Onscreen keyboard disappears when Apple Wireless keyboard is being used

By David in the UK, 1 May, 2017

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hello,
I've recently changed my iPhoone to an iPhone 6S. All is well, apart from when I try to use my Apple Wireless keyboard. The keyboard works well, but when I'm out of range of the keyboard, or even when it's turned off, I get no on screen keyboard - my work-around at present is to move to the Braille keyboard in the rota, but I'd like my qwerty back!
Is there a gesture I'm not aware of that brings the keyboard back to the screen?
Thanks to anyone who has the answer, I'm looking forward to hearing from you - davidpeterhalliwell@gmail.com
(PS: having just read the Applevis latest newsletter, I believe this is a fantastic resource; I don't write here much, but use the site for my own learning, and tell others about it - and I will be definitely opting for a regular donation, and I would encourage everyone else to do the same)!
Yours in hope
David

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Comments

By Piotr Machacz on Thursday, April 27, 2017 - 14:41

If the on-screen keyboard is not coming up, your phone has not disconnected from your Bluetooth keyboard. Check if the status bar says bluetooth connected rather than Bluetooth on. If it does, either turn off Bluetooth with Siri, or go to settings>bluetooth>Tap more info next to the entry for your wireless keyboard>disconnect. If you are close to your Bluetooth keyboard you can also force the on-screen keyboard to come up in a text field by pressing the eject key on the wireless keyboard (that's the first key in the top-right corner). Doing this may actually persist for every other text field, but it's been a while since I used iOS with an external keyboard so I'm not 100% sure this is the case.

By Elijah76 on Thursday, April 27, 2017 - 14:41

Piotr machacz is right, depending on the keyboard you're using, the keyboard shortcut key to bring up the onscreen keyboard will vary,
For instance, the shortcut key is the eject key for the apple wireless keyboard and in my case it is the f12 key for the logitech keyboard which i am using,
Thanks

By Brian Tew on Thursday, April 27, 2017 - 14:41

It is supposed to become visible when you double tap on a text field with voiceover on.

By Elijah76 on Thursday, April 27, 2017 - 14:41

Hi david,
I understand your concern, perhaps you may want to use the keyboard to ffigure out the keyboard command that brings up the on screen keyboard,
Just press vo plus k to start keyboard help,
Hope you find your solution soon
Cheers buddy,

Arvind

By tunmi13 on Thursday, April 27, 2017 - 14:41

1. Settings
2. General
3. Accessibility
4. VoiceOver
5. Braille
6. Show onscreen keyboard (toggle this on)
Hope this helps.

"If you are close to your Bluetooth keyboard you can also force the on-screen keyboard to come up in a text field by pressing the eject key on the wireless keyboard"

Sometimes (actually, very often) my iPhone will not accept any text input from my bluetooth keyboard and I've been trying to figure out for months how to get the software keyboard to appear. It's a pain to keep connecting and disconnecting the hardware keyboard since I run into this problem ALL THE TIME. Apple Access couldn't even help me with this one, but your simple answer did!!

Now if only I could figure out what the hardware keyboard input issue is... It's driving me nuts. It's not a quicknav on/off issue. If there's anyone out there with ideas, please advise! Thanks again!