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It finds people using bluetooth.

http://www.macworld.com/article/2048737/get-to-know-ios-7-airdrop.html

"How does AirDrop work? Interestingly, it requires that you enable both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on your device. We suspect this is because Apple is using an approach similar to that enabled by Bluetooth 3.0 + HS. This technology allows two devices to use Bluetooth to establish a secure, direct connection, and then hands off the actual data transfer to Wi-Fi for faster performance. Given that all iOS devices that support AirDrop include Bluetooth 4.0LE, it’s likely that Apple is using Bluetooth 4.0’s low-power mode for discovery, and then Wi-Fi for actual data transmission."
Nice. You found proof for what I was telling you :)
 
The other thing is if it actually takes a minute to show up, then whats the point when you could have sent a text or email in the time you're waiting for airdrop to wake up.

I, like many others who are enjoying this feature, have a wifi-only iPad. If there is no wifi around I cannot get an email or iMessage, but I can use airdrop with my iPhone.

One thing that does confuse me a bit. When I use airdrop from my phone to my iPad or vice versa it uses my wife's name and initials. However, when I do it to my wife's iPad it uses my name and initials. Why does it do that, and is there any way to correct it?
 
Nice. You found proof for what I was telling you :)

Did you not read the part that says its requires Wi-Fi in order to TRANSFER the files? Wifi is OFF when the phone is asleep.

Wifi off when asleep = Airdrop won't work.
 
Did you not read the part that says its requires Wi-Fi in order to TRANSFER the files? Wifi is OFF when the phone is asleep.

Wifi off when asleep = Airdrop won't work.
I even bolded, for your convenience, the relevant text so it would be crystal clear for you. :)
 
I even bolded, for your convenience, the relevant text so it would be crystal clear for you. :)

I must be confusing you with someone else. Were you not arguing in favor of Airdrop being ON and listening while the phone is asleep?

If so, it cannot work that way because Wifi is OFF when the phone is asleep and Airdrop requires both Wifi and Bluetooth to be ON in order to function.
 
I must be confusing you with someone else. Were you not arguing in favor of Airdrop being ON and listening while the phone is asleep?

If so, it cannot work that way because Wifi is OFF when the phone is asleep and Airdrop requires both Wifi and Bluetooth to be ON in order to function.

The point was, it should have been designed that way, since bluetooth is used for discovery, and bluetooth remains active while asleep. And could receive notification. WIFI isnt needed until device wakes up and user accepts airdrop transfer.
 
The point was, it should have been designed that way, since bluetooth is used for discovery, and bluetooth remains active while asleep. And could receive notification. WIFI isnt needed until device wakes up and user accepts airdrop transfer.

Well the real question here is if a Airdrop request did come in on Bluetooth would that be enough to wake up Wifi or does the user need to unlock the phone first?
 
I must be confusing you with someone else. Were you not arguing in favor of Airdrop being ON and listening while the phone is asleep?

If so, it cannot work that way because Wifi is OFF when the phone is asleep and Airdrop requires both Wifi and Bluetooth to be ON in order to function.

How does my phone sync with wifi off?

Also, how do you get iMessages if you are not on cellular? I just turned off cellular and still got my iMessage with the phone in sleep mode.
 
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AirDrop Barely Ever works

Well the real question here is if a Airdrop request did come in on Bluetooth would that be enough to wake up Wifi or does the user need to unlock the phone first?
Notifications come through. Screen wakes up, beeps at user. Wifi would normally come on here, but wouldn't have to until user accepts airdrop request.

It does not work this way.

Just seems like Apple messed up by not making it this way since it follows expected and technical operation of their devices.

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How does my phone sync with wifi off?

Also, how do you get iMessages if you are not on cellular? I just turned off cellular and still got my iMessage with the phone in sleep mode.
It manually polls occasionally on an interval we cant alter.
 
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Weird, it delivered the iMessages I sent pretty much instantly. Guess it was good timing.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3576
This page no longer mentioned how WIFI push notifications work. It's been updated with iOS7 features and lost some old detail.

Way back machine.

it will check every 15 minutes for a notification.
http://web.archive.org/web/20110925014609/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3576

This may have changed. *shrug*. My iPad sometimes gets notifications even before my iPhone, sometimes several minutes late. I have not observed any pattern or reason to it, except some interval timer.

It's also possible in later iOS revisions they've implemented 802.11 power save mode. I think the Nest thermostat uses it, early on there were disconnect issues with certain routers that didn't fully support the full 802.11 spec.

Power consumption on the receive path is about a third lower than on the transmit path. It is more power efficient to shutdown the transmit path and just listen when no outgoing frames are present. Further power savings can be achieved by the STA when it indicates to the AP that it is entering power save mode and shutdown its receive path. The AP stores frames destined to an STA in power save mode and sends them to the STA when requested to do so. During association, an STA uses the Listen Interval parameter to indicate to the AP how many beacon intervals it shall sleep before it retrieves the queued frames from the AP. The AP shall not drop any queued frames until the STA's Listen Interval elapses.
 
i've tried airdrop with both 5S's, one was awake and one was asleep. once initiated the phone beeps and says on a non swipe able lock screen message, "pending x amount of photos to transfer" or something like that but there is no preview. You have to log in and then the photos appear with the preview.

Being realistic here. both 5 and 5s have bluetooth 4.0 LE, so wouldn't it make a bluetooth connection first then once accepted initiate the wifi link to save battery? that the obvious way of doing it in my opinion.
 
Notifications come through. Screen wakes up, beeps at user. Wifi would normally come on here, but wouldn't have to until user accepts airdrop request.

It does not work this way.

Just seems like Apple messed up by not making it this way since it follows expected and technical operation of their devices.

It may also be a conscious decision. What I can see from this thread here is that AirDrop seems to be having some connectivity limits, especially when the devices are apart (although I take it that this is intended). This would suggest that AirDrop is meant for that specific occasion where people are standing next to each other and want to exchange a file. If AirDrop would work with notifications (an indirect way of communication), then it would require a response to the notification first. It may very well be that AirDrop is purposefully designed to be an active way of communication all the way. In addition, there may be some privacy issues at play too. Why should a phone come up all the time? And what if a user who received a notification would walk away without noticing or responding to it? The transfer could not take place in such a case.
 
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