Support

Getting set up, and getting help.

The KeyBoard for Android · Sons Labo

Enabling the keyboard

1. Install The KeyBoard and open it once. The setup screen has buttons for the steps below.
2. In Android Settings, go to System → Languages & input → On-screen keyboard (on Samsung: General management → Keyboard list and default) and turn on The KeyBoard. Android will show its standard warning about input methods; see the privacy policy for what the app actually does.
3. Tap into any text field and choose The KeyBoard from the keyboard switcher — the small keyboard icon in the navigation bar, or the globe key on your current keyboard.

Trackpad and physical-keyboard remapping (Shizuku)

These two features move the system pointer and inject key events, which normal apps are not allowed to do. They work through Shizuku, a free app that grants ADB-level access. Everything else in The KeyBoard works without it.

1. Install Shizuku from Google Play.
2. Start it. On Android 11 or later, use Wireless debugging inside the Shizuku app. On Android 10, start it once from a computer with adb as described in the Shizuku app.
3. Open The KeyBoard's settings, and allow access when Shizuku asks. The trackpad button in the toolbar shows a message while Shizuku is not running and reconnects on its own once it is.

Shizuku stops when the phone reboots; start it again the same way.

Common questions

My ⌘ shortcuts do not reach my Mac over remote desktop.

The KeyBoard sends modifiers as Android meta state, the same as a hardware keyboard. How the remote client maps ⌘ is up to the client. Jump Desktop maps it as Command. If yours does not, look for a keyboard-mapping option in the client's settings.

The side trackpad does not appear.

It shows only on wide screens — an unfolded foldable, a tablet, or a phone in landscape — and only in the standard keyboard mode, not split or floating. On narrow screens, use the trackpad button in the toolbar instead.

After an update, my phone went back to the stock keyboard.

Some devices, Samsung's One UI among them, reset the default keyboard when an input method is updated. Pick The KeyBoard again from the keyboard switcher.

Is there a Windows (US) layout?

Not yet. The PC layout is Mac (US) today; Windows (US) is planned.

Where is my data?

On your phone, and nowhere else. The app has no network permission. Details are in the privacy policy.

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