ioskeyboard
I am working on a project in iOS and would like to enable key repeat. I have done quite a bit of looking around and have failed to come up with any option like that (which surprises me quite a bit, actually).
Is there a way to enable key repeat on an iOS device?
You will not be able to do this. The controller in the keyboard sends a keycode to the OS whenever a key is pressed. That keycode is unique to every key on the keyboard... except for the Fn key.
The Fn key, modifies other keys on the keyboard, as does Shift, Alt, Ctrl, Option, etc... the only difference is that each of the latter modifiers is recognized by the OS. In other words, the keyboard controller tells the OS that "shift" was pressed, at the same time as the "s" key. The OS then iterprets that to mean the user wants a capital letter "s" or "S".
This is not the case with the Fn key. The fact that it is pressed is captured by the keyboard controller and a separate, unique, keycode is sent when you press the next key. For instance F1 sends a keycode, lets call that keycode "xyz" When Fn and F1 are pressed at the same time, a different keycode is sent to the OS.
What you could do is discover what those keycodes are...the ones that are issued when you press Fn + F1-f13. Then if you wern't using the function keys for their original purpose, you could map those to the new keycodes (the equivalent of pressing Fn+Fx) and go from there to get your volume keys and all the rest of the goodies that Apple hides up there.
Checkout this article form Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fn_key
Alternatively, the Keyboard settings pane of System Preferences will allow you switch whether you wanted a single keypress of any function key to send the keycode equivalent of Fn+Fx or simply Fx. Perhaps you can use that checkbox to get what you want... though I don't think it will work with your keyboard. I think you need a newer keyboard to get this to work.
It probably wouldn't help, but you could try changing the keys directly in ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist or ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/.GlobalPreferences.*.plist.
defaults write -g KeyRepeat -int 2
defaults write -g InitialKeyRepeat -int 15
defaults -currentHost write -g KeyRepeat -int 2
defaults -currentHost write -g InitialKeyRepeat -int 15
2 and 15 are the fastest settings shown in System Preferences. The changes aren't applied until you log out and back in.
The file in the ByHost folder doesn't normally have keys for the settings, but it has precedence over the normal .GlobalPreferences.plist.
You can remove the keys with the delete subcommand:
defaults delete -g KeyRepeat
defaults delete -g InitialKeyRepeat
defaults -currentHost delete -g KeyRepeat
defaults -currentHost delete -g InitialKeyRepeat
Best Answer
The other answers here are inaccurate. The correct answer is "sort of"
@MichaelGoerz Comment is correct. There seems to be a bug in iOS where key repeat only works for certain keys instead of all keys as expected. For example backspace will repeat per your settings but "w" won't. I recommend filing a bug report with Apple at https://bugreport.apple.com in an effort to prod them to fix this. This bug is highly irritating especially when using remote desktop tools where holding down a key might be required.
I occurred to me that this may also be by design, an attempt by Apple to be "helpful" by only allowing the most commonly used repeating keys. Due to the fact that the Settings->General->Accessibility->Keyboard->Key Repeat menu makes no mention of this I am treating it as a bug.