I love my Bluetooth keyboard — liquidbrain

liquidbrain

I love my Bluetooth keyboard

Published on May 14, 2026

I recently went on a ten day trip to China where I didn’t take my
computer.1 I still wanted the ability to take notes quickly, so I bought
a Bluetooth keyboard to use with my phone.
Boy do I love it.

There are basically three reasons.
1. Texting my friends on a keyboard is so much nicer
I hear all my Mac friends laughing at me. We’ve had that for years, Kai.
Still, it’s nice. I love being able to type quickly and use copy/paste.
And it’s nice not to have to lug my computer around either — or buy a
Mac.
It’s not all good, though. Typing exacerbates my tendency to be verbose in
text chains.
2. Typing on the notes app is like a typewriter
Sometimes, I just need to sit down and
write the darn thing. I’ve historically accomplished this by locking myself into a
room with a notebook and a pen and handwriting the draft, even if it is tens of pages. This takes a
while, and I’ve often wondered whether I should buy a typewriter.
Typing on a phone in the notes app gets me 80% of the way to the typewriter ideal.
While typing on a keyboard into a phone, it's more difficult to access distractions. The phone screen itself is too far away to touch, so it's hard to switch away from work. Entertainment is less satisfying on a small screen anyways.
Even better, I
still have some of the nice editing features of a word processor — I can
skip around, copy/paste, and delete things easily.
(This post was drafted on a phone with my Bluetooth keyboard).2
3. Navigating my phone via keyboard shortcuts is a fun game
There’s a setting to let a keyboard control the phone. Go to Settings >
Accessibility Keyboards & Typing > Full Keyboard Access and turn the
setting on.
This lets me use the keyboard to switch between apps, select different text
areas, and even navigate within apps. The effect is a bit janky, but I
honestly really like it. I’ve always been a keyboard shortcuts fiend, and
it’s nice not to have to touch my phone to switch between apps.
The most frequent command I use? Cmd + space to bring up the search
feature. I really wish there was an alt+tab replacement for window
switching in iOS. There is for iPad, but I haven’t been able to figure out
any workarounds on my phone. Cmd+space is almost as efficient.
This navigation combines really with copy/paste and CMD+A to select all.
It’s much easier to copy paste with a keyboard than using the dragging
selection mechanic.
Conclusion
Do I have keyboard recommendations? Not really—I just bought the Logitech
Pop keyboard as it was what wire cutter recommended and it was on sale. But
if any of this appeals to you, I’d highly recommend checking a Bluetooth
keyboard out!
Notes

If you’re curious for more detail on my experiences, here’s a
write-up I did with another person who went on the trip. ↩

Now that I'm writing this up on the computer though, I do notice that my paragraphs are shorter on the phone. I wonder if this is because paragraphs look larger when the screen is smaller, so I natuarlly want to break up the text sooner. This isn't all bad though — I find it easier to get started because the blank page is literally smaller. ↩

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Comments

Leon
—
May 15, 2026:

You might enjoy https://www.homerow.app/ on the laptop that lets you keyboard-shortcut-ify everything.

liquidbrain
—
May 15, 2026:

Thank you! For better or for worse, I have a PC. But honestly, this is one place where PCs are probably better than Macs. I have some AutoHotKey scripts, though I need to make it more ergonomic to add more. Here's a good writeup for any other PC users: https://www.hillelwayne.com/post/ahk/.

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The author articulates three primary motivations for adopting a Bluetooth keyboard, stemming from experiences while traveling and seeking heightened efficiency with mobile devices. Firstly, the use of the keyboard significantly enhances communication by making text messaging with friends more pleasant and facilitating quick operations like copying and pasting, thereby reducing the need to transport a full computer. Although this ease of typing is beneficial, the author acknowledges a drawback, noting that typing can sometimes exacerbate a tendency toward verbosity in text chains.

Secondly, the keyboard provides a method for note-taking that approximates the experience of traditional handwriting or using a typewriter. Typing within applications like the notes app allows the author to draft lengthy documents, achieving about eighty percent of the goal associated with writing long-form drafts by hand. Furthermore, typing offers advantages over traditional methods, enabling easy access to word processing features such as skipping around, copying, and deleting content. The author observes that typing on a keyboard into a phone minimizes distractions compared to interacting with a screen, making focused work easier.

The third major benefit relates to navigation, where keyboard shortcuts allow for more efficient interaction with the mobile phone. By enabling a keyboard to control the device, users can switch between applications, select text areas, and navigate within applications using dedicated commands. The author highlights specific commands, such as using command space for search functionalities, and notes the efficiency gained from keyboard-based selection methods like command A to select all, which contrasts favorably with dragging selection mechanics. This keyboard navigation streamlines tasks by replacing the need to physically touch the phone screen for switching between apps.

Ultimately, the author recommends exploring Bluetooth keyboards for others who find these functional advantages appealing, though the author personally settled on a specific model after consultation with another source.