I am using an ipad mini for work, and require a barcode scanner to scan products. the one I currently have is Bluetooth. when it is connected to the ipad, it stops the on screen keyboard from working. I need to be able to scan and type using the on screen keyboard. currently having to turn off the scanner repeatedly to be able to type. does anyone have a solution to this issue?
iPad Mini, iOS 9.2
If you mean scanning a bar code, try restarting your iPad ...
How to restart
If that doesn't help, if you installed a third party app to scan codes, delete that app then re download it from the App Store.
no sorry that's not the issue. the scanner works fine. I need to be able to use the Bluetooth barcode scanner at the same time as having the on screen keyboard available. when I connect using the Bluetooth barcode scanner, the iPad seems to think of it as an external keyboard, which stops the on screen keyboard from working.
Right. The problem is that Bluetooth devices communicate using a profile defining messages that must be supported by the iPad. This iOS: Supported Bluetooth profiles - Apple Support lists the supported profiles. Since there's no distinct profile for barcode scanners or POS devices, your scanner is being tricky and pretending to be a keyboard (HID) profile. That means the iPad really thinks you're using a keyboard. You might try adding a Bluetooth keyboard, if you have or can borrow one, but that may show that it can only handle one keyboard at a time.
That may be the way it's implemented, unfortunately. But there are scanner apps for iPad that use the camera for input. Could you use one of them?
no that wont work! I need to have the POS system I use open to set qtys and make comments in. thanks for your help though.
using a bluetooth scanner on an ipad mini, without it stopping the on screen keyboard
