If you’re using an external keyboard designed for Windows PCs with your Mac, you might notice something odd going on. When you press the Command key, you actually get the Option key and vice versa. That’s a nightmare when it comes to using keyboard shortcuts, but don’t fret: it’s easy to get those Command and Option keys switched back to their rightful places. Here’s how.
How to remap the Command key on a Mac keyboard
The Mac’s keyboard settings let you remap the modifier keys, such as Command and Option. Better still, it does this on an individual keyboard basis, so even if you remap the keys on your external keyboard, it won’t make any difference to the built-in keyboard on a MacBook.
To remap the keys, click the Apple symbol in the top-left of the screen and choose System Preferences.
From the System Preferences screen choose Keyboard.
Now, click the Modifier keys button in the bottom-right of the Keyboard preferences screen.
Here comes the crucial bit: make sure you select the correct keyboard from the drop-down menu at the top of the next screen. Now, all you have to do is switch Option Key to Command and Command Key to Option, as shown below:
You should now find your Command and Option keys switched back to their rightful places and everything is hunky dory again!
Let me get this clear right from the kick-off: I am not the target audience for the Logitech Pop Keys. Logitech says this keyboard – with its row of swappable emoji keys – is aimed at Gen Z or 18-30 year olds. I am literally and actually old enough to be their father. That not only means I have a mini focus group to judge the styling, but I know a thing or two about keyboard design. Here, then, is my Logitech Pop Keys review.
Design
As you’ll note from the photos, this isn’t your common or garden keyboard. It comes in three striking designs, none of which are subtle. I have the black-and-yellow model in for review, which is ferociously loud for my liking, but won approving swoons from both my 11 and 17-year-old. (OK, not quite Gen Z, but close enough.)
Colour is, of course, a matter of personal taste, but there are some indisputable issues with the Logitech design. Under spotlights in my office, the letters on the keycaps are quite hard to read because they have a reflective quality. The lettering on the keycaps looks like little stickers, but Logitech assured us at a press conference that the lettering is actually printed and has gone through rigorous testing to ensure it won’t rub off. Likewise, the shiny Esc key in the top-left corner pings an annoying reflection from the lights into my eye when I look at the keyboard.
Aside from the shouty colour scheme, the most standout design feature of this keyboard is that row of emoji keys. There are five different emoji keys and four more swappable emoji keycaps provided in the box, as shown in the photo below. (Hands not author’s own.)
Popping off the keycaps is simple, but you have to manually assign the new emoji keys using Logitech’s free Logi Options software. Replacing 😂 with 👍 , for example, doesn’t automatically change the designation of the key, which would have been a cool feature (my Gen Z focus group agrees). Worse, even when you re-assign the key in the Logi Options software, the keycap image in the software doesn’t change, as you can see below.
Such a lack of attention to detail is irritating, if not terminal.
If you’re a heavy emoji user, the row of dedicated keys could be useful. However, the placement could be better. Positioned tight to the right of the Enter and Backspace keys, I often find myself whacking an emoji by mistake. Sad times. 😭
Typing action
The Pop Keys is a mechanical keyboard, which means it’s louder in use than the colour schemes! If you’re the kind of person who is irritated by a clicky-clacky keyboard, you’ll need to pop on decent noise-cancelling headphones while using this!
Below is a recording of me typing on the Pop Keys, so you can judge for yourself:
That said, many people swear by mechanical keyboards, not least because there’s no doubt you’ve pressed a key when you’ve typed it.
I have two grumbles with the typing action. The first is the round keycaps. They don’t grip the finger and occasionally I’ve even managed to wedge a finger in the gaps between the keys created by those round keycaps. I also fear that hard-to-remove dirt and dust is going to accumulate in those gaps over time.
The second grumble is the amount of travel on those keys. Each key press is a long way down, which I find slows my typing action. It might be something you get used to over time, but having used the keyboard on and off for a week, I’m nowhere near the typing speed I achieve on the Logitech MX Keys Mini, which has fast become my favourite keyboard for work.
All that said, if working at top speed was your priority, this wouldn’t be your first choice of keyboard.
Added extras
Other little things to note about the Logitech Pop Keys:
You can connect it to up to three devices, with dedicated keys to switch between them
It connects via Bluetooth, but Logitech provides a wireless USB dongle if your PC doesn’t have Bluetooth
It doesn’t have rechargeable batteries, which is disappointing for both the price and the environment, although Logitech claims the supplied batteries (2 x AAA) will last three years
It’s a sturdy unit with a rubber grip on the bottom that prevents it sliding across a desk, but there’s no height adjustment
There’s an accompany Pop Mouse, which I haven’t tested
Logitech Pop Keys review: verdict
The Logitech Pop Keys certainly makes a statement and if you’re an emoji addict (please don’t write in), those dedicated shortcut keys could be a winner.
However… the typing action isn’t great and at £89.99, it’s quite stiff for a secondary keyboard that you might whip out when the college work or day job is done.
Ultimately, it’s not for me, but I fear that even its target audience might grow weary of the muddy typing and the novelty of the emoji keys after a while in its company. 😔
The latest EA release in the Battlefield franchise is due for release on November 19th. And, as before, it’s available on PC, Xbox and PlayStation, albeit now on both generations of the latter – PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
Battlefield has not traditionally supported keyboard and mouse use on consoles, unlike many other FPS games. Now that the game is cross-play too, so console owners can join the same battlefield as those on PC, it would the right thing to do to introduce it now.
However, it appears – at first, at least – that this isn’t the case.
What does EA/DICE say?
In a recent post, EA stated the following…
We’ve heard your questions about mouse and keyboard support for consoles. We can confirm that we won’t be supporting this on consoles at the launch of Battlefield 2042, but we are still investigating the various options about making that available, and how it may impact cross-play. If that ever changes, you’ll hear it from us first.
So, if you’re playing this on console, you’re limited to using a controller.
What’s the issue with this?
For those playing more competitively this would appear unfair for console owners, as it gives PC owners an extra edge. Moreover, part of the advantage of console gaming is knowing that everybody is using the same hardware, which changes when keyboard and mouse is allowed.
For the casual gamer, who may reject cross-play in preference to sticking with fellow console gamers, adding the ability to do this may, in itself, seem unfair.
Is this likely to change?
In an interview in 2013, DICE said the following about adding keyboard and mouse support on consoles in Battlefield 4…
We have mouse and keyboard support for the PC obviously, but I can’t speak now specifically for next gen consoles. But if it makes sense in the Battlefield universe, for a Battlefield game, we’ll consider it.
It never happened and this sounds as vague as the recent post about Battlefield 2042. It could happen, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. As with many things these days it may all come down to customer pressure.
What can I do to change this?
There is a petition in progress (with over 7,500 signatures at the time of writing), although it seems to concentrate on asking for this on Next-Gen consoles (Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X/S).
It puts forward arguments for why and how support should be added and I’d recommend reading those first to ensure you agree that these are the best proposals in your mind, before signing.
If you’re not a lover of your Mac keyboard, or it has decided to go on the blink, why not grab a Windows keyboard and use that instead? Nearly all USB and Bluetooth Windows keyboards will work with a Mac, but the key layout is slightly different. Let’s look at how to connect your keyboard to your Mac and what the differences are.
How do I connect a Windows Keyboard to a Mac?
To connect a Windows keyboard, simply plug it into a spare USB port on your Mac. If it’s a Bluetooth keyboard, switch it on and your Mac should find it. It’s also possible that the Keyboard Setup Assist window may appear on your screen at this point. If so, follow the simple instructions and your Mac will figure out the type of keyboard you have. Once done, you’ll be ready to use your keyboard.
What are the differences between a Mac and a Windows Keyboard?
Most of the keys on a Windows keyboard function the same as on a Mac. However, some essential keys differ:
The Windows Key
The Windows key is used instead of the Command Key.
The Alt Key
The Alt key replaces the Option key.
The Ctrl Key
The Ctrl key is short for control and replicates the Control key on your Mac.
The Backspace Key
The Backspace key replaces the Delete key on your Mac keyboard.
On some Mac keyboards, the Delete key is a left-pointing arrow, and many Windows keyboards also use this symbol. Whichever character appears on your keyboard, the Backspace key on your Windows keyboard replicates the Delete key on your Mac – with one small exception as shown next.
The Delete Key
The Delete key – or Del Key – on a Windows keyboard deletes the character to the right of your cursor in a document. With a Mac keyboard, you have to hold down the Fn key and press Delete to do the same.
Conclusion
Setting up and using a Windows keyboard on a Mac is easy to do – once you know the subtle differences, as shown in this article.
Seen any guilty-looking toddlers lurking suspiciously close to your laptop with once-full glasses of juice? Accidental spills are one of many reasons why your laptop keyboard can turn into little more than a jumbled alphabet, but the fault isn’t always as obvious as a MacBook drowning in Ribena. Here’s what to do if your laptop keyboard is not working.
The first thing to determine is whether a keyboard fault has knocked out the entire keyboard or only certain keys. If it’s a cluster of keys alone, it’s very likely something has been spilled on the keyboard. Turn the laptop off and remove the battery (if possible), lay the keyboard upside down on a cloth or kitchen paper, and let the system dry thoroughly for 48 hours. Use a dry brush around the affected area to remove any debris. With any luck, the keyboard will return to full health when dry. If it doesn’t, a trip to the repair shop beckons.
If the entire keyboard is kaput, it’s likely something else is afoot. Keyboards are normally connected to the computer’s motherboard by a thin ribbon-like interface, and it’s not unheard of for these to pop off – especially if the laptop has been dropped or banged.
Not so long ago, you could normally remove a few screws on the base of the laptop, wear a static strip and put the ribbon back in place yourself. These days laptops are generally sealed units that require special tools to prise apart. A trip to the repair shop is likely to be necessary.
Before you load the laptop in the car and drive to your local geek emporium, there is something else you should try to rectify a whole keyboard failure on Windows laptops. Turn the laptop off, power it back on again and then quickly press the key on your laptop that enters the computer’s BIOS (or setup) menu – the key differs from manufacturer to manufacturers, but F2, F10 and DEL are commonly used.
If the laptop will enter the BIOS menu, then the fault is likely with the keyboard’s software driver, not the keyboard itself. Leave the BIOS setup menu and boot back into Windows as normal. Plug in an external USB keyboard (borrow one if you don’t have one lying around) and open the Device Manager by typing that phrase into the Windows search menu and selecting the relevant option.
In the Device manager, look for keyboards, find your laptop’s main keyboard (normally called Standard PS/2 keyboard) and right click on it. Select Uninstall device. Restart the computer and Windows should – fingers crossed – automatically reinstall the keyboard. If not, right click on keyboards in the Device Manager again and select Scan For Hardware Changes. That should reinstall the keyboard driver and hopefully resolve your problem.
Whoever decided to coat the Surface Laptop series in soft Alcantara really shouldn’t work in tech design any more. That’s probably why the Surface Laptop 3 offers metal options alongside the fabric finishes.
Given you can’t replace the Alcantara keyboard without destroying the device in the process (the Surface Laptop famously got a 0/10 for repairability from iFixit), what happens if you’re a klutz and stain the fabric?
Reader, I was in this situation and have managed to solve the problem. But it’s not cheap.
Can I clean the Surface Laptop?
Last year, I was using my Surface Laptop 2 to watch some Plex while cooking a particularly bubbly curry. It was too close to the pan, and some korma sauce managed to make horrible little yellow dots on the Alcantara keyboard. I made the mistake of trying to clean this and… well, it made things worse.
Yuck.
No matter what I tried, the stain wouldn’t come out – and I tried a lot: Microsoft’s own advice, fabric cleaners, soap, nail polish remover, even diluted bleach. The stain just got muckier and muckier, and the only real consequence was making my laptop smell faintly of nail polish remover, while still looking like trash. Or more accurately, making its owner look like he needed to wash his hands more often.
The long and the short of it is this: you can’t clean the Surface Laptop keyboard if it gets stained by curry. Sorry.
So I looked into other options.
Can I get a Surface Laptop keyboard skin?
For a while, I couldn’t find anything, because while plenty of people claim to sell skins for Surface Laptop, most of them only cover the easily adhesive metal bits, which was absolutely useless for me.
Then I found a wonderful Oregon company by the name of ToastMade. It makes wood and leather covers for pretty much any hardware: phones, tablets, game consoles or laptops. Brilliantly, that includes the Surface Laptop.
It’s not cheap, but it looks good, and it crucially covers the Alcantara for an extra $20, meaning you’re looking at a minimum outlay of $89 (around £72 at the time of writing) plus shipping. I’d also suggest paying an extra $5 for them to cut out the Windows logo on the front.
I got a cover in Walnut, and this is what my laptop looks like now:
(Sidenote: judging by the pictures on the Toast website now, it looks like the skins no longer cover the whole keyboard, just the trackpad area. Not sure why this is the case, but glad I got in before the change. If you need the keyboard covered, I’d suggest you get in touch with them directly and see if they can make an exception for you.)
I wrote up the whole installation experience for now defunct techsite The Inquirer – and the original piece now lives on my website instead if you’re interested in reading it. But the long and short of it is that my Surface Laptop now looks classy again, and it hasn’t shown any signs of coming loose a year later. I may struggle to sell it my Surface Laptop 2 in future, but for the time being I can use it again without being judged.
Well, not judged for being mucky, anyway. I may be judged as a hipster jerk, but I’ll take that over questions of hygiene any day of the week.
Computex isn’t just about big product launches from Asus or announcements from AMD. As well as having a floor dedicated to smaller, established companies (who mainly, I must admit, appear to have an RGB fixation), it also runs a spin-off show for startups. And that’s InnoVEX.
Here are five ideas in various stages of development.
This is a great idea: overlay your normal keypad with a number pad, and then use it for entering numbers. Obviously, it still functions as a touchpad most of the time.
It effectively turns your touchpad into a touch-sensitive 4×4 grid. Using Luckey’s app, you can programme 16 shortcuts for apps and favoured websites. Or swipe from the left to launch the calculator and then tap in the numbers directly.
Note that Luckey tailors Nums for the shape and size of your touchpad, and is only currently available for MacBooks and Surface laptops. Also, it doesn’t yet ship to the UK – it’s looking for a distributor at InnoVEX – but the products sell for around $40.
Xround Sonar
I’m keeping my cynical hat on until I’ve tried this for myself, but the Xround Sonar claims to use artificial intelligence to teach its earphones how best to deliver sound to you. It beams the sound into your ear canal, works out what reflects back and uses that information to tailor the signal it sends.
You can see why I’m cynical. No release date yet, or price, but head to xroundaudio.com for news and to see its existing products.
Qubii Pro
Here’s a much simpler idea for anyone who’s running out of storage on their iPhone or iPad. The Qubii Pro slots into the USB slot on your charger; you slip a microSD card into the slot (it supports up to 1TB cards) and start charging your phone/tablet.
The Qubii Pro will automatically back up your photos, videos, music, podcasts, contacts and more. And if you need to free up space on your device, you can delete it from there and still view it when you’re plugged into the Qubii Pro.
Other wireless mechanical keyboards are available (such as this one from Logitech), but they tend to be aimed at gamers. I was drawn to the Trimode wireless mechanical keyboard due to its complete lack of glitz, but then fell just a little in love when I started typing on it.
The excellent feel is due to Cherry’s MX low profile switches, and with the promise of three months of life – it takes two AAA batteries – this product would be on my wishlist, if it was available to buy. Sadly, we’ll have to wait for a UK distributor to take up the offer, and with trade prices of $57 (before VAT) you can expect the price to be around £80/£90 if it does hit our shelves.
X Coin Sleep/ECG tricoder
Still in the prototype stage, this clever wearable monitors you in your sleep for problems such as sleep apnea. The idea is that it won’t just be for consumers, but for medical use too.
It also promises to track your heart rate, ECG, blood pressure, activities, steps, calories and stress state. And it can even generate reports for health professionals. Or so it promises.
There’s no pricing or availability date yet. Sorry.
We’re often told that emojis are becoming a new language full of subtlety and subtext – in fact, “emoji translator” is now even a real-world job. Seriously. But what if you’re not buying it and are heartily sick of 😂, 😘 and, of course, 🍆? Luckily, if you’re an iPhone user, getting rid of the little blighters is a 🍰. Here’s how to disable emojis on your iPhone or iPad.
First, a caveat. Although the following steps will remove emojis from your iOS keyboard, people will still be able to pester you with them to you via SMS, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and so on. 😭
There are a couple of tools (such as Nomoji) online that promise to completely block emojis, but they only work with “jailbroken” phones and are likely to cause more problems than they solve 😡. So you can never truly escape – unless you revert to a cheap dumbphone or delete all of the messaging apps that use them .
How to disable emojis on your iPhone
To bin emojis from your iPhone keyboard, head to the Settings app and tap General. Select Keyboards and then choose Keyboards at the top of the menu. Note that the process is exactly the same if you’re using an iPad.
This will bring up a list of most probably two keyboards (English (United Kingdom) and Emoji). Click Edit and tap the Emoji listing. This will bring up an ominous red circle.
Tap the red circle to be given the all-important Delete option…
Tap it and, hey presto, you’ll no longer have emojis on your iPhone keyboard 🎉🥂🙌🔥.
To reverse the process, you’ll have re-add the emoji keyboard to your list. Tab through to Settings | General | Keyboard | Keyboards and then Select Add New Keyboard. Then it’s simply a case of scrolling down to Emoji and peppering your messages with faces again. The future is now.
Correction fluid: Gboard makes it much easier to amend typos
Despite autocorrect – and sometimes because of it – I make more mistakes when typing on my smartphone than on any other device. Consequently, I spend a lot of time either deleting tweets or trying to move the cursor back to correct a typo.
Until recently, this was a massive pain in the posterior. Then I (belatedly) discovered one of the greatest features I’ve ever seen on an Android keyboard – and it’s on Google’s own Gboard.
(Update: Dan Skinner points out that Gboard is also available for iOS and has the same killer feature mentioned below.)
What problem does Gboard solve?
Let’s say you’re rattling out a tweet like this and you suddenly discover you’ve made a typo midway through:
I’d normally spend the next 30 seconds either trying to donk the screen in between the two O’s in ‘woords’, so that I can delete the unwanted extra, or – because hitting the precise spot is near impossible – deleting the tweet back to the typo and starting again.
And then I discovered a well-hidden feature that has already saved me tons of time. You can swipe the keyboard’s spacebar left and right to move the cursor!
This lets you move the cursor along a character at a time, a bit like the arrow keys on a proper keyboard, allowing you to correct typos, extra spaces or other mistakes far more quickly.
I’ve not seen this feature in any other keyboard, although let me know if you have in Comments below and I’ll update this article.
Gboard was already my favourite Android keyboard. This feature cements the deal.
Give your keyboard a Gallic touch with these useful shortcuts
Acute accents – or, if you’re being picky, diacritical marks – are a huge part of most Latin-based languages (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and, of course, French). In fact, such is their influence that they’re even widely used in English – as anyone who has quaffed an apéritif, cried touché, made a papier-mâché sculptureor got caught in a Tube mêlée will attest.
However, typing the little blighters can be a pain if you don’t have a Francophone keyboard lying around. Luckily, we’ve put together a handy list of shortcuts to give your communiqué a pinch of élan (okay, I’ll stop now).
Important note: an accent acute refers solely to a line going up to the right (for example, á), while a grave accent (è, Alt+0232) goes the other way. Of course, you all remember that from GCSE/O level French, though…
How to type an acute accent: Windows PC
To broaden the scope of your British keyboard, you’ll have to remember a selection of keyboard shortcuts. To begin, switch on Num Lock and hold down the Alt key as you tap one of the following codes into your number pad…
é = Alt+0233
á = Alt+0225
í = Alt+0237
ó = Alt+0243
ú = Alt+0250
ý = Alt+0253
And here are the capitalised versions:
É = Alt+0201
Á = Alt+0193
Í = Alt+0205
Ó = Alt+0211
Ú = Alt+0218
Ý = Alt+0221
If your keyboard doesn’t have a number pad, the process is rather more laborious: go to Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Character Map (or type “character map” into the search box) and copy the relevant accent.
How to type an acute accent: Mac
Mac users, prepare to feel smug: typing accent acutes on Apple devices is as easy as the proverbial gateaux. Simply hold down a key to bring up a list of possible variations.
Voilà!
How to type an acute accent: Android and iOS
As above, typing an acute accent into your smartphone is enfant’s play: just hold down one of the keys on the virtual keyboard to bring up a wide range of options.
