Does anybody have experience with connecting a mechanical keyboard to the iPad? There are compact mechanical bluetooth keyboards out there. I don’t know if they are good. If I‘d get one I‘d still need a stand or something. And the whole thing shouldn’t be to bulky and heavy. Probably illusionary. But I would love to have a nice mechanical kb on the go …
Hm, in my head emerges the vision of even going out only with my iPhone and a good keyboard – at least in times when I mainly have to produce text. Why carry around a huge screen and an inferior keyboard, when the task is actually the typing?
But the Matias seems to be not available in germany. Are there other recommendations?
I have 3 (don’t ask!) foldable bluetooth keyboards that work really well with both iPad and iPhone.
I use the first one in the list below the most, but it does not appear to be available at the moment - at least from Amazon in the UK.
The other two also work really well and choice often depends upon how small and compact a keyboard I want to carry/use.
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Wireless Keyboard, iClever Wireless Folding Keyboard (Designed for Better Typing), Ultra Slim Rechargeable Bluetooth Keyboard for Windows iOS Mac Android Tablets Smartphones, Gray
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Microsoft Universal Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard for Apple iPad, iPhone, Android devices and Windows Tablets - Black
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[Backlit Wireless Keyboard]iClever Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard with 3 Color Backlight for iOS iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad Mini, Android, MacOS, Windows, Tablets, PC and Smartphone, US Layout
Thanks a lot! I tried different kinds of those and I settled on the Smart Keyboard (or a Logitech model if connecting to the phone).
But my idea is of actually going into the weight and size of a mechanical keyboard to get this perfect typing experience I have at home with my clicky switches.
I googled and found this USB Bluetooth adapter for keyboard and mouse. Apparently it works with iOS.
http://handheldsci.com/kb
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I just learned that you can actually connect any usb-keyboard to the ipad via the usb/lightning adapter. So if the wire doesn`t bother me, I could actually just use ANY great keyboard that I want with it!
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My options would be much broader if I‘d look for a windows keyboard. Am I right that you can use keyboard with windows layout on Mac/iOS, just have to adapt to have the special keys arranged differently (windows key serving as command key etc.)?
I could get the Matias quiet pro mini for example, but with windows layout.
Just fyi: I settled with this one meanwhile: Filco
There is an even smaller one, where the arrow buttons are at an awkward position (Minila) to which I couldn’t get used. This one has a normal size and Cherry mx switches. It fits in my bag and I can write just as comfortably on it as on my desktop keyboard. Often times I don’t take an iPad with me, just my phone and the keyboard. I don’t need a large screen when I’m simply typing. But I need a good keyboard.
It has the windows layout, so you have to switch cmd and ctrl keys, but I got used to that really fast, even though I switch between this one and my Mac kb.
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This can work! My friend wrote a whole novel by carrying a Bluetooth keyboard in his work bag and writing to an app on his phone with it during lunch breaks.
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Yes, I do it as well now, see my last post. When I do revisions or mindmaps or stuff like that I still bring my iPad, but as long as I simply produce text, I only carry my Filco keyboard in my bag. I have the Otterbox „pop“ or whatever it’s called, that turns the phone case into a stand, so I don’t even need a stand for the phone. I get strange looks, because my keyboard is five times the size of the device I use it with. But again: the screen (XS Max) is more than big enough to see the paragraph I’m currently writing. (Many writing Apps even highlight the current paragraph and hide the rest, so why should I need a screen that can show the whole page?)
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