where did my ß go on my German key or since the last iOS update?

Choose the German (Germany) keyboard and the ß is in the middle of the lower case 's' when you press that key for roughly 2 seconds on AZERTY and QWERTZ layouts.

Reset the device:

Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button together for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.

If that doesn't help, tap Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings

Might come in handy for future use > iOS: Using international keyboards

Apfelwurm wrote:

Choose the German (Germany) keyboard and the ß is in the middle of the lower case 's' when you press that key for roughly 2 seconds on AZERTY and QWERTZ layouts.

Good point. The default German layout works differently:

Apfelwurm wrote:

That is why I advised to choose either a QWERTZ or an AZERTY layout.

By the way, even the QWERTY layout will give the same result.

But I would think that most German speakers would prefer the default layout, where ü, ö, ä, and ß have their own dedicated key over at the right edge, just like the standard German hardware keyboard. The ones you recommend do not.

That is probably very likely, but my reply and solution was aimed at the OP who couldn't find the ß anymore.

If the OP had used the German keyboard with German QWERTZ layout, i.e. the ß at the bottom right of the keyboard, the OP would not have asked that question.

Apfelwurm wrote:

If the OP had used the German keyboard with German QWERTZ layout, i.e. the ß at the bottom right of the keyboard, the OP would not have asked that question.

Perhaps, but it has happened:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5327353?answerId=23108053022#23108053022

What you are showing is what I get on my keyboard for an upper case 'S'.

For the lower case 's' the ß is in the middle of those two letters shown in your screenshot.

If in CHOOSE SOFTWARE KEYBOARD LAYOUTS: "German" is chosen, then your screenshot is correct.

That is why I advised to choose either a QWERTZ or an AZERTY layout.

By the way, even the QWERTY layout will give the same result.

I use exclusively the AZERTY layout on my iPad as this is the ubiquitous keyboard in Belgium.

Your link leads to a totally different discussion, and there the OP is right, because the ß on the German QWERTZ keyboard of the iPad is placed wrongly. But how else could Apple have solved that problem?

Have a look at the position of the ß on the original German QWERTZ keyboards:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tastaturbelegung#Besonderheiten_der_QWERTZ-Variante

Apfelwurm wrote:

Your link leads to a totally different discussion, and there the OP is right

Well, not so "right" that he should submit a bug report to Apple that the "German Language ß is not supported" in that layout, which was his original plan:-)

Well, "right" in the strictest technical sense.

I had a good look at the tiny iPad keyboard, but I simply don't see a spare space to put the ß anywhere near the correct position.

In any case, as I use the AZERTY layout, I have to use the lower case 's' to get the ß. This does not bother me personally.

Since the German language reform in 1997, the use of the ß has been reduced to a minimum, and the German-speaking Swiss don't use the ß at all anymore, which is confusing for some words, since their meaning changes.

For instance, the words Masse and Maße have two totally different meanings.

Apfelwurm wrote:

That confirms what I wrote previously.

In the Swiss German, the ß is not used anymore, hence the autocorrection from ß to ss.

Logically they should have omitted it as a separate key, just like they do from the standard German Swiss hardware keyboard.

Apfelwurm wrote:

you have chosen the German layout of the QWERTZ keyboard

I am talking about the default setting for the keyboard called German (Switzerland). I don't see why this should have a separate ß key any more than Swiss German hardware keyboards have one.

PS Also make sure your keyboard is set the German (Germany) and not German (Switzerland).

The ß is at the lower right edge of the keyboard. It is NOT found by holding down the S key on an iPad (that is for the iPhone).