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Air Drop broken in iOS 7.1

sflomenb

sflomenb

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 22, 2011
915
132
I tried AirDrop on iOS 7.1 and it doesn't work. When I go into the Share Sheet and press the AirDrop icon, it doesn't change. iPhone 5s. I can't be the only one with this problem. Also happening on my iPad Air and my friend's iPhone 5c.
 
Last edited:
Can someone else try this to see if it happens on their device?
 
Seems like there's a slightly earlier thread about this at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1718915/
 
Air Drop broken in iOS 7.1

Works fine for me too - 5s / mini retina. But it doesn't with my MBP or with my Mini. Is this a bug or should't it work betwenn iOS and OSX??
 
muertorix said:
Works fine for me too - 5s / mini retina. But it doesn't with my MBP or with my Mini. Is this a bug or should't it work betwenn iOS and OSX??
Click to expand...


Air drop does not work between iOS and OSX devices (for whatever reason). I'm sure apple will implement that functionality eventually.
 
Although I have a iPhone 4S which doesn't have AirDrop I just watched two of my friends test it out between an iPhone 5 and 5C and it worked flawlessly. First time I've seen it in use and I was actually impressed with its performance. Both phones are on iOS 7.1.
 
Syndicate0017 said:
Air drop does not work between iOS and OSX devices (for whatever reason). I'm sure apple will implement that functionality eventually.
Click to expand...

Despite the having the same name, AirDrop for iOS and AirDrop for OSX are two different ways to share. They don't utilize the same technology as far as I know.
 
I can usually get it to work by rebooting the device I am sending from. Might as well just email because it will be faster.
 
Used to work now it doesn't

I recently got iPhone 5s's for myself and the wife iOS 7.1. Tried airdrop between the two and it worked like a charm. I upgraded both phones to 7.1.1 (not sure if that is the relevant factor) but now airdrop will not work at all. I have AirDrop Everyone turned on, bluetooth on, when I tap to share, the airdrop icon is blue, but tapping the blue airdrop icon does nothing at all, zero, zip, zilch nada. Any ideas?

-J
 
jrswizzle said:
Despite the having the same name, AirDrop for iOS and AirDrop for OSX are two different ways to share. They don't utilize the same technology as far as I know.
Click to expand...


I think ios - osx was working in earlier versions but not anymore.. I'm missing this a lot!

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jj5406 said:
I recently got iPhone 5s's for myself and the wife iOS 7.1. Tried airdrop between the two and it worked like a charm. I upgraded both phones to 7.1.1 (not sure if that is the relevant factor) but now airdrop will not work at all. I have AirDrop Everyone turned on, bluetooth on, when I tap to share, the airdrop icon is blue, but tapping the blue airdrop icon does nothing at all, zero, zip, zilch nada. Any ideas?

-J
Click to expand...

Maybe you could try to disable-re-enable bluetooth. Perhaps a restart or reset settings..? Not sure that helps but is worth a try.
 
qweenapps said:
I think ios - osx was working in earlier versions but not anymore.. I'm missing this a lot!

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Maybe you could try to disable-re-enable bluetooth. Perhaps a restart or reset settings..? Not sure that helps but is worth a try.
Click to expand...


iOS to osx NEVER worked. It's been discusses and ranted about several times.
 
Airdrop is tough because it conserves battery by not searching and sending a signal all the time. Sometimes the signals miss each other and you just cannot find the person. Try it again by exiting airdrop and going back into it until it shows up.

PS: I'm just guessing, I don't understand AirDrop tech on iPhone at all.
 
Not sure about the rest, but I've resolved my issue

I've tried turning off/on bluetooth, wi-fi, airdrop - even soft-reboot, all to no avail - and this is happening on 2 separate phones.

Wait, hold the phone jack!

Apparently if the nearby bluetooth receiving device is not "awake" then tapping that blue airdrop icon is a no-op. If there is a nearby device that is discoverable and awake, that icon will automatically change to the name of the discoverable device (presumably all "available" devices that are in range will appear).

OK. Got it. That blue (as opposed to grey) just means you are ready to send an airdrop, but nothing is waiting to receive it. I think a little feedback when you tap that icon would be nice. But now that I know what it means I'm good to go. I guess I just got lucky the first time around.
 
My wife and I each have 5s's and airdrop works fine between the two. I hope that OSX airdrop gets into the mix with future releases. It would be great if so..
 
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