ciaopubs

Q: iOS10 iPad keyboard hangs

I have had several occasions in the past few days where the landscape mode keyboard on my iPad Air 2 hangs, including:

  • Only came up 3/4 of the way, and no buttons worked
  • Would not switch between ABC and 123 versions, but the active keyboard still worked
  • Keyboard was up all the way but no buttons worked

 

I think these were all in Safari, but could have been in other chat apps or Notes.  I have not had it happen on my iPhone 6s, but it it is tied to the landscape keyboard, probably would not see it there.

 

In at least one case (the first one above), backgrounding the app and coming back solved things.  In other cases, had to kill and relaunch the app.  It is just the keyboard affected; I have been able to do things like save a draft of a webmail I was writing, or copy/paste the text box content to not lose what I was doing.

 

  1. Is this a known issue?  (Does not seem related to the Bitmoji keyboard problem.)
  2. Any ideas for solutions?

Posted on Sep 19, 2016 4:13 PM

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Q: iOS10 iPad keyboard hangs

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  • Helpful answers

  • by sterling r,

    sterling r sterling r Sep 20, 2016 12:19 PM in response to ciaopubs
    Community Specialists
    Sep 20, 2016 12:19 PM in response to ciaopubs

    Hello there, ciaopubs!

     

    Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Communities! It sounds like you are having issues with the keyboard on the iPad. I know how important it is to be sure the keyboard is working properly. First, check out this article with steps to Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

     

    The next thing you might want to try is going to Settings on the iPhone and then to Reset. Once there, tap Reset all Settings. This will reset the iPhone settings, but not erase personal information such as photos, contacts, or music. It will, however, remove Wi-Fi and VPN settings so be sure you have those settings and passwords ready for when the iPhone is started back up.

     

    If that doesn't work, it would be a good idea to be sure there is not a software issue as the root cause of this for you.

    1. Check out this article for the steps for How to backup your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
    2. Use this article for the steps to Use iTunes on your Mac or PC to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings.
    3. Once that is done, set the phone up as new and test the phone to see if the issue is still going on. Then, follow this article to Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup

     

    Cheers!

  • by ciaopubs,

    ciaopubs ciaopubs Sep 20, 2016 12:51 PM in response to sterling r
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Safari
    Sep 20, 2016 12:51 PM in response to sterling r

    Um, the problem is on the iPad, not on the iPhone.

  • by AppleJen77,Solvedanswer

    AppleJen77 AppleJen77 Sep 20, 2016 1:01 PM in response to ciaopubs
    Community Specialists
    Sep 20, 2016 1:01 PM in response to ciaopubs

    Hi ciaopubs!

     

    Steps are the same fo the iPad as the iPhone. Give them a try!

     

    Have a good day!

  • by ciaopubs,

    ciaopubs ciaopubs Oct 10, 2016 8:58 PM in response to AppleJen77
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Safari
    Oct 10, 2016 8:58 PM in response to AppleJen77

    Restart and reset didn't solve the issue, it still happens.  Still no obvious pattern to it other than switching the keyboard type (such as ABC to 123).

     

    "it would be a good idea to be sure there is not a software issue as the root cause" -- yeah, I would say that's the likely issue, a problem with the software.  But I'm not going to zap my device back to a null state to see if that helps, since there are no clear repro steps yet.  I'm still only sure that I'm seeing it in Mobile Safari, can't for sure say I encountered it in any other app.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Oct 11, 2016 3:59 AM in response to ciaopubs
    Level 5 (4,695 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 11, 2016 3:59 AM in response to ciaopubs

    Hi. Are you using the default iOS keyboard or a 3rd party one? If it's a 3rd party KB, you could try uninstalling it and reinstalling.

  • by ciaopubs,

    ciaopubs ciaopubs Oct 11, 2016 10:07 AM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Safari
    Oct 11, 2016 10:07 AM in response to Diana.McCall

    Nope, just the regular one.  This started immediately after upgrading to iOS 10.  (I'm on the latest now.)

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Oct 11, 2016 12:32 PM in response to ciaopubs
    Level 5 (4,695 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 11, 2016 12:32 PM in response to ciaopubs

    Strange. It just works for me... Unfortunately, you've marked your question solved, which may cause some people to skip over it. Maybe you should post again, though double posting is frowned upon.

  • by ciaopubs,

    ciaopubs ciaopubs Oct 11, 2016 12:53 PM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Safari
    Oct 11, 2016 12:53 PM in response to Diana.McCall

    I didn't mark it solved.  Maybe someone else did?

     

    It is an uncommon event.  I usually get it when trying a reply on Facebook, in a webmail client, or in other social media apps -- sometimes multiple times in a day, sometimes not at all for a few days.  So wherever the cause is, your repro attempts are probably not hitting the same code paths.

     

    I also routinely have the split view or the control center appear when I am trying to doing things with the keyboard on the right or bottom; I probably do a tiny slide of my finger on the spacebar or similar to cause the mis-invoke.  It's possible that these are related, since the frequency of this issue has gone up by a factor of 10 or more since iOS 10 came out and changed the control center.  (It used to happen with split view now and then, but not control center.  Now a couple times a day.)