I have been waiting for a gadget like this and the Openterface KeyMod actually delivers. It is a $42 open-source USB dongle that turns your phone into a keyboard, mouse, and SSH terminal for any computer. No bloat, no subscription, no cloud dependency.
Plug it into the target machine and it shows up as a USB composite device: a standard HID keyboard and mouse plus a USB Ethernet bridge using CDC-ECM. The target gets a fixed IP at 192.168.11.2, your phone lands on 192.168.11.1. No DHCP, no Wi-Fi hunting, no driver installation on most systems. Because HID works without an OS loaded, it reaches BIOS screens, boot menus, and recovery environments.
"The interesting thing here is not just the keyboard and mouse part. It is that KeyMod does two USB jobs at the same time." — Its FOSS
The KeyCmd app gives you a wireless keyboard, touchpad, numpad, and macro key sequences. There is also a Terminal mode that gives you SSH over BLE or USB without any network setup. It works with macOS and Linux today.
On hardware, it runs a WCH CH32V208 RISC-V MCU with BLE 5.3. Two variants: Mini (USB-C, BLE-only, 2.4g, keychain-sized) and Plus (USB-A, adds wired USB for 10 Mbps). Both are $42 on Crowd Supply.
"At $42, it lands close to InputStick ($34) and DexoPad ($39), but neither of those does SSH over BLE the way KeyMod does." — Its FOSS
The experimental AI Agent Mode lets you describe a goal like "check logs" in plain language and the model plans terminal commands for your approval. Early days, but the potential is obvious.
Caveats: BLE encryption is finalized but not yet enabled in beta firmware. The CE/UKCA certification is still in progress. iOS app is coming soon, not here yet. Shipments estimated Feb 2027.
I backed it. If you manage headless servers or just want a keyboard that fits on your keychain, this is worth a look.
"The interesting thing here is not just the keyboard and mouse part. It is that KeyMod does two USB jobs at the same time." — Its FOSS
"At $42, it lands close to InputStick ($34) and DexoPad ($39), but neither of those does SSH over BLE the way KeyMod does." — Its FOSS
"BLE encryption isn't turned on yet. The security design is finalized... but current beta and engineering kits ship without it enabled." — Its FOSS
Source: https://itsfoss.com/news/openterface-keymod-crowdfunding-campaign/