If you've connected a Bluetooth wireless keyboard to your iPad you may have noticed that the on-screen keyboard is inaccessible.  This makes it difficult to tap the DICTATION button, if it's not there... So now what do you do... type as fast as you can OR dictate?  Why not do BOTH! There's a great little tip that will make it all possible...

BLUETOOTH & DICTATION

One thing I immediately noticed about connecting to my Bluetooth Keyboard this morning... the on-screen keyboard has disappeared.  This means NO DICTATION BUTTON... oops.  So much for typing AND dictating...

After all, dictating is two to three times faster than typing, even for an adept touch typist like myself... so what to do?   

Of course, Apple has a built in solution! 

Get the iPad on-screen keyboard to appear when you are connected to a Bluetooth wireless keyboard:

All you need to do is to press the eject button on your bluetooth wireless keyboard, which will bring up the on-screen keyboard!  From that point you'll be able to use the on-screen keyboard in any app.

The other option, of course, is to turn off Bluetooth which can be done from within Settings app.  Or a very quick way would be to use aeroplane mode, which, if switched on, would disconnect the iPad from everything including Wi-Fi, cellular and Bluetooth, immediately giving you access to the on-screen keyboard.

Re-enabling the Bluetooth keyboard is easy.

Just start typing on your Bluetooth wireless keyboard and it will instantly 'take back' the role of 'keyboard', making the on-screen keyboard disappear again. 

One of the interesting features about this connectivity is that you can swap between apps and still keep the Bluetooth keyboard on or off.  For instance, I can change between Notes which I am using to take dictation, directly over to Safari and the on-screen keyboard will remain.  

Even if I hide the keyboard, the moment I tap on an area where I can input text: the on-screen keyboard appears again.  Brilliant!

However, the moment I touch any of the key is on the Bluetooth keyboard, the Bluetooth keyboard takes control and my on-screen keyboard disappears.  What this essentially means is that the Bluetooth keyboard controls whether you are using the on-screen keyboard or the Bluetooth keyboard to input and control your iPad, if your Bluetooth keyboard is connected. 

You might also be interested in reading iPad How-to: Set up a Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard to work with iPad

This is a handy to know, and can be very useful for those considering leaving the world of traditional computing and into the world of iPad.