How to set up a Bluetooth page turner pedal on Android and iPhone

The pedal is really a keyboard

Most page turner pedals on the market connect to a phone or tablet as a Bluetooth keyboard. When you press the pedal, the device behaves as if a key was pressed — usually an arrow key, Page Up/Page Down or Space. The app doesn't even know there's a pedal; it only sees the key.

That has two practical consequences. First, what matters is the key the pedal sends, not its brand: whether a pedal is “compatible” with an app comes down to whether the app listens for that key. Second, you pair the pedal in your phone's Bluetooth settings, not inside the app — just like a keyboard or headphones.

No pedal yet? Any Bluetooth keyboard sends the same keys. You can check how an app behaves with a pedal by trying it with a keyboard before you buy.

Which pedals work, and which don't?

What decides it isn't wireless versus wired — it's whether the device shows up to the operating system as a keyboard.

Some pedals offer, alongside keyboard mode, a separate connection mode that only certain apps recognise. In that mode the pedal sends no keystrokes, so an app that listens for keys sees nothing. If the pedal shows as “connected” and still nothing happens, this is the first thing to suspect.

Pairing: Android and iPhone/iPad

1. Put the pedal in pairing mode. On most pedals you hold the power button or one pedal for a few seconds until the light flashes quickly. The exact combination is in the manual.
2. On Android: Settings → Bluetooth (on some phones, Connected devices) → pair a new device. The pedal's name appears in the list; tap it.
3. On iPhone and iPad: Settings → Bluetooth. The pedal appears under “Other Devices”; tap it.
4. If a code is requested, check the manual; most pedals don't ask for one.
5. Once paired, the pedal shows as connected in the Bluetooth list — often with a keyboard icon.

A pedal connects to one device at a time and usually looks for the last one it was paired with. If you rehearse with a tablet and play with a phone, turn Bluetooth off on the other device, or the pedal may connect to the wrong one.

Modes: which key is the pedal sending?

Most pedals have several modes, and each one sends a different pair of keys. You usually change mode with a button on the pedal or by holding both pedals down together; the colour of the light or the number of blinks tells you which mode you're in.

The right mode depends on which key your app listens for. If you're not sure, leave the pedal in its default mode and try it in the app; if nothing happens, step through the other modes one by one.

Four-switch models can send two key pairs at once — for example one pair of arrows to change songs and the other to scroll the lyrics. That only helps if the app can give the two pairs different jobs.

The pedal won't connect or won't turn pages

• It doesn't appear in the Bluetooth list. The pedal isn't in pairing mode, or it's still connected to another device. Turn Bluetooth off on that device and put the pedal back into pairing mode.
• It used to connect, now it doesn't. Tap the pedal in the Bluetooth list, choose “Forget This Device” or “Unpair”, then pair it from scratch. Check the battery too: a weak battery is the most common cause.
• It shows as connected but nothing happens. The pedal is most likely sending a key the app doesn't listen for, or it's in a non-keyboard mode. Change the mode and try again.
• One press moves two pages. Some pedals send two key events per press, or the switch is too sensitive. Check the battery first, then the mode; if it persists, it's the hardware.
• The first press gets lost. Many pedals go to sleep after a while to save battery; the first press wakes the pedal and doesn't count. Press it once before you go on stage.
• The on-screen keyboard won't open. With a pedal connected, the phone thinks a physical keyboard is attached and may hide the on-screen keyboard while you type. Turn the pedal off while editing songs; on Android you can also keep the on-screen keyboard visible in the physical keyboard settings.

On stage: small details that matter

• Change or charge the batteries before the gig. A half-empty battery turns into a dropped connection mid-set.
• Airplane mode turns Bluetooth off too. If you use it to silence notifications, switch Bluetooth back on by hand.
• Fix the pedal to the floor. A non-slip mat or a strip of Velcro stops the pedal wandering off with your foot.
• Repeat your rehearsal setup exactly. Same device, same mode: a setup that worked in rehearsal works on stage.
• Have a fallback. If the pedal goes quiet, make sure you can carry on with the on-screen buttons.

For the rest of the tablet setup — screen sleep, notifications, battery and stand — see tablets on stage.

Setting up a pedal in Reperto

Reperto listens to the pedal as a keyboard, so it needs no brand-specific setup. Pedal support is included in the free version.

1. Pair the pedal in your phone's or tablet's Bluetooth settings (steps above).
2. In Reperto, turn on Settings → “Pedal support”. It's off by default, so a stray key press can't change the song on stage.
3. Open “Pedal test”, which appears in the same section, and press each pedal. The screen shows the name of the incoming key and what it will do (previous song, next song); if nothing appears, the pedal isn't paired as a keyboard.
4. Load a setlist onto the stage with “Play on Stage”. The pedal works on the Stage screen and moves back and forth through the list; a song you open on its own, in the song detail screen, doesn't listen to the pedal.

On two-switch models the default setting is all you need: whatever mode the pedal is in, it changes songs. If you have a four-switch model, turn on “Up/down scrolls the lyrics”: left/right changes songs and up/down scrolls a long song by one screen. At the end of the lyrics the down pedal doesn't jump to the next song, and holding a pedal down doesn't skip through several songs.

If you sync with your band, only the leader needs a pedal: when the leader changes the song with the pedal, every connected screen follows. Sync works alongside the pedal over both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Because pedals send different keys depending on brand and mode, the feature is marked “experimental” in Settings. Try it once with your own pedal in Pedal test before you go on stage.