Hello Ed,
I've changed the subject line and I'm cc'ing this post to the macvisionaries list because these comments apply to general use of the Apple Wireless Keyboard (and iPad Keyboard Dock) with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad for text entry. The issues that you raise are not shortcomings of the Simplenote app (that I recommended) for note taking -- they stem from the fact that these keyboards are only for text entry and not for navigating through general applications, activating buttons and controls on the screens, etc. Since the Apple Wireless Keyboard is exactly like the current Mac laptop keyboards, there is no "GO" button specifically designed to press application buttons to create user accounts, log in, or replace other such buttons that perform other, application specific functions on an app's touch screen. When you create a free, secure web account for the Simplenote app, you need to double tap the button to create the account on the screen -- not being able to do this from the paired keyboard is not something that the app developer can fix. If you feel more comfortable bringing up the full virtual keyboard, press the "eject" button at the top right of the Apple Wireless Keyboard. You should hear "Show keyboard" or "Hide keyboard", which refers to whether or not the virtual keyboard is displayed on the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad screen. (On the iPad Keyboard Dock the key to show or hide the virtual keyboard is above the number "5" key, in the position where the F5 key for Mac users to turn VoiceOver on would be located.) With the Apple Wireless Keyboard and iPad Keyboard Dock, you can interrupt VoiceOver's speaking at any time by pressing the Control key, similar to the way this key works on the Mac, when you don't want to hear all the information. Pressing the Control key a second time will resume VoiceOver's speaking of the interrupted text. (On the Apple Wireless Keyboard, the Control key is on the bottom row of the keys, and is the second from the left, next to the "Fn" key. On the iPad Keyboard Dock, the Control key is the leftmost key on the bottom, and there is no "Fn" key.) The Control key on other Bluetooth keyboards may provide the same function. Your comments about how VoiceOver reads in the default Notes application will apply to other note taking applications, as well. The issue is that the Apple keyboards are primarily intended for text entry, and therefore the most straightforward use is when your commands are just like the virtual keyboard options: you are at the position of the cursor insertion point, and you move to the right or left by character (right or left arrow presses) or by word (Option+right or left arrow presses). You want to review the context of the document text (e.g., not just get information about the insertion point). The easiest way to have text read out for review without repetition (that arises from the ambiguity of whether the context should be the full document, only the current line, a paragraph, etc.) is to use selection commands as you move through the text. This is done by holding down the Shift key in combination with pressing the arrow keys, or arrow keys in combination with the option key. These combination are detailed in my earlier post, "Apple Wireless Keyboard Shortcuts for the iPhone and iPod Touch in iOS 4", which can be found at the Mail Archive for the Macvisionaries list at: http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries%40googlegroupscom/msg26148.html However, an example might help to illustrate this. Suppose I have been taking notes in an app, or perhaps I have selected a previous note to review on my iPod Touch, and I wish to have VoiceOver start reading text from the beginning of the document. I'll assume that I'm already editing the document (i.e., I've double tapped in the text area of the screen). I might do something like the following to review what was typed using the Apple Wireless Keyboard or iPad Keyboard Dock: 1. Press Command+Up arrow to move to the start of the document. (VoiceOver says "Top of Document") 2. Hold down the Shift key (to select) and tap the Down arrow to select the first line. (VoiceOver announces the next line followed by the word "Selected") 3. Continue to press Shift+Down arrow to review the text line by line. 4. Now, let's assume that I come to a section that I want to change. I've been using the "selection" mode to avoid having multiple context announcements being read out. In order to start amending text by deleting characters or words, I want to leave selection mode so that I don't, for example, delete the entire text I've selected -- which might be most of the document that I've been reading. Even though you can undo with Command+z, you don't want to have to do this. Among other things, your current cursor location will be changed, so you'll have to get back to where you were. The way to leave selection mode is to move without holding down the Shift key. There are several ways to do this in practice. If you've just read through a section of text you want to change, and it includes the start of a sentence that you want to change, you can continue to hold down the Shift key and back up by word by also pressing the Option key and tapping the Left arrow key to move back through the selected text word by word. You'll hear VoiceOver announce each word as you move back, followed by "unselected". 5. Assuming that I want to insert a new sentence or words, I'll leave selection mode now by releasing the Shift key and moving my cursor. For example, I'll use Left arrow or Right arrow, and then start typing new text. If I want to change the beginning of a previous sentence, I might go back into selection mode by pressing the Shift key, then press the Option key and tap the Right arrow key to select the words from the beginning of the sentence that I want to change. Then, I can simply release the shift key and type in the new beginning of the sentence that replaces my selection. There are several ways to navigate, and you don't have to use the selection method outlined in 4. I'll usually just quickly arrow down to part of a document I want to review or change. If it's recently typed, I don't need to review the full contents to find the section I want. In part 4, you can also leave selection mode the instant you find the part you want to change when you back up by words. One reason that you might want to stay in selection mode, is if you're not sure whether the sentence you reached is the one that you want to change, and you want to advance through the text again before stopping to make alterations. It can be more straightforward when you are first navigating to always have the start of the large block that you are reviewing be a well marked point, like the start of the document. However, you can easily go forward from any point and start selecting text again. Be aware that when you undo actions (Command+z) that deleted text that is restored is selected. This means that if you simply type at that point, you will be replacing the contents of the selection. Also, since undo can work multiple times (I don't remember how many levels -- it's 9 in some unix systems, but I never try to push my "undo" and "redo" actions that far), if you undo another section that you deleted, you selected text will move to that region of text. You might want to review the section of the iPhone User Guide (for iOS 4) covering entering and editing text with VoiceOver: http://help.apple.com/iphone/4/voiceover/en/iph3e2e3d1d.html Finally, a few more comments and suggestions: most of these navigation and selection commands work the same way that they do with on a Mac, but in more limited fashion (e.g., I can't page up or down, or use any of the movement commands that would involve pressing the "Fn" key -- presumably because some keyboards won't have that key. It's missing from the Apple Keyboard Dock and it's not on some Unix keyboards I've used.) Some of the limitations are due to the fact that the iPhone only supports plain text in the notes apps. Interestingly, Mail (which can support a kind of HTML) lets me use the Option+Up or Down arrows to move by paragraphs -- in Notes it only moves by lines. Although I included emacs like commands in my previous post of shortcuts (combinations like Control+a, Control+e, Control+f, Control+b, etc.) I'd recommend leaving these alone and sticking to the arrow key combinations. Although I can select with these emacs-like combinations, too (in English) by pressing the Shift key with these combinations, if I change keyboards (to French, for example), some of these combinations type special symbols instead. Also, a few of these emacs-like command combinations aren't announced by VoiceOver; I know that they work because the cursor insertion point moves, and because the same document checked on my Mac in TextEdit has VoiceOver announce the changes. So the principle combinations you'll use most often are: • Move by character: Left and right arrow keys. • Move word by word: Option and the left and right arrow keys. The Option key is the second from the left on either side of the Spacebar. • Move by line: Up and down arrow keys. • Paragraph by paragraph: Option with the up and down arrow keys. (Only in Mail; in Notes this combination behaves like moving by line) • Move to the beginning or end of the current line: Command with the left and right arrows. Command is the key closest to the Spacebar on either side. • Move to the beginning or end of the document: Command with the up or down arrow. And holding down the Shift key with these combinations allows you to select. I've probably forgotten some details because I don't usually think about breaking down the keystrokes. Also, I usually just arrow down to the section I want to edit without trying to review the previous text. If you switch input language keyboards with Command+Space or Command+Shift+Space, remember to set the language rotor to "Default". Otherwise, VoiceOver won't announce some keyboards with non-Roman characters (like Russian, which uses a Cyrillic alphabet, or Chinese Pinyin). HTH. Cheers, Esther On Jul 28, 2010, Marquette, Ed wrote: These are somewhat in the nature of observations and somewhat in the nature of inquiries. I bought an Apple BlueTooth Keyboard. It was designed for the Mac, and is not all that portable, but for my purposes, it is fine. It transforms the iPhone nto a laptop so far as note taking is concerned. The Notes Application, however, is rather marginal. Using arrow keys, one does not always predictably read by line. Sometimes, the whole note is read. Very annoying. Someone on this list recommended SimpleNote, a free application. I downloaded it, attempted to create an account, but was unsuccessful in entering the password and confirmation. Using the BlueTooth keyboard, there appears to be no "GO" button. Using the on-screen keyboard, thee is a "GO" button, presumably to accept the password and confirmation, but it does nothing. This application claims to synchronize with something, but it is anything but clear how it works, particularly when I would be interested in synchronization remotely using Exchange Server, which I suspect isn't supported. Has anyone found a decent note taking application? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
