If you type a lot on your iPhone and haven’t upgraded to iOS4, BTstack available on Cydia is worth checking out.
The iPhone’s on-screen keyboard and auto-correction are great, but if you write long missives or are used to hammering out complex messages on a keyboard, you’ve probably wanted to use an external keyboard to get your point across at one time or another.
This is where BTstack keyboard comes in: it’s a simple paid application that lets you hook up most external Bluetooth HID keyboards to your iPhone or iPod Touch. Keep in mind that it doesn’t support more sophisticated commands for your mobile opus (selection, copy/paste, etc.) but it works like a charm for straight typing. Here’s Cult of Mac’s quick guide to get you started.
What you’ll need:
- A jailbroken iPhone/iPod Touch with Cydia installed.
- Wi-Fi and Internet access on the device.
- BTstack Keyboard Cydia application worth $4.99
1. To start, you’ll need a jailbroken device with Cydia installed. If you need to jailbreak your device, please check out our jailbreak guides. Press the Cydia icon to open it.
2. After Cydia launches, choose the ‘Sections’ tab and then select ‘System.’
3. Open the BTstack Keyboard package and hit ‘Purchase.’ Once the purchase is complete, download and install.
4. Launch the Keyboard application on your iPhone and turn on your Bluetooth keyboard device. After it finds your device and displays its details, select the device name, then enter the passcode on the external keyboard to complete the connection.
5. You’ll be shown a ‘test’ screen, this is where you can choose another keyboard language if you’re not using US English. Below it, you’ll also find a box to test the keyboard.
6. You can close the application and start typing from the Bluetooth keyboard.
Please note: when connected to a device, you’ll see an ‘On’ Keyboard Icon from your iPhone screen.
