External Keyboards

KeyboardKit Pro can detect if an external keyboard is connected.

⌨️

Overview

It’s important for a keyboard extension to be able to detect if an external keyboard is connected, since this will causes it to stop working as expected

For instance, the text document proxy will not update while you type on an external keyboard, which makes it impossible to provide features like autocomplete.

KeyboardKit Pro therefore unlocks tools to help you detect if an external keyboard is connected.

👑 Pro features

KeyboardKit has an ExternalKeyboardContext that detects whether or not an external keyboard is connected to the device. To use it, just set it up as an observed object.

struct CustomKeyboardView: View {

   @StateObject
   var context = ExternalKeyboardContext()

   var body: some View {
       VStack {
           Text("Is an external keyboard connected?")
           Text(stateDescription)
       }.environmentObject(context)
   }

   var stateDescription: String {
       context.isExternalKeyboardConnected.description
   }
}

Warning: When using a Apple Smart Keyboard Folio, this context will consider the keyboard to be connected even when it’s just snapped on to the device, even when it’s not actively being used. This should be fixed.

Documentation

The information on this page has been shortened to be easier to overview. For more information about this feature, code samples, etc. please see the online documentation.

Read more

Essentials

KeyboardKit provides essential features, utilities & views.

Actions

KeyboardKit makes it easy to trigger keyboard-related actions

Autocomplete

KeyboardKit can perform autocomplete.

Callouts

KeyboardKit can show input & secondary action callouts.

Colors

KeyboardKit defines keyboard-specific colors.

Device Utilities

KeyboardKit has device-specific utilities.

Emojis

KeyboardKit defines emojis, categories, skin tones, etc.

Feedback

KeyboardKit can trigger audio & haptic feedback.

Gestures

KeyboardKit has a customizable keyboard gesture engine.

Images

KeyboardKit defines keyboard-specific images.

Layout

KeyboardKit has customizable input sets & keyboard layouts.

Localization

KeyboardKit supports 60+ locales and languages.

Navigation

KeyboardKit lets you open urls and apps from the keyboard.

Previews

KeyboardKit has rich SwiftUI preview support.

Proxy Utilities

KeyboardKit makes your text document proxy do a LOT more.

Settings

KeyboardKit has tools for in-app settings & System Settings.

Status

KeyboardKit detects if a keyboard is enabled, has full access, etc.

Styling

KeyboardKit lets you style your keyboards to great extent.

Text Routing

KeyboardKit kan route text to other places.

Pro Features

Essentials

KeyboardKit Pro unlocks system keyboard and theme previews.

Actions

KeyboardKit Pro auto-registers the most recently used emojis.

AI Support

KeyboardKit Pro unlocks features that are needed for AI.

App

KeyboardKit Pro unlocks app-specific screens & views.

Autocomplete

KeyboardKit Pro unlocks on-device & remote autocomplete.

Callouts

KeyboardKit Pro unlocks localized callouts for all locales.

Dictation

KeyboardKit Pro can perform dictation from the keyboard.

Emojis

KeyboardKit Pro unlocks an emoji keyboard with skintone support.

External Keyboards

KeyboardKit Pro can detect if an external keyboard is connected.

Feedback

KeyboardKit Pro unlocks tools for toogling feedback on & off.

Layout

KeyboardKit Pro unlocks localized layouts for all locales.

Localization

KeyboardKit Pro unlocks support for 60+ locales.

Previews

KeyboardKit Pro unlocks system keyboard and theme previews.

Proxy Utilities

KeyboardKit Pro makes the proxy able to read the full document.

Text Input

KeyboardKit Pro unlocks tools to let you type within the keyboard

Themes

KeyboardKit Pro unlocks a theme engine & many standard themes.