Skip to content

Troubleshooting

Want to ask for help?

If you've already tried troubleshooting and the tutorials aren't enough, come and ask for help in our support server.

This page serves to answer frequently asked questions about Key Mapper, and help solve any problems you may be facing. See the Tutorials for more general help with using Key Mapper.

"Key Mapper keeps randomly stopping/crashing/bugging/freezing"

Please follow the following steps:

  • Turn off battery and memory optimisations in your device settings. This is especially important for Huawei and Xiaomi devices, and devices with 2GB of RAM or less. You can read about how to do this on your particular device at dontkillmyapp.com

  • Reboot your device. This is important for everyone to do if you are experiencing an issue with the app stopping. You must try rebooting your device. It works most of the time.

If you have tried BOTH steps and Key Mapper still stops working randomly, consider how you are using the app. If you have low-end hardware, and are playing a game while using repeating key maps, it's probably not a bug. It's probably just too much for your device. If you think you are using Key Mapper in a reasonable way and still experience random crashes, ask about it in the discord server.

"Can I remap joysticks or mouse buttons?"

No. Here is why:

Joysticks are complicated to remap because they are axes, so their inputs are a range depending on how much you press the stick. It would be a lot of work to integrate them into Key Mapper.

Mouse buttons are not possible to remap with an accessibility service. There will never be support for them in this app. If other apps can do it, they do not work the same way Key Mapper does. If you want to remap mouse buttons, do not use Key Mapper.

"How do I change the keyboard?"

There are multiple ways to do this.

  • Tap the keyboard button at the bottom of your display when you are typing something. Not all devices have this and some devices have this feature hidden behind a setting somewhere.
  • Tap the notification that allows you to change the keyboard when you are typing something. Not all devices have this.

Tip

If you want to switch between one of the Key Mapper keyboards and a normal keyboard when a device, such as a keyboard or game controller, connects/disconnects then Key Mapper can do this for you automatically. Set it up here.

"My keyboard doesn't appear when using the app."

Key Mapper Basic Input Method (the keyboard built-in to the app) has no GUI/buttons. You can install the Key Mapper GUI Keyboard to get a proper keyboard that can also perform Key Mapper actions.

"Why don't my volume buttons work when I press them?"

Give the app Do Not Disturb access in your device settings. At the top of the home screen in the Key Mapper app there is a "Fix" button to do this.

"Why aren't the buttons on my Bluetooth device detected?"

Many Bluetooth devices (like headphones) aren't supported by Key Mapper out of the box. Bluetooth keyboards work most of the time. If you are willing and able to do some simple debugging, perhaps by installing utility apps or using ADB, join the Discord server and we will try our best to get it working for you.

"Why doesn't the app open in Dex mode?"

Samsung Dex doesn't allow apps with a 3rd party keyboard to open while in Dex mode. You can still configure key maps while out of Dex mode and your key maps which don't require a Key Mapper keyboard will still work in Dex mode.

If you really want to open the app in DeX, you can put DeX in developer mode:

  • In Samsung DeX, open Settings -> Samsung DeX -> About Samsung DeX
  • Click/Tap on the "Samsung DeX" title 5 times very fast
  • You will see a pop-up "Turn on developer options?", press OK
  • Restart Samsung DeX for the change to take effect

"Why doesn't the app uninstall?"

You have probably enabled the app's device administrator in your device's settings. To uninstall the app, you must turn it off. The location of the device admin settings page varies on devices but on skins close to stock-Android it is under "Security" -> "Device admin apps". If you need help, ask in the Discord server.

"A game doesn't detect my key maps"

There is no guarantee that your key maps will work in games. The app isn't designed for it. Follow this guide if you are remapping buttons on a game controller to different buttons on a game controller.

  • Connect your controller to your device.
  • Create a trigger for whatever button you want to remap.
  • Press "Add Action" and create a "Key Event" action by going to the "Key Event" tab.
  • Choose your key code AND select your controller as the device in the dropdown menu.
  • Save the key map and hopefully it will work.

"How can I 'jump bridge' with Key Mapper? / How can I use Key Mapper for Minecraft PVP?"

This is not an app designed for gaming. Please look elsewhere for help with this, such as YouTube tutorials or ask in the discord server. Also note that use of 'jump bridging' or very fast attacks on Minecraft servers where it is not allowed is not endorsed or encouraged. Again, this is not an app optimised for playing mobile games.

"Can I remap buttons to on-screen controls with Key Mapper?"

Technically yes but it would be a horrendous gaming experience. There is an action in Key Mapper to touch the screen but Key Mapper is only allowed to tap/swipe in one place at a time. Therefore, you wouldn't be able to tap forward on an on-screen joystick and shoot at the same time for example. This is how the Android API works and there is nothing I can do to change it.

"Can I remap my Bixby button?"

Key Mapper doesn't yet offer a way to remap the Bixby button but if you are rooted you can remap the Bixby button to something that Key Mapper can remap. Follow this guide on XDA.

Want to ask for help?

If you've already tried troubleshooting and the tutorials aren't enough, come and ask for help in our support server.