How to connect a USB keyboard to an Android phone

I'm swype, slideit, and other brains from high-end Android input keyboards, but today I want to talk about solid keyboards consisting of various touch keys. Yes, it's the kind of physical keyboard. We used these bulky things before, and knocked out the next great masterpiece in a click. I never thought about using this to reply to text messages or emails, but when I decided to go to the cafe next to me and write something seriously, it would be nice to bring an ordinary USB keyboard for typing-of course, you have to ignore the strange look of the diners next to it.

Now the question is how do you connect an ordinary USB keyboard to an Android phone?

The answer is: Oh, Tee, gee.

The above simple cable can be implemented. This is a usb otg cable, which is abbreviated as "on-the-go ). In the figure, you can see that there is a micro USB interface that can be inserted into my Samsung Galaxy ⅱ mobile phone, it can also be inserted into other compatible USB ports or charger cables. Close to our end is also the focus of the image, it is a general-sized USB Plug-in that you can use to connect an adapter's keyboard, USB key, or other devices (but the connection does not mean that the device can be used normally through the mobile phone, you will see it later ).

This is the only option to connect a USB keyboard to a key hardware device on your phone. It is a bit tricky to get it, because the computer mall near your home may not be sold, but it will certainly be available in the omnipotent Amazon. It has the advantage of being small and light (in this case, you don't have to pay too much postage, even international mail does not cost too much), and it is really cheap, about $1 (yes, it's just a dollar ).

After receiving the cable (of course, you have to have a keyboard at hand), the rest is software.

No root required

In theory, you can insert one end of the cable into your mobile phone and the other end into your keyboard to start typing. My mobile phone is running like this:

An deficiency is shown. The input method included in the mobile phone occupies a large part of the screen. However, you can click the recall key on the mobile phone to disable the input method.

This is another image that displays the mobile phone screen and also contains the keyboard (this image is not obtained through screenshots ). You can clearly see that the OTG cable tray is between the phone and the keyboard, and all I use is a very cheap Logitech USB keyboard. After clicking the recall key, I feel that typing is smoother.

If you are using a keyboard with an unconventional key Layout

You may remember that I am using another selectable (I think better) keyboard layout named colemak. One time I connected an external keyboard, and the keyboard layout suddenly changed back to Qwerty, which made me dizzy. If you have encountered a similar problem, you can spend $2.5 to install an application named External keyboard helper.Program. This application allows you to customize the keyboard layout (including colemak settings), and disable the android input method that comes with your mobile phone to avoid disabling it in some cases (if you use the swype software, you do not need to worry about this issue ).

Connect other USB Drivers: Luck and device Environment

I originally wanted to introduce how the USB driver is connected in this system. Imagine that since the keyboard can be connected to the mobile phone through the OTG cable, why not try to connect the USB driver? There is a free application named stickmount (which requires a root device) that can help you complete. However, I am sorry that no matter how many times I have plugged in a USB driver, it cannot work properly. The device has been root, and the android 4.1 version is running (cannot be 4.2, stickmount does not support this version). The USB driver is also running properly, however, there is no response after the plug-in.

I guess different Android devices are running in different States. So it doesn't mean that you cannot connect to the USB driver in the same system. If you have an OTG cable in your hand and the keyboard is connected successfully, you may try connecting the USB driver. I am very interested in the result, share it in the comments.

Original article: Erez Zukerman Translation: Geekfan.net - Xiao Xiang

Translation link: Http://www.geekfan.net/855/

[ Reprinted. Please keep the source, translator, and translation links. Thank you! ]