Interesting. Althought I wonder why they made it so quirky. I already have a bt keyboard attached to my phone so would it even make a difference? That same keyboard is also attached to my mac or was last I checked.
Take care. and again it sounds interesting.. On Dec 22, 2011, at 8:02 PM, Esther wrote: > Hi All, > > A few weeks ago I read about an app in the Mac App store that lets you use > your computer keyboard to type to your iOS device through a Bluetooth > connection. It's called Type2Phone ($4.99), and is aimed at letting iOS > developers who are writing code on their computers to easily switch over to > testing applications on their iPhones and other iOS devices by using the same > keyboard to enter text. It's a little bit quirky to get the original > connection set up, and I don't think I'd use it all the time, but there may > be instances where it can be handy. For example, if you're working at your > computer and you get a text message, it can be convenient to just switch over > to the Type2Phone app with Command-tab, and type your response. > > The somewhat quirky part comes from getting the Bluetooth connection between > your iPhone and laptop paired. You don't actually have to type in a pairing > code, or at least I didn't have to on my MacBook Pro. I gather that if you > have a desktop Mac, such as an iMac, you may actually have to typing in the > pairing code. What happens is that once you turn on Bluetooth on your > computer and start up Type2Phone, and then go to the Settings > General > > Bluetooth menu of your iPhone, you get dialog messages about the 8-digit > pairing code that is supposed to be typed in. On my MacBook, the same > 8-digit pairing code gets displayed as shows up on my iPhone screen, and I > just have to either press "return" or VO-Space on the button to accept the > connection. The first two times I tried this, I although the pairing codes > matched, and I accepted the option, I still got the message that the pairing > had failed. (In one case it seemed to go through initially.) So I put this > aside until I read a blog post about how to establish the pairing. > > Here's the link to the article on Type2Phone by Dr. Drang: > http://www.leancrew.com/all-this/2011/12/type2phone/ > > Basically, he summarized that he had to use the "trouble-shooting" tips to > get his Mac to see the device: > • If the Mac is listed with a blue arrow, tap that arrow and > select “Forget this device”. > • Disable Bluetooth on the Mac > • Reenable Bluetooth on the Mac > • Set Bluetooth on the Mac to be discoverable > • Launch Type2Phone > • Now restart your iPhone / iPad > • On your iPhone / iPad, go to Settings > General > Bluetooth > • Enable Bluetooth on your iPhone > • Tap the name of the Mac to start the pairing procedure > It turned out that this worked for his MacBook Air, but for his iMac, it > still required 5 tries to get through the pairing. (For the iMac he had to > actually type the pairing code in on both devices, and not just accept it, as > was the case for his MacBook Air and for my MacBook Pro.) What seemed to > make things finally work for him was a tip to turn off WiFi before starting > the Bluetooth pairing with his iMac. > > After I read this post, I turned off Wi-Fi on my MacBook Pro, and followed > the bulleted instructions (with the exception that I didn't need to "restart" > my iPhone after launching Type2Phone). On my MacBook Pro I then accepted the > pairing key in the dialog window (without typing any numbers). > > As described in the blog, using the app after the quirky pairing is easy, and > apparently you only have to get through the pairing once per computer: > Using Type2Phone is blessedly simple: > > • Launch Type2Phone, which brings up a long, horizontal window. > • Choose your phone from the popup menu of paired devices. > • Tap in a text field on you phone to get the cursor blinking. > • Type. > > For VoiceOver users. of course, you double tap in the text field where you > want to start typing. The Type2Phone window on your Mac is like a key logger > -- it registers the series of keys that you type. That means, if you > mistyped, and had to delete letters and then re-type them, if you navigated > to the previous keystroke entries (with VO-Left arrow), you'd hear the > correction letters, then the delete key, then the mistyped letters. You > don't actually need to do anything with the Type2Phone window on your Mac, > since you can read and check the content of what was typed on your iPhone > with a two-finger flick to read all, for example. The Type2Phone keyboard > connection is only for typing -- not for all the other commands that > VoiceOver users can perform to activate keys, etc. with a general paired > Bluetooth keyboard. Any VO-left arrow, etc. commands move you through typed > letters in the Type2Phone window on your Mac, and don't affect your iPhone. > > You can also copy and paste from your Mac clipboard into your iPhone text, > and accented text combinations are supported. So if I select text from a > document on my Mac, I can paste it into a note, text message, or email > message on my iPhone. The setup should work with any iOS device, by the way, > although I haven't tried this with my iPad or iPod Touch. You just have to > accept the appropriate device for theType2Phone window on your Mac. > > Despite the initial quirks of Bluetooth pairing, I found Type2Phone to be an > interesting capability, and completely accessible with VoiceOver. (I'm > running Snow Leopard, but that shouldn't make a difference.) Here's the link > to the Type2Phone app at the Mac App Store: > • Type2Phone ($4.99) Houdah Software > http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/type2phone/id472717129?l=es&mt=12 > Incidentally, the store preview page has the links and headings in Spanish, > although the descriptive text is all in English. Version 1.2 of the Software > support multiple keyboard layouts. There's a Houdah support page, and > associated discussion forums and FAQ at: > http://www.houdah.com/support/ > > HTH. Cheers, > > Esther > > > <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> > > To reply to this post, please address your message to > [email protected] > > You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at > either the list's own dedicated web archive: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> > or at the public Mail Archive: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. > Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> > > The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and > worm-free! > > Please remember to update your membership options periodically by visiting > the list website at: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/> <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to [email protected] You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. 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