Looking for a Keyboard app for the iPad 2

[artman]

I have an iPad 2 running iOS 5.01. I think the keyboard is very awkward to use as you have to press the .?123 key to get to the numbers and simple characters such as slash, semi-colon, etc. I have tried to look in the Apple Store for keyboard apps and I have not found any that look to be good.

Can someone give me a recommendation for a good keyboard app for the iPad 2?

 

[twerppoet]

There are a few, but they are very limited. You can not replace the system keyboard, so any keyboard app you get will be limited to use in that app. That being so, I've not bothered to even try any of them.

I believe there are keyboard tweaks available if you jailbreak. Go over to the Hacking area and read the sticky notes (at the top) for more info on jailbreaking if you are interested.

 

[artman]

Thanks very much for your good information. I will just leave it the way it is and use the stock keyboard.

 

[twerppoet]

No problem.

 

[Hayles66]

Have a look at Cymbol, Uniconsole and Unicode map. These provide subscript and superscript as I teach science.

Sent from my one and only original iPad using iPF

 

[Spiritfree]

I'm two days into use of my new iPad 2, so am on the learning curve, especially as I've never had an Apple before.
I quite like the basic ability of the keyboard, meaning that it's sensitivity to my 'keystrokes' is excellent. I'm finding that typing with it is much easier than I expected.
BUT. The keyboard could be very well-arranged if they had tried. The spacebars is very long, unnecessarily so. Ditto the 123/ABC toggle at the left. There could very easily have been some clear and adaptive thinking which would have given us all an inverted T set of cursor keys. There IS enough space for this. And then those of us who aren't 100% accurate touch-typists, in other words everyone, would have an easy time of things. Instead there is this fiddly magnifying glass thing. I'm getting better at using that, but it involves a kind of thinking which interrupts the natural flow of putting characters in a line. What we need is something which enables us to move along that line easily. Guess what, they've already been invented! Cursor keys! Where the f$&k are they? Doh!

 

[leelai]

There is a type of shortcut for the annoying habit of having to go back and forth from ABC and 123. While typing if you just need to input a number or other symbol tap the 123 tab but keep your finger on it and slide your finger to the number or symbol that you want, when you lift your finger it will take you back to the ABC keyboard automatically. I find it a great little shortcut!

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[MoonlitSonata]

I didn't know that leelai, thanks!

 

[Gabriel1]

There is a type of shortcut for the annoying habit of having to go back and forth from ABC and 123. While typing if you just need to input a number or other symbol tap the 123 tab but keep your finger on it and slide your finger to the number or symbol that you want, when you lift your finger it will take you back to the ABC keyboard automatically. I find it a great little shortcut!

Sent from my iPad using iPF

Woo, I didn't know that, I love learning new stuff, thanks Leelai!

The Archangel

 

[Waterbabies]

Oh that's a great tip! Just used it there!
Thanks

 

[agencius]

There are a few, but they are very limited. You can not replace the system keyboard, so any keyboard app you get will be limited to use in that app. That being so, I've not bothered to even try any of them.

I believe there are keyboard tweaks available if you jailbreak. Go over to the Hacking area and read the sticky notes (at the top) for more info on jailbreaking if you are interested.

Hello, I just would like to request a correction to your statement as there is an iPad App that does facilitate use of its special character input in Pages, Numbers, iPF and others.

Check blog posts and reviews is out there, so look more thoroughly. My neighbor at the time, made the effort to write that iPad App after many discussions.

No jail-breaking required either is needed on your iPad.

He was lost to lung cancer last year, November 21, 2011. Big loss as he wrote three iPad App's and we shared a chance to debut his App on the MacApp store last year in January. Jeff truly loved Apple greatly and was inspired by the iPad to do more.

App names have been omitted deliberately per guidelines.

 

[agencius]

Have a look at Cymbol, Uniconsole and Unicode map. These provide subscript and superscript as I teach science.

Sent from my one and only original iPad using iPF

All three of these tap into Unicode on your iPad. Compare how easily you can get the special text to where you need it. The better type of App should work quickly with short cuts to copy, save and paste elsewhere.

Unicode®¹ font extensions are surprising as what you may put into a document or SMS².

¹ Unicode fonts may need testing when dealing with interchange.
² SMS is short message or text messaging. Many special characters will work even texted from iPad to Android. But remember, the font completeness determines what your result will show on the receivers system.

 

[twerppoet]

Hello, I just would like to request a correction to your statement as there is an iPad App that does facilitate use of its special character input in Pages, Numbers, iPF and others. . .

Sorry, I don't see where I need a correction. Your information is useful, and appreciated, but those keyboards do not replace the System keyboard. They are limited to use inside the app that creates them. That is all I said.

You have to copy and paste the text into the final destination app. I am not denigrating the potential usefulness of these apps. They could be very useful for special character entry and might supply a better keyboard experience; but that is not what the OP was asking for. Or that is how I read the question.

 

[5teve]

How much would you pay for an App that gave you an exact copy of a regular keyboard with 82 keys.
It has all the letters fro A to Z and numbers from 1 to 0. Then it has all the symbols from ! to + and the arrow keys along with Fn, Ctrl, Option & Command. Not to mention, Shift, Caps Lock, Tab, Backspace, Enter and the Spacebar. It also has the keys that you normally see on a conventional keyboard for sound, brightness and common DVD player controls.
Just buy a Bluetooth keyboard for around £12 on eBay.
Simples.

 

[kurtosis]

Try the app "International Keyboard". It offers 5 rows with shift doing what you expect etc. it only works within its own App but you can easily copy.

Ony issue I found is the keys are a bit small and hard to hit.