On-screen keyboard bug continues

I don’t know that this is a bug. It seems like a usability issue. Namely, the way you specifically are using your devices. What devices are you using? The scrub gesture on the keyboard when it is up, brings down the keyboard. Double tapping in the edit box brings it back up again.

A bug means that you can reproduce it on multiple devices. It’s similarly means that other people are going through it. What version of iOS are you using? Are you using voiceover? Which voice are you using it with? What is your speech rate? How have you set up your gestures? Are they all default or did you change them? There are so many people on this website who barely know how to use their devices. And then they come on this website and they make a post like this. And nothing is volunteered. I usually give people the benefit of the doubt and go out of my way to do testing to see if I could reproduce an issue. I cannot in your case.

I had this problem earlier after a .x upgrade. It sucks, but you will need to reset your settings on your phone. There are instructions on how to do this without losing data on Apple's site.

I actually appreciated doing this because my phone settings had been corrupted after nearly 15 years of setting my iPHone 3GS and backing up and transferring settings all that time.

your keyboard will reappear and you'll have to do some resetting of apps and settings, but you will likely start experiencing the OS as it was meant to be experienced.

I don't know about problematic, but I am a fairly advanced user, and it keeps appearing for me. And enough people have mentioned the issue in this space itself for it not to be person-specific or setting-specific. I don't know what to call it if not a bug. And I don't know what the on-screen keyboard suddenly disappearing on you has got to do with what your speech rate is anyway. And at any rate, I don't think it's really sporting on anyone's part to make judgements on people's 'device knowledge' when such an issue with a rather high degree of frustration value is being discussed.

Are you a VoiceOver user?

I'm able to search using the amazon app with no issues when using voiceover.

Ash reign is like this and she or he doesn't care, they're just one of those people who likes to put others down.

Have you given the 'Reset Keyboard Dictionary' a shot? Contrary to the title description, this reset option actially has a number of useful keyboard adjustments.

1. It clears up the potentially endless list of words you have told the Keyboard to ignore over the years.
2. It corrects Autocorrect issues.
3. It completely clears the keyboard cache which, over time, will make the keyboard itself incredibly sluggish/unresponsive.
4. It will reset the keyboard back to factory settings, which can also clear up any sluggishness or glitches that may be occurring.

There is a downside, an the severity will be independently exclusive, and that is that any custom keyboard shortcuts will also be removed. however these too can cause issues over time.

For anyone wanting to give this a try do the following:
1. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset. Note that it will be the second option, not the last one, which will fully reset your entire iPhone.

HTH. 😀

Hi Louise,
I'm real sorry you are having to hassle with this useability design flaw. The very same thing happened to me, and it drove me nuts until I finally figured it out. My guess about the cause is an inadvertent touch on the screen. Could have happened in your pocket. Unfortunately, I don't know what touch actualy makes the onscreen keyboard disappear, although someone suggested the scrub gesture might be the cause.

Anyway, here is a list of suggestions for you to try. I wish I could be more specific. It's been a few months since I finally made the problem go away, and I am real sorry I just don't remember which of these finally did the trick once and for all. I'll list these suggestions in order of what I suspect is most likely to work. If one doesn't work, go on to the next.

single finger double tap the edit box.
or, single finger double tap and hold.
or, turn VoiceOver off and back on.
or, turn your iPhone off ad back on.
or, go to settings>general>keyboard and mess around in it, such as choosing a different keyboard and then switching back to the original.
or, google the problem

for me, once I did the right thing, I got real careful how I touched my phone, and the problem never returned. Smile. I hope the same thing happens for you.

Good luck!

Bruce

It’s problematic because it’s important to provide as much information about how you’re using your device so that people can give you feedback. How you use your device determines what you might be experoencing. As I mentioned, calling it a bug is problematic. Especially because many people have asked you if you’re using a Bluetooth keyboard and there hasn’t been any confirmation one way or the other. Similarly people have asked you if you’re using voiceover and there hasn’t been any confirmation one way or the other. Similarly people have asked if you are accidentally doing the scrub gesture on the keyboard and there hasn’t been confirmation one way or the other (although there is a statement stating that you would know if you were using the scrub feature on the keyboard). Perhaps you can create a audio recording if you are a voiceover user so that people can listen to how this issue is initiating.

Also, someone did mention resetting settings. And there has been no confirmation of if that has been tried or not. The reality is that two few people are going through this issue and there’s not enough information to know what could be causing it. Like I said, an audio recording could be useful. Similarly, What you’re doing before the keyboard disappears could be very useful. And I mean what you’re doing literally step-by-step step-by-step. When’s the last time you had the keyboard up? Is it only happening in specific applications?

I actually care quite a bit. And I’ve never really put anyone down. I have expressed a lot of frustration. And at times, I have called peoples actions annd behaviors irresponsible. I also stated that this quote community has many issues. But I’ve never brought any individual person down. And considering some interactions that I’ve witnessed, it’s very frustrating to be accused of something when I’ve read other people do 1000 times worse to commenters who are trying to be helpful. And developers, who are excited to share their hard work

Resetting your settings is probably the only way that you can go at this point. Sometimes it’s absolutely necessary. As frustrating as that can be, there are quite a few benefits to doing it. Take a chance. If it resolves the problem, is it worth the frustration of having to Set up all of your voiceover, gestures and features? if it doesn’t work, you can always utilize a back up and restore it.

Believe me, I’ve been there. And I’ve been there multiple times. I wish there were a simpler solution. And it’ll work out. It’s going to be OK. Sometimes we just gotta do the hard work to get to the point where it’s going to be OK

Actually, I agree that this is a bug. I have been experiencing the same thing, and I am not always using a Bluetooth device. I did read in this thread that a reset of the device will fix the bug, but if it appears again, then what would the solution be? From time to time, I have found that a complete restart of my device helps, but it is inconvenient, especially since it does not always work. I am using iOS version 17.3.1, with an iPhone 14 pro. Voiceover is always enabled, and I have disabled and restarted voiceover several times. Today, the keyboard is working great, but tomorrow, who knows. Not complaining, just an observation. And, I am very well aware of the address to Wright Apple for these problems. And, a bug does not always mean that it can be produced on every device. Sometimes, users with one model of iPhone, experience bugs that other users do not experience. I am no developer, but I am a tech instructor, and I see this stuff happen all the time.

If resetting settings fixes the issue, then you pretty much have to deal with the inconvenience and reset your phone. At this point, it’s not a bug because it is not happening in a reproducible way. It is an issue. But it has a resolution. And you can avoid the resolution as much as you want. But in the end, that’s the fix.

Believe me. I know that it can be frustrating. There is a speak auto correct issue that can only be resolved by resetting settings. It takes a while to get our devices to be set the way we want them to be. And then resetting settings means having to go through all that over and over again. Apple can be frustrating. And it can also be painful to deal with. But sometimes we gotta deal with what can be less frustrating. Because long-term, it’s important to get our devices to work as close to the way we need them to as possible.

I already apologised to ash reign but I want to do it again. I had no reason to say what I said about you not caring.

I do actually agree with others that this is a bug, just because you or i can't reproduce it doesn't mean it isn't a bug with the software it just means we aren't doing what ever it is the other person is doing to make that happen.

Hi All,

OK, using VoiceOver without a bluetooth keyboard on my iPhone 15 pro with IOS 17 point whatever, at one [point I had no on screen keyboard, and I fixed it with a command. I did not reset anything to fix it. While I dearly wish I remembered exactly what I did to fix it, I did fix it, and again, without resetting anything. What I do remember is that it involved how I handled edit boxes when the on screen keyboard was no longer present. I also remember (from when I was having the problem) being able to get the number row on the keyboard to be visible at the bottom of my screen and then swipe right all the way to the end of the keyboard to get the whole keyboard visible, but that's not the fix. It was only a very inconvenient work around until I discovered how to get the cursor visible in the edit box. Once the cursor was present, the keyboard was visible.

You might want to check out Safari. I have a vague sense there might have been something there in settings>safari or on the safari

Perhaps each of us could write to Apple Accessibility about this issue? The more the merrier! smile

Here's what I wrote.

Hi. Thought you might like to know there are quite a few IOS VoiceOver users posting on applevis.com who are having trouble with their onscreen keyboards. The onscreen keyboard disappears, and they can't get it back.

I myself had this problem a few months ago but managed to fix it without having to reset anything, and I having a sneaky feeling that you, meaning Apple, might know what I now can't remember — how to fix the vanished onscreen keyboard problem

Would you mind going onto apples.com and posting the way to fix the problem? I believe you'll find on the first page the most recent string of posts about this problem. Apple could do a lot for those who are currently experiencing the problem, and Apple could gain a lot of good will from blind users, all from simply posting a single message giving these blind users the solution.

Hoping once again that Apple might do the right thing. (Yeah right)

Joy!

Bruce Harrell

It's applevis, not apple's :)

I sent a correcting email to Aplle Acessibility (wink). Thanks for catching the error.

Joy!

I’m always down for helping and combining efforts. I would never dispute that people are having a hard time with it. It is anIt is a serious problem. And I’ve also copied the email and sent it to Apple accessibility.

I reported this issue to apple Accessibility again February 23 (the first time was months ago). On February 26, I found Apple's reply in my inbox, to wit:

"Hello Bruce,

Thank you for your email. We appreciate you taking the time to bring this to our attention and wanted to let you know that Apple is currently investigating this behavior. If we become aware of a fix or workaround for this issue, we will do our best to follow-up and let you know.

Sincerely,

Apple Accessibility

Please include the line below in follow-up emails for this request.

Case-ID: 6259334"