If you have an external keyboard connected to your iPad — a Magic Keyboard, a Smart Keyboard, or any Bluetooth keyboard — you can use the “Search for a product” bar just as usual. This article explains why the keyboard and barcode scanner can affect each other and what happens when the behavior is not as expected.
Why does the keyboard matter?
A barcode scanner in HID mode is not recognized by the iPad as a scanner, but as a regular keyboard. The app reads keystrokes globally so it can capture a scanned code even when you don’t have the cursor in the search bar. This means the app receives both what you type manually and what the scanner sends in the same way, and it has to distinguish between them on its own.
What can you do in the search bar?
Type the product name as usual. The product list is filtered as you type, and the text remains in the field. The “product not found” message will no longer appear simply because you have typed something.
Tap the desired product in the list to add it to the receipt.
If you press Enter and exactly one product matches what you have typed, that product is added directly to the receipt. If multiple products match, nothing is added — the list remains filtered so you can choose the product yourself. The search works both by product name and SKU.
You can also enter a product’s code (SKU) in the search bar, not just its name.
What if you scan a product and nothing happens?
If you don’t hear a beep, nothing is added to the receipt, and no message appears, the code was interpreted as typed text.
The scanner must be set to HID mode (keyboard) and must not have any delay between characters enabled.
A scanner that sends characters slowly is interpreted as typing.
If the scanner is still not recognized after these checks, contact us. We’ll need the scanner model and an example of a code that isn’t working.
Tags: [keyboard, external keyboard, Magic Keyboard, Smart Keyboard, Bluetooth, product not found, product search, scanner, barcode, iPad]