"Alternative keymap" enter key with iOS 18

josh.k

How exactly does Flic Universal's "Alternative keymap" work? Has anything about it changed with newer versions of iOS 18?

We program our Flic button for Flic Universal, configured to send the Enter key when clicked. We enable the "Alternative keymap" feature so iOS still shows the on-screen keyboard. It's used with a web application to trigger web page buttons. At some point between iOS 16 and iOS 18.3.2, this stopped working: the web page no longer responds to the Flic button. If we pair a regular Bluetooth keyboard along with the Flic button, then the Flic button works as expected. If we disable Flic's "Alternative keymap" feature, then the Flic button works as expected (but we lose the on-screen keyboard). This leads me to believe that something recently changed in iOS regarding how it handles Flic's "Alternative keymap" feature.

josh.k

@oskar

Thanks for the update. I appreciate it.

I've also logged an issue with the WebKit project in case they can shed any light: https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=290779

oskar

@josh-k Hi!

The way we get around the keyboard not showing is to report as a "Consumer Control" device, which is what tells iOS that it might not be a full keyboard, thus still showing the on screen keyboard.

It seems that this is also what imposes the limitations on sending key codes to a web page.

Sadly, in my testing I could not find a combination where the on screen keyboard was still visible and at the same time getting key events through to an unfocused web page.

We are still on the lookout for a workaround for this but right now I'm afraid we don't have a solution.

josh.k

@oskar

contenteditable works, but I don't think it's a practical workaround for our web app.

You said that capturing keyboard events without a text field focused has been restricted, but that's not the case - a Bluetooth keyboard still works, and a Flic button that doesn't use "Alternate keymap" works, and a Flic button with "Alternate keymap" works as long as a Bluetooth keyboard is also connected. So, whatever's going on, it's specific to the "Alternate keymap" option. (I also suspect that it was introduced with one of the patches to iOS 18, rather than the initial iOS 18 release, given that iOS 18 has been out for 6 months and we've just heard of problems in the last 2 weeks.)

What exactly does "Alternate keymap" do? Why is it now a problem?

oskar

@josh-k I see, it indeed seems like capturing keyboard events without having a text field focused has been restricted since iOS 18.

There might be workarounds but I have not tried them personally, but maybe try this:

Set "contenteditable" to "true" on an element, and have the user tap the element to give it focus:

josh.k

@oskar

Thanks for the reply.

The issue is within webpages (so not in the address bar). It also only appears if a text input does not have the focus. (I omitted this detail; I apologize.)

For example: Using https://codepen.io/joshkel/pen/EaxRMgq, I'm seeing the following behavior:

If I tap the text input element on an iPad, so it has the focus, then I see all keyboard events from a Flic button, as expected.
If I click the button element on a PC or Mac, so it has the focus, I see keyboard events, as expected.
If I tap the button element on an iPad, I see keyboard events from (1) a Bluetooth keyboard, (2) a Flic button that does not use "Alternate keymap," and (3) a Flic button that uses "Alternate keymap" if a Bluetooth keyboard is also connected. But I do not see keyboard events from (4) an "Alternate keymap" Flic button with no Bluetooth keyboard connected.

oskar

@josh-k

Hi!

I tested this on iOS 18.4, and it seems to work. I tested with the "A" and "Return" to type into the address bar of Safari. Both seem to work.

I also tested on:
https://www.toptal.com/developers/keycode

(Note that you have to focus the textfield for this to work)

Could you let me know if there is any detail I'm missing in recreating this issue?

Note that it's a good habit to "Forget" the device if you go between different keymaps since this is cached for the Bluetooth device.

josh.k

Looking into this further, it seems that we can't get a Flic Universal with "Alternative keymap" to work at all with iOS 18.3.2, unless a regular Bluetooth keyboard is also attached.