttons ('Tools' > 'Home' / 'Back' / 'Recent apps')
You should now be able to slide from both edges of the screen and the PIE controls with the three important buttons ('Home' / 'Back' / 'Recent apps') should come up
(You might want to change the settings on the 'Level 2' tab as well. I set them to 'Volume control', 'Camera', and 'Notification', which brings up the notification bar)
Next we need to get rid of the navigation bar.
Open the app "Shortcutter Quick Settings" you installed before on your phone and activate the very first option 'Security settings'.
Swipe right and activate "Immersive" (you might deactivate all the others if you don't need them).
Swipe down the status/notification bar with two fingers so that the quick setting tiles come up.
Tap on the three dots on the top right and select the first option.
Drag&drop the 'Immersive' tile from the bottom to the top setting tiles.
Tap on Done on the top right.
Now click on the 'Immersive' tile and then select the last option 'NO NAV'.
We're done!
Here some pictures how some apps look like after these steps and how PIE looks like.
Enjoy!

there's another way more simple and no root required ,download GMD immersive from playstore

Why Gboard sucks

I recently upgraded to a new Moto x4 phone to replace my beloved HTC One M8. I have some problems and challenges getting it set up but I'm fairly happy. One exception is the default keyboard that came with my fi Android One phone (v8.1) and that's Gboard. Perhaps I am spoiled by the lovely HTC Sense keyboard I've become accustomed to but for me there are some important features which are missing from Gboard.
Both boards. HTC Sense (left) and Gboard (right)
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1. It's the mic or the strip. Notice above that the microphone on Gboard is attached to the suggestions strip so if you hide the strip you have no microphone. Personally I can't stand the suggestion strip and never use it on my old phone but I use voice to text constantly. I shouldn't have to chose.
2. There are no arrow keys on Gboard. This one is extremely frustrating because now I have to tap the screen 15 times to get the cursor where I want it. Repeat that action about 50 times a day and the frustration level is high. With arrow keys I know exactly how to move the cursor to the proper place so I don't have to stare at the phone while I engage in more target practice. HTC Sense does it right:
3. You cannot add words to the custom dictionary from Gboard. This one just boggles my mind. On all keyboards I've ever used if you tap a word that's not already in the dictionary you are prompted to add it to the dictionary. With Gboard you have to go to Settings>System>Languages & Input>Virtual Keyboard>Gboard>Dictionary>Personal Dictionary>English if you want to add words. Yes 8 key presses to get there... hope you still remember the word(s) you wanted to add. This is how it's supposed to work shown in context and from the suggestion bar:
4. No input settings button on Gboard. Not only does Gboard force you to go 8 layers deep into the settings to add words... they don't even give you a button on the keyboard to get you started. Once again the HTC Sense keyboard who's settings button takes you straight to input settings:
5. No tap to correct words/phrases on voice to text. On the HTC Sense if you use voice to text and see you've made a mistake you just tap the word and it brings up alternative words AND phrases to help you make a quick correction. On Gboard... you are tapping to place the cursor (lame!) and correcting it all manually. Examples from the HTC Sense:
Now in this case I would love to be wrong. If anyone knows a way to get these functions working (or correct me for being blind) please let me know. Currently I just have to put with a drastic reduction in functionality when I'm texting. I'm sure I'll get over it.

Question Pixel 7 Pro, swap keyboard?

Is there a way to change the look of the keyboard. I prefer keys that have symbols available on a press and hold.
On my last phone, an LG G7, I was able to install the Google Keyboard that allowed this. Strange that on a Google branded Pixel phone I can't find this keyboard.

Hmm I don't know if this is possible with the stock keyboard (I'll let others confirm or deny). Might be better off using Swiftkey. I know that level of customization is easily accomplished with it, as I use it and have the same preference as you.

i went with smartkeyboard pro cos I'm a dinosaur and have to have a t9 keyboard. its quite old now but still works great.

andygold said:
Is there a way to change the look of the keyboard. I prefer keys that have symbols available on a press and hold.
On my last phone, an LG G7, I was able to install the Google Keyboard that allowed this. Strange that on a Google branded Pixel phone I can't find this keyboard.
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The stock keyboard does have symbols on press and hold? Are you saying you don't want the symbols visible on the keyboard? I can't imagine that's a very popular feature seeing how I've used these keyboards for so many years and still have to look to see where symbols are from time to time - it's basically the only time I'm even looking at the keyboard - so I'm not surprised there isn't a setting for it.

I prefer to have the alternative symbols showing on the keyboard.
Right now, my stock keyboard DOES NOT have alternative symbols. If I hit and hold on a letter, it types out once, and offers me no optional characters.

andygold said:
I prefer to have the alternative symbols showing on the keyboard.
Right now, my stock keyboard DOES NOT have alternative symbols. If I hit and hold on a letter, it types out once, and offers me no optional characters.
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And you're using Gboard?
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That would be a new one for me.

I just figured it out!
There's an arrow at the top left of the keyboard. Click it, and another menu pops up with 3 dots. Click the 3 dots , and a Settings gear shows up. On those settings are all the various keyboards and options I've been looking for. Under Preferences I was able to add the numbers at the top of the board, and I was also able to enable "long press for symbols"

andygold said:
I just figured it out!
There's an arrow at the top left of the keyboard. Click it, and another menu pops up with 3 dots. Click the 3 dots , and a Settings gear shows up. On those settings are all the various keyboards and options I've been looking for. Under Preferences I was able to add the numbers at the top of the board, and I was also able to enable "long press for symbols"
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Yeah I had just found the setting as well. Glad you got it figured out.