[BasketofPuppies]

My cousin misses his BlackBerry, specifically its physical keyboard. He moved onto an iPhone 4 and then an iPhone 5C, but they're not the most pleasant experiences for him because of their lack of physical keyboards. (That and he thinks that their screens are too big for mobile devices.)

Anyway, present-giving time is coming soon, and I would like to get him a physical keyboard to go with his iPhone 5C. Unfortunately, I have had no luck finding a physical keyboard for the iPhone 5C. There is no shortage of physical keyboards designed for use with the iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S, 5, 5S and 6, but nothing made for the 5C, apparently. I know that any Bluetooth keyboard should work with an iPhone 5C, but unless that Bluetooth keyboard is small enough to fit in his pocket and physically attaches to his iPhone 5C, it won't be particularly useful because he won't be able to type on it in a mobile state.

So, what are my options? Are there any physical keyboard cases made for the iPhone 5C? If not, are there any small clip-on keyboards designed to attach to any mobile phone? Or what about a something like this, but designed to clip on a small keyboard (like this one) instead of a PlayStation 4 game controller.

[ibook_steve]

Shouldn't anything for the iPhone 5 work with the 5c? They're basically identical.

Have you contacted the manufacturer of whatever device you're looking at to ask about 5c compatibility?

Steve

[BasketofPuppies]

Internally, mostly, but aren't the shells shaped differently, meaning that cases and other accessories that cover the device need to be designed specifically for the iPhone 5C? It's common to see such accessories that list compatibility with the iPhone 5 and 5S and other accessories listing only iPhone 5C, but I don't believe that I've ever seen accessories of this type that list compatibility with all three.

[P]

Any Bluetooth keyboard will work, but if it comes with a case, it is very possible that the case won't fit. In fact, a quick google shows that this may not be so easy to arrange - most of the available keyboard cases are formfitted to the 5/5s shape. Now, one could certainly hack something up, at least with the ones that fold around and the case bit is separate, but maybe not such a good idea for a gift.

[turtle777]

Are you sure adding a physical keyboard will make his overall experience better ?
Carrying it around is a drag, gotta keep it charged etc...

If a good physical keyboard is required, maybe your cousin should get another Blackberry ?

-t

[ghporter]

If he's a Blackberry addict, yes he WANTS that physical keyboard. Joneses for it, I'll bet.

[BasketofPuppies]

I don't think that a new BlackBerry is an option. I believe that my cousin's employer requires employees to use iPhones for business tasks. Besides, the BlackBerry 10 interface is nothing like a classic BlackBerry.

This gift idea seems to be a bust. There does not appear to be a keyboard designed specifically for the iPhone 5C, nor any practical alternatives. I thought about getting a flip case, a small Bluetooth keyboard and something to stick the keyboard to the case, but that would be a hack and would have made seeing the phone screen and typing simultaneously difficult and painful.

For what it's worth, my cousin was not one of those "CrackBerry" people. He's not one to get passionate about inanimate objects. His BlackBerry was a tool that was more efficient for him than competing phones.

[P]

Since nobody else has a better idea, I might as well show mine:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...USVWELHBAHQGHL

The case bit is separate and can be removed from the keyboard bit. It might be possible to replace the case bit with some other case and fix the keyboard bit to that.

[msuper69]

It would be simpler if he would give the virtual keyboard a serious try.
Once he gains experience, with the improvements available in iOS 8, he'll become an expert in no time.

[techgirlable]

There are a whole bunch of them out there. I would just look at the amazon best sellers list for that kind of case. You could also maybe take a look at engadget / cnet archives. I feel like I see case round ups all the time on there. That could give you an idea of what to look for.