Yes, Splashtop supports Bluetooth (BT) keyboard devices. We internally tested a few brands of BT keyboards, and below we have listed them along with notes about known issues, for your reference.
iOS:
- Apple and Logitech (Logitech Tablet Keyboard IPD) : There are no known issues with these BT keyboards. In addition, so far, there are no user-reported issues for BT keyboards on iOS.
To launch the Virtual keyboard during a Splashtop session:
To use a BT keyboard in the Splashtop app:
- In iPad's Settings, make sure you've paired with the BT keyboard device successfully.
- Launch the Splashtop app and open a text editor, such as Notepad, on the Windows desktop, and set the focus on that text editor window.
- Before typing text (into Notepad for example), you need to tap the '^' or 'keyboard' (for iPad app v2.2.0.6+) icon located in the lower right corner first. Then you can successfully type text in Notepad.
Limitations on using a BT keyboard (for iPad) with the Splashtop app:
- For gaming: Users usually need to send key events like down+down+up, but iOS only allows a BT keyboard to send down+up. That will seriously impact gaming controls. These limitations using a BT keyboard on the iPad to play games mainly come from iOS. Currently, we still cannot solve this kind of issue. Our engineering is seeking other, better ways for gaming purposes.
- For general Windows controls: Combination keys starting with various Ctrl/Alt keys would not work on the Splashtop app. That's why we created some combination keys on our virtual keyboard.
- If you use a BT keyboard in a word processor like MS Word, the following key combinations are supported.
1. Windows/alt/ctrl+26 alphabets (supported using 2.7.2.0 or later Personal app, and 2.6.8.1 or later version Business app)
2. cmd/option/ctrl+26 alphabets (supported using 2.7.2.0 or later Personal app, and 2.6.8.1 or later version Business app)
3. arrow_keys
4. shift+arrow_keys
Actually, there are some limitations from Apple which limit or prevent app developers from supporting more complicated combination keys. However, please be assured that we are always seeking better solutions for this situation.
- Incidentally, the BT mouse is not supported on all iDevices like iPad, according to Apple's official announcement.
Android:
- Tested BT keyboards:
1. Logitech (Model Name: Y-X5A77)
2. Microsoft MS 6000
Dock:
1. Asus TF101
2. Asus Prime
3. Asus TF300
Known issue: AZERTY will be recognized as QWERTY in multilingual input methods.
To launch the virtual keyboard in Splashtop:
Tap the keyboard icon to launch/hide the virtual keyboard.
How to use it in the Splashtop app:
- In the Android tablet's Settings, make sure you have paired the BT keyboard device successfully.
- Launch the Splashtop app and open a text editor, such as Notepad, on the Windows desktop, and set focus on that editing window.
- If you want to access the Function keys which are not supported on the BT keyboard (i.e. F1~F12), you can tap the keyboard switch icon to switch between virtual keyboard and Function keys.