How do I actually for real change my iPad hardware keyboard to Dvorak?

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How do I actually for real change my iPad hardware keyboard to Dvorak?

I have an iPad Air 5th gen running iOS 15.7. I have a third party Bluetooth keyboard (omoton kb505). I use Gboard as my on-screen keyboard as there is no option for Dvorak included in iOS. I have also had to add English QWERTY on-screen keyboard as a secondary option because I was not allowed to choose an option for the hardware keyboard until I added this. I have selected English Dvorak for my hardware keyboard. However, when I use the hardware keyboard, it is not in Dvorak layout, it is in QWERTY. When I check the settings, it definitely is set for Dvorak. It is driving me crazy having to switch back and forth, and it makes the hardware keyboard useless! I have over and over followed advice online to check the settings without success. Is the hardware keyboard Dvorak option just a placebo option? Is it possible to use a Dvorak keyboard with iOS and if so, how to I actually set this up?

iPad Air, iPadOS 15

Posted on Sep 29, 2022 4:22 PM

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Answer 1

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Tom Gewecke

Level 10

116,802 points

Sep 30, 2022 3:33 AM in response to Nisha

Nisha wrote:

Does this mean there is no way to have both the on-screen and hardware keyboards as the same layout for Dvorak users?

3rd party keyboards like GBoard at this time cannot have a custom hardware layout, while Apple's English screen keyboard does not have a Dvorak option. So to have Dvorak on both screen and hardware yuu have to switch between Apple (for hardware) and 3rd party keyboards (for screen).

To ask Apple to make this easier, you can use

http://www.apple.com/feedback

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Answer 2

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

116,802 points

Sep 29, 2022 6:21 PM in response to Nisha

First, go to settings > general > keyboard > keyboards and make sure you have ONLY ONE LANGUAGE on that list, namely English. Then, with your hardware keyboard connected, go to settings > general > keyboard > hardware keyboard and for English tap over at the right edge. Make sure that Dvorak is checked and not "automatic" or anything else.

When you have the Apple English keyboard active (NOT Gboard), your mapping should be Dvorak.

If you really need to also keep GBoard on your keyboards list, you have to be careful to switch to the Apple keyboard when you want to use Dvorak. Control Space is the standard shortcut to switch keyboards on a hardware keyboard, but whether it works on your 3rd party one you would need to test.

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