Bluetooth support for controllers and/or keyboard input

Suggestions
1

I know with “keyboard (key)” and “showKeyboard” that you can get it’s input but only for letters and numbers and unfortunately it doesn’t detect the arrow keys nor when a key state is being held or ended. If possible please add this functionality into Codea

2

@NewToonie It sounds like you want to use the keyboard as a game controller. You want to use the arrow keys for direction and to hold a key down for some kind of action like continuous shooting.

3

Exactly
Though I know Codea is more for touch based projects but would still be cool to be able to to use the keyboard that way

4

@NewToonie the arrow keys weren’t possible when we initially added keyboard support. I’ll look into it again to see if it’s possible to support these on iOS now.

5

Thanks for your consideration!

6

+1 for at least the arrow keys ! (For text edition into an app)
Could be interesting to have a complete support : control, alt, …

7

Hi,
I wanted to do a new topic, but this one contains what I wanted to ask for.

Now, along with ios13, controller support should not be a problem - and I think it would be useful in many projects.
Same with keyboard support (bluetooth, smartkeyboard) - I am now working on a project myself (something like a 3d modeler) and the possibility of using the keyboard would help to develop the program, its usability and convenience.

8

@hmental A Bluetooth keyboard has worked with the iPad for a long time. I bought a cheap Bluetooth keyboard for about a $2 at a junk store and it worked just fine. I don’t use it because I prefer the internal keyboard.

9

Hi - yup, works in editor. But I need to use keyboard in runtime app.
Ex. In my project I press “D” then app do something.

Or maybe Codea have that, but I dont know how to use that ;p

10

@hmental Here’s some code that will get input from the Bluetooth keyboard. It’s the same as using the internal keyboard. I used this to display the keys pressed on my Bluetooth keyboard.

function setup()
    showKeyboard()    
end

function keyboard(k)
    print(k)       
end
11

Thanks!

12

Last time I checked, iOS doesn’t provide direct bluetooth access to keyboards. The only way iOS allows a keyboard to be used is as a direct replacement of the on-screen keyboard.