How to Use a Bluetooth Keyboard with the iPad

Using a bluetooth keyboard on the iPad is easy, in fact I am typing this blog with one. The iPad’s on-screen keyboard works fine but if you are going to do a lot of typing a physical keyboard may be more convenient.

If you already have a bluetooth keyboard I recommend that you try it with your ipad.

Here is how to get the iPad to recognize your keyboard.

1. Go to settings, general, bluetooth and turn on bluetooth. The iPad will start searching for bluetooth devices.
2. Hold the power button on the keyboard for 5 to 10 seconds or until it shows up.
3. Select the keyboard on the iPad.
4. A pop up will be displayed with a pin number.

1. Type the pin number on the keyboard and hit enter.

It should indicate that your keyboard is connected, now you can use your bluetooth keyboard. When you need to type the on-screen keyboard will not be displayed, which is good since you don’t need it.

I have tried using the magic mouse with the bluetooth keyboard. The only way to do this is on a jailbroken iPad and installing BTstack from Cydia. The magic mouse works fine but not in conjuction with the bluetooth keyboard. The BTstack app turns off the keyboard, there is a BTstack keyboard app but they do not work well toghether either.

The bottom line is if you already have a bluetooth keyboard it’s worth using at times but unless you plan on doing a lot of typing I wouldn’t get one for this specific purpose.