Comments on: Jailbreak App Adds Support for Bluetooth Keyboards for iPhones

By: patrickj

patrickj — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:31:25 +0000

In reply to donovanwatts. Very cool Donovan. It's always fun posting about these apps that push the boundaries.

By: donovanwatts

donovanwatts — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:37:58 +0000

Just hooked up my Think Outside Keyboard and it works great. I cannot wait for the full version to allow me to use my keyboard in all apps. Thanks again for posting about such great iPhone apps.

By: donovanwatts

donovanwatts — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:25:04 +0000

This is great news to me. I've got one of this tiny collapsible BT keyboards. I used to use it with my Nokia 770 tablet. I'm grabbing the app right now and if a paid version comes out, I'll be the first to buy it. I think having an external BT keyboard for my iPhone would be very handy, especially when traveling without my laptop.

By: Rusty

Rusty — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:37:33 +0000

In reply to Rusty. OK, I found the Demo in Cydia and installed it. It worked as advertised and paired effortlessly with my aluminum Apple BT keyboard. I like it. The small aluminum keyboard would make a slick companion to the iPhone when I can use it in any application.

By: sysrage

sysrage — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:39:34 +0000

In reply to patrickj. There are two different 'versions'. The free one that's still on Cydia is more or less a demo or proof of concept. All it does it let you type something inside their little text box just to see that it really works and I guess to ensure your Bluetooth keyboard is compatible. The second version, that is currently not on Cydia, cost money but allows you to use the keyboard in all parts of the iPhone. All apps. It was on Cydia for a very brief amount of time yesterday, but the developer pulled it rather quickly in order to fix a bug. I noticed that comment about Simulated Key Events on the website as well, but unfortunately that will not allow the free app to enable keyboard use in other apps. You'll need to wait for the full version to come back.

By: patrickj

patrickj — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:44:47 +0000

In reply to Rusty.

I still see it in Cydia just fine – searching under Keyboard driver – and I don't think I added any sources for this one.
As for the usage outside the app, I don't think that does – but best to check at the dev's site on that.

By: Rusty

Rusty — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:31:07 +0000

I can't find it in Cydia. Other posts say "in Cydia soon". Is it there?

Also, concerning using the BT keyboard only "in-app", then developer website states:

NOTE: due to a missing dependency, the keyboard does not work outside of the keyboard driver. Please install the "Simulated Key Events" package in the Development section of Cydia to fix this.

Does this not imply that installing "Simulated Key Events" will allow usage anywhere text input is available?

By: patrickj

patrickj — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:03:00 +0000

In reply to iDo.

As far as what comes next, it's always exciting watching the jailbreak community – although doesn't it sometimes seem as if there are 'lulls' and then all of a sudden a big flurry of lots of shiny new things at once? 🙂

By: patrickj

patrickj — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:01:01 +0000

In reply to sysrage. I am quite surprised at how little we've seen so far in these sort of areas in the App Store.

By: Tweets that mention Jailbreak App Adds Support for Bluetooth Keyboards for iPhones | Just Another iPhone Blog -- Topsy.com

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:14:26 +0000

[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Henry D'Andrea, Just … iPhone Blog, iPhone News, iPhone News, topsy_top20k and others. topsy_top20k said: Jailbreak App Adds Support for Bluetooth Keyboards for iPhones: iPhone OS 3.0 is supposed to open up an .. http://bit.ly/5UvpIQ […]

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:08:45 +0000

This could be the very thing to make me jailbreak… I'll be watching this development with great interest.

By: iDo

iDo — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:35:28 +0000

I would say it is rather useless. You have to put the keyboard somewhere … on your lap while sitting in a café ? I guess oyu will earn some laughes for that. Also its a good idea to play Games with Keyboard and mouse I really dont think anyone will really like it . And also think of th ebattery , some games really suck out the energy allready compared with bluetooth … i dont know if thats very satisfying. So you would propably sit at home with your iphone connected to the charge station with the keyboards on your desk staring on a little mobile phone. Come on ! Play monkeyball and be happy or turn on your PC , PS , Xbox, Wii , DS , PSP ect. 😛

But i agree it's interesting to see what will come next ! Hooray maybe something usefull ? 😛

By: sysrage

sysrage — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:21:05 +0000

The full version which allows keyboard usage in any app was available on Cydia for purchase for a short time. It was pulled rather quickly due to some bug, though. I expect it will be back soon. I forget what it was priced at. I want to say it was around $7. It also won't initially support cut/copy/paste and a couple other features which I think takes away from it a great deal. It would still be very nice to be able to type up an e-mail on the road with a real keyboard, though. I agree this is big news due to the 'breakthrough' value. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here. More input devices are greatly needed! Can you say Eliminate or NOVA with a keyboard/mouse? ZodTTD allowing the use of WiiMote for his new Nintendo64 emulator is also very interesting. Maybe we're finally getting some of the hardware support the iPhone could really use. Too bad it's still stuck in the jailbreak community. Come on Apple!