TouchPad is a tiny customisable keyboard for triggering shortcuts, mouse movements and MIDI

Keyboard shortcuts are great – if you can remember them, and achieve the finger gymnastics required to trigger the things. TouchPad (£48) thinks there’s a better way. This tiny capacitive keyboard has a grid of 36 keys, to which you can assign keyboard shortcuts. There’s an LED-based programming mode, but you can also define shortcuts using the ‘On The Go’ system, which works inside any text editor. Once you’re done, scribble on an overlay in pen, and then prod away at your custom keyboard to speed up your work and play. TouchPad can hold multiple shortcut sets, too. And if you know your Arduino IDE, you can take things further, having TouchPad combine keyboard, mouse and MIDI functions.

Craig Grannell Contributor

About

I’m a regular contributor to Stuff magazine and Stuff.tv, covering apps, games, Apple kit, Android, Lego, retro gaming and other interesting oddities. I also pen opinion pieces when the editor lets me, getting all serious about accessibility and predicting when sentient AI smart cookware will take over the world, in a terrifying mix of Bake Off and Terminator.

Areas of expertise

Mobile apps and games, Macs, iOS and tvOS devices, Android, retro games, crowdfunding, design, how to fight off an enraged smart saucepan with a massive stick.