Troubleshooting Bluetooth connection issues with K380 keyboard

[MilaM]

I bought one of the recently annouced Logitech K380 keyboards which are touted by Logitech as being "designed for Mac" and should also work with iOS or iPadOS according to Logitech.

The problem is, that the keyboard looses connectivity with my iPad Pro (2018) after a couple of hours of not being used (iPad in standby). Once it loses the connection, it won't reconnect at all. The only solution is to 'forget the device' and pair it again. Sometimes rebooting the iPad works too. I have no idea if the problem here is Apple's Bluetooth stack or the keyboard itself.

Has anyone else experienced problems with Bluetooth keyboards (or this specific model) on iPadOS 16.3?
Are there other things I could do to reset Bluetooth on the iPad besides re-pairing?

 

[MilaM]

Three additional troubleshooting tipps I found that I am trying today:

1. Reset the keyboard using the following incantation found on youtube:

ESC-O, ESC-O, ESC-B

2. Force restart iPad

3. Reset network settings

Will report back if this resolves my connectivity issues. Just leaving this here if someone else has problems with the Logitech K380 on iPadOS.

 

[Slartibart]

the obvious first: the batteries are fully charged?

 

[rui no onna]

I use the Logitech K780 with the different switches set to the ff:

1: desktop
2: iPad Pro
3: iPad mini

No re-connection problems for me. Granted, I haven’t updated to 16.3 yet.


Perhaps you can setup your K380 to:

1: iPad
2: iPhone

And then switch between 1&2 when the iPad goes on standby (wait about 5-10 seconds for reconnect).

There should also be a power switch on the side of the K380. Turning the keyboard on and off (quicker than restarting the iPad) usually solves connectivity issues.

 

[MilaM]

Thank you for your help!

After force restarting the iPad and then resetting 'Network Settings', things have improved. Had no more issues reconnecting the K380 since yesterday 🤞.

But now my 5K iMac is acting up. After upgrading to Ventura last week, it crashes completely during the night in standby. I think veterans call this 'sleep wake failure'.

Also the Magic Keyboard and Mouse disconnect for minutes after short periods of standy 😭. Why are major upgrades so painful on the Mac? I already waited for three dot releases to be on the safe side. So frustrating.

@Slartibart: Batteries are good. Checked that yesterday.

 

[MilaM]

I rejoiced too early. The Bluetooth connection is still not working correctly. The keyboard now reconnects, but it is first not transmitting any keypresses for a while and then suddenly will send a burst of random key events to the iPad.

This is pure speculation, but I still think Apple changed something fundamental in the Bluetooth stack. It would explain why I'm also having problems with the Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse on my 5K Intel iMac on Ventura.

There is also this possibly related thread about keyborads and mice not reconnecting after sleep.

I'm giving up for now and sending the Logitech keyboard back were it came from.

Anyway, again thanks for your help.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I just got this keyboard for my wife, and she's running into a problem where she'll be typing with it on her iPad Air, and it will randomly disconnect for a few seconds, and then re-connect.

I tried it on my M1 Macbook Pro, and it has the same problem. So back to the store it goes!