Bluetooth Macro Input

About Bluetooth Macro Input

NOTE - This app has been superceded by my new Bluetooth Macro & Voice input app, which has more focus on the voice transcription functionality. The new app is available on the app store at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.darkmidnight.rex2

Requires companion hardware (microcontroller or development board such as Arduino, plus a bluetooth serial dongle).
See http://www.darkmidnight.co.uk/2014/05/android-app-bluetooth-macro-input_22.html for details.

Allows you to use your phone as a macro input device for your computer or any device which works with a generic USB keyboard. Can now also be used as a basic dictation system for your computer, by using androids voice recognition service.

You can provide a library of snippets of text on your devices external storage (any ASCII filetype is fine), and then this app can access them, and send them via bluetooth to the arduino hardware, which emulates a USB keyboard and types the contents out.

This is handy for maintaining a library of code/command snippets that you might want to use across different computers or devices. (Or if, say, your day job requires you to often type the same thing on a computer that you have little control over software/config wise...)


Usage
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To run the app, first turn on bluetooth.

When you first run the app, you'll need to enter the MAC address of your bluetooth device - you should be able to find this in the docs of your serial device (or printed on it). Once done it should automatically connect.

Using voice recognition (uses Googles Voice recognition service)
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Press the Start voice recognition button, and a small box will appear to show it's recording. Speak, then press the microphone icon to finish. The audio will then be processed, and the list of possible interpretations will appear below the button. Tap the chosen text to send it via bluetooth.

Using saved macro files
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Create or move your text snippet files to the a folder on the SD card under BluetoothMacroInput directory.

Use the Menu key in the app to bring up the menu, which is basically just the folder structure of the directory - click on your chosen file and it'll load it into the text view. Click 'Type' to have the device start typing your text.

Depending on your external hardware, you might need to adjust the delay value (if the typed text is garbled, then you need to increase the number)

Permissions
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Requires bluetooth and external storage access.

Support/Feedback
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Unfortunately I'm not in a position to offer any kind of official support for this, so use entirely at your own risk. If you have any trouble with it, then feel free to contact me on twitter/G+/leave a comment, and I'll try to help as and when I can, but I make no guarantees!

Any feedback, particularly with compatibility on different hardware (both android devices and Bluetooth/keyboard hardware) will be much appreciated.