Frequently Asked Questions

It turns an Android phone on a desk stand into a panel of tiles for your Windows PC. Each tile sends a shortcut, a media key or a macro. Keyperch can also control Home Assistant, show what is playing on the phone and, with the free Windows app, show live PC stats.

Not for hotkeys and media keys. The phone pairs as a Bluetooth keyboard, which Windows already understands. The free Windows app is optional. It adds PC stats, launch tiles, a drag-and-drop editor and a way to send your deck to the phone.

Phones running Android 9 or later whose maker leaves Android's Bluetooth keyboard role switched on. Keyperch checks this for you and says so under Settings › , then PC Keyboard if the role is missing.

Keyperch 1.0 is built and tested for Windows PCs with Bluetooth. The Windows app needs Windows 10 (version 2004 or later) or Windows 11. Other systems may accept the phone as a keyboard, but they are not tested, so Keyperch makes no promise there.

It may not. Some managed PCs block Bluetooth keyboards or limit which Bluetooth devices can connect, and office networks often stop the Windows app from reaching the phone. Keyperch cannot get around either, so check with whoever runs the PC.

Not for the keyboard. Keys travel over Bluetooth. The Windows app needs the phone and PC on the same local network, and Home Assistant needs the phone to reach your Home Assistant server.

The phone is a keyboard for one PC at a time. If it is paired with more than one, choose the PC under Settings › , then PC Keyboard.

Not while Keyperch is acting as a keyboard. Android lets a phone be a keyboard or use one, not both at once. Use Settings › , then Stop Keyperch to switch back. Keyperch also lets go by itself after 30 minutes off the stand.

Yes. The deck shows over the lock screen, and its keys work. Settings, editing and macros wait until you unlock the phone, and so do Home Assistant tiles for locks, covers and anything named like a door, gate or garage.

They are function keys no physical keyboard has, so nothing on your PC uses them yet. Put one on a tile, then tell AutoHotkey, OBS or another program what to do when it sees that key. Your new shortcut never clashes with an old one.

Macros that arrive from outside the phone's own editor, from a file or from the PC, stay off until you approve them on the unlocked phone. Every macro is capped at 50 steps, waits of up to 60 seconds, 2,000 characters of typed text and 2 minutes in total. Tap Stop, press a volume key or leave the deck, and the macro stops with every key released.

The editor has undo and redo, and Keyperch keeps a copy of the deck from each of your last 10 saves on the phone. Version 1.0 has no screen for restoring those copies, so export your deck before a big change: Edit › , then Export saves it as one file you can import later.

Keyperch dims the deck after 10 minutes without a touch on a charging stand, or 3 minutes on battery, and shifts the picture a few pixels every 3 minutes to spread wear. That lowers the risk on OLED screens but cannot rule it out. Off the stand for 30 minutes, Keyperch lets go of the keyboard and stops. For an always-on deck, a charging stand is the best place for the phone.

Yes, with the free Windows app. Read the deck from the phone, drag tiles onto a true-size copy of the phone screen, then send it back. Changed actions arrive locked on the phone until you approve them there.

Keyperch Pro is one payment of $4.99 at launch. Google Play charges it in your local currency, so the amount you see may differ. It is a one-time purchase. There is no subscription and there are no ads.

18 tiles, 2 macros, 3 Home Assistant tiles, 1 PC stats tile, all four themes, every editing tool and all of the desk care. See Free and Pro for the full list.

Pro belongs to the Google account that bought it. On a new phone, tap Restore Purchase on the Keyperch Pro screen. If Pro is refunded or turned off, nothing is deleted: tiles past the free limits stay on the deck, marked Locked, and work again when Pro comes back.

Yes. Email adam@upandadamco.com within 30 days of buying for a full refund. Google Play's own refund rules apply too.

No. It is free. On the PC, Pro features follow the Pro status of the phone you paired.

We do not. There is no account, no ads and no analytics of our own, and nothing the apps record reaches us. Your deck lives on your phone. The apps talk to your PC, to your Home Assistant server if you add one, and to Google's services on the phone for purchases and for scanning the pairing code; those two Google parts send Google diagnostics. The privacy policy has the details.

No. A Bluetooth keyboard can send keys but cannot read anything from the PC. The Windows app listens to your keyboard only while you record a shortcut into one of its own boxes.

Not without you. Tiles and macros that arrive from a file or from the PC stay locked until you review them on the unlocked phone, which shows what each one would send before you approve it.

No. Keyperch works with Home Assistant but is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Open Home Foundation, which owns the Home Assistant name.

Up & Adam, LLC, a small software company in Columbus, Ohio. Write to adam@upandadamco.com.

No. Keyperch is only for Android phones.