The Physical Keyboard Challenge: Evaluating the Experience of Using an Android Tablet with an External Keyboard

From the very first day I purchased my Samsung S9 FE tablet and Logitech K380 Bluetooth keyboard, I planned to write this article. I finally decided to take on the challenge of using my tablet with the keyboard for at least five days without picking up my laptop at all. In this article, I’ll review my findings, the pros and cons of using an Android device with a keyboard, and conclude whether it can be a daily driver for your needs.

I’d like to start by saying that if you’re not using a keyboard, a tablet is just a bigger device, probably relatively weaker compared to a flagship phone. Most people use tablets to watch content on a larger screen or listen to media files, taking advantage of the larger battery. If you’re blind, as I mentioned in my Samsung Tab S9 FE review managing a tablet interface is harder since you often need to explore the right side of the screen to find additional options.

TalkBack and Jieshuo

Both TalkBack and Jieshuo offer a set of keyboard shortcuts to interact with your device, but By default, Jieshuo has fewer shortcuts compared to TalkBack.

TalkBack

TalkBack has two different layouts to choose from: default and classic. Both let you control TalkBack settings and perform some system shortcuts, like going to recent apps, going back to the home screen, or going back to the previous screen.

According to the support article, the classic keymap includes basic shortcuts, while the default keymap includes more shortcuts, such as navigating pages in Chrome. I prefer the default layout since it makes web browsing much easier.

You can press Alt+E for the next edit field, Alt+G for the next graphic, Alt+H for the next heading, Alt+1 to 6 for the next heading levels, Alt+L for the next link, Alt+T for tables, and add Shift for going back to the previous item (e.g., Alt+Shift+2 for the previous heading level 2). Using TalkBack, you can press the CTRL key to interrupt speech but it isn’t possible using Jieshuo’s default scheme.
Use TalkBack keyboard shortcuts – Android Accessibility Help

Note that you can also see the list of keyboard shortcuts and modify them by opening “TalkBack settings”, then navigating to “Advanced settings” and selecting “keyboard shortcuts”.

Jieshuo

Jieshuo’s default keyboard scheme offers only 19 shortcuts, which perform basic system gestures and Jieshuo functions. The modifier key is the Ctrl key, and for Jieshuo-related options, you need to use the Alt key (e.g., Alt+M to open the Jieshuo main menu). However, Jieshuo’s customizability shines here. Users have the freedom to create hardware keyboard schemes or download already created ones shared with them by other users or those that are uploaded to the Jieshuo server. Keyboard schemes in Jieshuo are called “hotkey schemes”. You can access their related creation and customization settings by opening “Jieshuo settings”, then “operation settings”, and then “hotkey scheme settings”. Via hotkey schemes, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to a variety of functions and actions, including custom-created functions, or even create per-app schemes.

Fellow Accessible Android author Ciprian Dinca shared his own keyboard scheme with me, and it’s fantastic. It has 43 different keyboard shortcuts for various tasks, and using that scheme, I don’t really need to touch my tablet. For example, you can press Ctrl+Shift+F12 to hear the time and battery level, press Ctrl+Insert to increase, and Ctrl+Delete to decrease the accessibility volume.

Samsung’s physical keyboard approach

Samsung’s native keyboard shortcuts are a great addition to the screen reader keyboard shortcuts. Kudos to Samsung for including them. I’m not sure if any other manufacturers have this many shortcuts, but I’m impressed by what I found. You can press F1 on your keyboard to see the whole list of keyboard shortcuts in different categories. To name a few shortcuts: you can press CMD+Z to open settings, CMD+P to open your default music app, CMD+B to launch the default web browser, CMD+L to lock, and CMD+Shift+L to unlock your screen. Needless to say, you can press Alt+Tab, just like in Windows, to cycle between open apps. The CMD key acts as the Windows key for me, and pressing it brings up the apps list. Pressing CTRL+right/left arrow moves through pages. Pressing CTRL+ESC activates the three dots menu/more options if the currently focused app or window has it. All of the native keyboard shortcuts can be customized from Settings > General Settings > Physical keyboard settings. How amazing is that, isn’t it?

List of the keyboard shortcuts you can use on your Samsung device

Typing

When setting up your physical keyboard, you need to choose the default input method in the settings. The physical keyboard will then function according to the chosen input method’s configuration. I tested both the Samsung keyboard and Gboard to determine which one offers better support for a physical keyboard.

Samsung Keyboard

If you’re using Samsung Keyboard as the default input method, pressing ALT+Shift cycles between configured languages and keyboard layouts, and both screen readers are able to announce the change. However, I was unable to find a way to type emojis using Samsung Keyboard. The virtual keyboard is still visible on the screen and you can configure the keyboard orientation using the touch screen.

Gboard

Gboard’s physical keyboard support is far superior, in my opinion. It supports predictive typing, allowing you to press ALT+1 for the first predicted text, ALT+2 for the second, and so on. This is quite useful if you can see the screen to quickly utilize the predictive text. Pressing ALT+? brings up the emojis. Additionally, you can press Enter to send your message, which is not possible using Samsung Keyboard. If you’re using Telegram, you’ll need to press CTRL+Enter, but simply pressing Enter will send your message on WhatsApp.

Instant messaging

Speaking of WhatsApp and Telegram, they are not quite keyboard-friendly. In Telegram, you have to use the direct clicking function if you’re using Jieshuo. If you’re on TalkBack, you must use your device touch screen to launch a chat or start recording your voice message. Chats open in split view, and you need to go to the top of the screen and keep pressing CTRL + Left arrow until you’re focused on the chat content.

WhatsApp doesn’t utilize split view, and navigating through chats and writing/sending your messages is done without using the direct click function. The only problem is that after sending your message, the focus is on an earlier message in the chat, and you should press the keystroke that moves the focus to the bottom of the screen.

Gmail

Gmail supports keyboard shortcuts and accessibility actions. However, after performing any action using any of the accessible actions, the focus shifts to the top of the inbox, requiring you to manually navigate back to where you left off. This issue doesn’t occur when using the touch screen, so it seems to be related to the keyboard focus. Using your physical keyboard, you can press C to compose an email, R to reply, CTRL+Enter to send an email, CTRL+U to refresh your inbox.

List of keyboard shortcuts for Gmail

General usage

Even though the Settings app utilizes split screen and displays the items related to the chosen setting category on the right side of the screen, navigating with the keyboard is much easier. Upon activating one of the main settings, the focus directly lands on the options of the chosen settings category.

I also tried receiving a call, and the right shortcut function of Jieshuo and play/pause function of TalkBack let you pick up the call. When you set an alarm, using the screen unlock key (CMD+Shift+L) will either snooze the alarm or turn it off if snoozing is disabled for that particular alarm.

Using X is a real joy again till they break it

X (formerly Twitter) also deserves a mention. I realized how much I missed using Twitter after discovering it supports keyboard shortcuts. Not the X app, but if you go to Twitter from your browser and log in to your account, all the keyboard shortcuts that work on the desktop version work here. You can go to the next post by pressing J, the previous post by pressing K, T to repost, R to reply, L to like. You can press the period key to move to the top of the list and fetch new tweets, press N to create a new post, press G+H to go to home, and G then N for notifications.
Keyboard shortcuts for X

Web browsing

I’m an Edge fan, but I’m sure all other Chromium-based browsers support these keyboard shortcuts. Just like on Windows, you can press Ctrl+T for a new tab, ctrl+Shift+N to open an incognito tab and Ctrl+W to close the current tab. You can also press CTRL+1 to 0 to cycle between open tabs.

Google Meet

Using the Google Meet app, you can use the shortcuts like CTRL+D to mute and unmute the microphone, CTRL+E to turn and off the camera.

Text editing

Text editing is crucial if you want to use your tablet as a daily driver. TalkBack is quite basic in terms of text editing, allowing you to copy only from a text field and the last spoken text to the clipboard. Jieshuo offers more advanced text editing and copying, letting you copy anything on the screen, use append copy shortcuts to add more items, and paste them into any edit box.

Google Docs

If you need to edit a document file on your Android device with a physical keyboard, Google Docs is a great option and it is quite accessible comparing to using with the touch screen. It supports various file types. Once you find and open your file with Google Docs, it will take a moment to convert it into a Google Docs file.

Once the document is loaded, you can navigate within using the arrow keys without needing additional modifier keys for screen readers. I personally prefer TalkBack because it provides better reporting of styles and selected items.

Similar to text editors on Windows, you can select words, lines, and paragraphs, and apply styles such as bulleted lists, bold, italic, and more. You can also add links, headings, and tables.

One downside is the inability to quickly jump to a specific page. However, there are many keyboard shortcuts available for both editing and reading views. While the arrow keys can navigate within the document, using modifier keys along with the arrow keys allows you to navigate the so called menu bar without losing focus.

Microsoft Word

I also tried the Microsoft Word app. Similar to Google Docs, I was able to navigate with the arrow keys within a document, but it fell behind and lost focus when the document had various styles and links.

Conclusion

In conclusion, thanks to Samsung’s native keyboard shortcuts, Google Docs and Ciprian’s shortcut hotkey scheme for Jieshuo, I’m really enjoying my experience. Especially on these days since the temperature reaches around 35°C (95°F), I find it much better to work without worrying about the cables, allowing me to take my tablet and keyboard anywhere. I wrote most of this article using Google Keep and added more details for my use cases using Google Docs, and formatting is done of course using a computer.

TalkBack’s default keyboard shortcuts are more extensive, and its shortcuts for moving through elements within a web page are well thought out. It also works quite well when you need to work with a document using Google Docs. On the other hand, Jieshuo has very basic shortcuts, and you’ll need to create a new scheme for yourself based on your preferences or download additional schemes to enhance your experience.

For developers interested in creating apps that cater to the blind and visually impaired, prioritizing an enhanced keyboard experience is crucial. Many apps I’ve tested fall short in this area, lacking comprehensive keyboard shortcuts that are essential for efficient navigation and control. To truly make a difference, developers should focus on integrating extensive keyboard shortcuts and customization options. This would not only streamline the user experience but also ensure greater accessibility and usability for individuals relying on keyboard navigation.