Regarding the iPad and hardware keyboard support
Here’s something that I could really, really use in iOS 5: better hardware keyboard support on iOS. Don’t get me wrong, I love how the Apple Bluetooth Keyboard supports brightness, volume, and playback controls, but we really need access the iOS task switcher with some sort of keyboard shortcut, and I can’t see how that would be terribly complicated to implement in a software update. In terms of key combinations, Cmd+Tab (Mac equivalent of Alt-Tab comes to mind, but I think that even the largely unused escape key would do.
Basically, this would help me solve a major disconnect in the experience of using the iPad as an upright netbook-like device. Having to reach for the home button isn’t a chore, but what I’m proposing is a feature that’s so simple and straightforward that I cannot fathom why Apple didn’t include it to begin with. After all, so many functions that are absent on the touchscreen keyboard work just fine when you attach a hardware keyboard to the iPad. I’m able to indent paragraphs with the tab key, insert pöïntlëss umlauts with alt + u, and use Cmd + an arrow key to move the text input point around.
Please, Apple, for the love of all that is commandy and tabby, please bring better hardware keyboard support with iOS 5. This new little tablet of mine is on the cusp of awesomeness, and all your programmers need to do is add one little shortcut…
Great post, and I could not agree more Thomas. I also have an Apple Bluetooth keyboard, and I hate not being able to open apps from my iPad’s home screens or open and use the task switcher with it. For a device that Steve Jobs directly positioned against netbooks when the original was announced, the iPad needs this level of integration to really pull that job off.
As much as I love the on-screen keyboard of th iPad for a touch screen device, there are some things that just work better on a real keyboard. When you are doing those kinds of tasks, the experience is much more solid when you can do everything you need to do from the keyboard, rather than switching back and forth between the keys and touch input.
By the way, do you use any kind of case or stand with your keyboard? I never found a satisfactory case that would hold both my iPad and the keyboard, but I did recently pick up a slick little item at the Apple Store that works well with the both of them. It is the Incase Origami Workstation. It is a very thin case that wraps around the Apple Bluetooth Keyboard for travel. The keyboard snaps into a plastic insert, so it is held securely. When the case is folded out, it actually turns into a nice little stand for the iPad, which will hold it in portrait or landscape. It is thin, light, and not too expensive at around $30. You might check it out if you are ever looking for a more integrated solution for your keyboard and the iPad. One of these days, I plan on doing a little review of it. I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.
Thanks!
and no – no case or stand with the KB right now, but I’ll look into the Origami! So far I think I’m alright with the angle that the Smart Cover provides, but only time will tell.
No problem. I like the angles of the Smart Cover, as well. However, I travel a lot, and needed a way to safely carry my Bluetooth Keyboard. I got really tired of carrying it around in the box. The Origami just gave me a way to protect it on the go and do the stand thing, all in one.
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Totally agree, I hope we see task switching via keyboard in the next iOS. Alt-Tab please!
I completely agree with you! Even something as easy as adding CMD+Q would be great. As for the stand, I use the Rocketfish iPad stand. It works very well. You can change the angle and rotate the iPad and all. I’ve tried many other products and the best I could come up with was a combination of Apple’s bluetooth keyboard and the Rocketfish stand.