# Apple Wireless Keyboard...what the heck?



## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

This might take the award for dumbest post I've ever made to KB, but here goes...

Short of pulling the batteries out, how do I turn the blankety-blank thing off and KNOW it's off?

The "on/off" switch is a complete misnomer.  It turns the little so-called battery indicator light on for a few seconds.  It does this whether the keyboard is supposedly on or off at the time.  I made a little cover for the button the other day--I had to.  It turned itself on while in a bag.  I still can't figure out HOW, since the "on" switch was nowhere near anything that could possibly have hit it, and the bag was on the couch, well away from anything or anyone that could have turned it on.  At the time, I'm 90% certain that Bluetooth was OFF on the iPad, since that's how I thought I was keeping the two from talking.  Instead, Bluetooth turned itself on somehow, presumably when the keyboard woke up.

On another forum, they suggested using the eject button when you're done using the keyboard.  This appears to change nothing on the iPad, since the keyboard still appears as connected. (It does, however, make the virtual keyboard reappear and then disappear if tapped again).

I really don't want to have to remove the batteries just to keep them from running down, and this is the only flaw I've found in the BT keyboard, but it's a pretty big one in my book. I can't help but think I'm missing something here, but I can't for the life of me figure out what!

It's not the end of the world, as I have plenty of rechargeable AA batteries on hand at any point, but I'd really like to know how to make this thing actually truly put itself to bed when not in use.


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## ayuryogini (Jan 3, 2010)

Good question!
When I'm not using my keyboard, I go to Settings > General > Bluetooth, and then turn Bluetooth off, I had assumed this might be saving my keyboard batteries, but honestly not certain.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

You have to press and hold the button until the light, which will come on when you first push it, turns off.  You can then test it by trying to type something (such as a KB post) and see that the virtual keyboard will popup right away.

Betsy


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Thanks, Betsy, i'll give that a shot next.  The darn thing turned itself on again yesterday evening, and this time I KNOW Bluetooth was off, because I saw it come on.

Maybe mine is possessed?


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

No, I'm sure you just weren't turning it off completely.  I always test mine, after I've turned it off, I try to type a post to see if the virtual keyboard comes up.  It won't come up if the BT Keyboard is turned on and within reach (which is pretty far--if I take the iPad into my office and the keyboard is on the dining room table, I can't get the virtual keyboard to pop up....so I have to go back and turn off the keyboard, LOL!)

The green light not being visible is NOT an indicator that the keyboard is off unless you have turned it off as I said below!

Betsy


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Got it!  Just tried it out and yes, it definitely went off; the bluetooth indicator on the iPad switched to grey and the virtual keyboard came up.  No amount of clicking woke the wireless unit back up until I hit the on switch again.  Whew.

I ended up taking a small cap from a pump bottle of hairspray and cutting a wedge out of it to fit over the on/off switch when it's in a bag.  It's a little too easy to bump it and have it turn on, and I didn't want it draining the batteries on either device.  Now that I know how to make sure it's actually OFF when I put it away, hopefully that's the end of that particular issue!

Thanks, Betsy!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Great!  That's a good idea about the cover over the switch, a little extra security!

Betsy


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

Huh, I've had that keyboard almost three years and didn't know that! Thanks Betsy!


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