hardware keyboard shortcut to change keyboards from the Spanish keyboard

By Tony, 27 November, 2021

Forum
Apple Hardware and Compatible Accessories

Hi everyone,

I have several keyboards on my list on iOS, including the Spanish Latin America keyboard. Pressing ctrl+space on my Anker Bluetooth keyboard to switch between them works until I get to the Spanish Latin America keyboard, whereupon ctrl+space doesn't work anymore. The only way I can switch away from that keyboard is to turn off my hardware keyboard and use the on-screen icons. I've been searching the web to try to find a way to do this with the hardware keyboard, thinking it might be because the Spanish Latin America keyboard layout might have some difference in it to ensure proper entry of Spanish-language-specific characters that would disable the ctrl+space shortcut in favor of some other one. Nothing I've found has helped. I'm hoping some kind soul here has the answer. How do I switch away from the Latin American Spanish keyboard layout using my hardware keyboard on iOS if ctrl+space doesn't work?

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Comments

By Wenwei on Sunday, December 5, 2021 - 23:57

Thanks for the tip! I didn't even know control space enabled you to toggle between keyboards because I have a globe on my keyboard.

I just grabbed my iPad to see if my Spanish keyboard would behave the same way. You need to hold down control while pressing space to toggle through all your keyboards. Hope this helps and good luck!

By Tony on Sunday, December 5, 2021 - 23:57

Hi Wenwei,

thanks for your reply. Holding down ctrl works to cycle between the keyboards, including away from the Spanish keyboard, if I do so quickly and don't let go of ctrl. The issue I have is that when I type in Spanish and need to type in English, ctrl+space doesn't work, and I haven't been able to find an alternative keyboard command. Thus, wherever I go to type, the system remembers that I had been using the Spanish keyboard and activates that one unless I turn off my Bluetooth keyboard and use the screen icons to switch away from it. It's not the end of the world, but it has been bothering me for some years now, and I do switch between English and Spanish frequently enough for the issue to be a bit of an annoyance. I don't know if this happens with other non-English keyboards, as I only write in English and Spanish.

Hi Tony,

I now understand what you were asking. How many keyboards do you have installed? I have 6, and toggling between all my keyboards can be a bit annoying because I can't hit my globe key - I have to hold it down and cycle through all my keyboards quickly if I want to change my system keyboard.

Honestly, sometimes I'll just write in English and or in Spanish in whatever keyboard has been pulled up since I can still type diacritic marks using both the English and Spanish keyboards. My auto-correct has essentially been useless to me for years now, but if I'm only writing one or two words in a different language and then switching back, I don't see the need to toggle through my keyboards.

Sorry I wasn't much help! I don't know how non-Apple keyboards handle this shortcut, but for me, unless I plan on using two keyboards, my globe key cycles through my last two keyboards; I would never be able to simply hit globe and expect to select the system keyboard I want without expending a tiny bit extra effort.

By Tony on Sunday, December 5, 2021 - 23:57

Hi again,

The only way I can get the globe icon is to turn off my keyboard. Then I can use it to switch away from Spanish. It's not much effort for me. I would like to be able to switch away from Spanish without taking my hands off the keyboard, but the current way is quite doable until I find the solution, if it exists. I like to switch to the Spanish keyboard because when I do write in Spanish, it's usually for texting/chatting in a Spanish-only conversation, and using the Spanish keyboard does two things: Firstly, it lets me use the Spanish language spell check function in VO to correct misspelled words. Secondly, it changes the voice to a Spanish language one so I can proof what I read without having to use the English and thus understand it more clearly to help protect against typos that are not misspellings. I know it might sound picky to some folks. If I do find the solution, I'll try to remember to report back.

For sure! That makes sense. I have a physical globe key. I just hold it down and tap the keyboard on my screen with my other hand. It takes less than 2 seconds and I feel like my hand never leaves the keyboard. but that might not be as feasible or convenient for your type of setup and preferred workflow. I hope you find a more convenient solution soon!