Turn BT on automatically

[bp1000]

Is there any app out there which turns on bluetooth automatically when you plug your phone into the mains charger?

It would prove a massive convenience as i like to only enable bluetooth when i dock in my car so it pairs to the car for calls. I think it is a waste having it on all other times even though the latest spec is much more power efficient.

 

[robbieduncan]

It is not possible for any app in the App Store to do this. It may be possible on a jailbroken device.

 

[bp1000]

With the Apple lock down i'm not surprised

My only hope now is Siri gets this feature at some point.

thanks

 

[deeddawg]

My only hope now is Siri gets this feature at some point.

I don't think the assumption that leaving bluetooth on creates enough battery drain to be concerned about is valid.

With my 3GS, then my iPhone 4, and now my iPhone 4S I've always left bluetooth on. I've never felt doing so created enough drain to be worried about.

You could easily see if you see a difference; try it for a week with it left on, try it for a week with it off, see if there's any real difference in your day to day battery life.

 

[Stella]

I think it is a waste having it on all other times even though the latest spec is much more power efficient.

Bluetooth is low power, so it doesn't drain much battery.

 

[stridemat]

I leave the Bluetooth on all the time so it connects with my car when I enter. Haven't seen it affect my battery life. That comes from playing music over Bluetooth.

 

[pdqgp]

Bluetooth is low power, so it doesn't drain much battery.

I leave the Bluetooth on all the time so it connects with my car when I enter. Haven't seen it affect my battery life. That comes from playing music over Bluetooth.

Really? I see it drain much faster with BT enabled on the phone. As a result I always shut it off when exiting my car.

I wish Apple would make both BT and Wifi automatic, so that when you're not connected to preferred devices or networks, that the features don't just disconnect, but turn off.

 

[reebzor]

Really? I see it drain much faster with BT enabled on the phone. As a result I always shut it off when exiting my car.

I wish Apple would make both BT and Wifi automatic, so that when you're not connected to preferred devices or networks, that the features don't just disconnect, but turn off.

How would WiFi or BT know that there is something to connect to, if it's off? Doesn't make sense.

WiFi needs to be ON to see if there is available wireless networks...

 

[Daveoc64]

How would WiFi or BT know that there is something to connect to, if it's off? Doesn't make sense.

WiFi needs to be ON to see if there is available wireless networks...

Wireless radios don't need a lot of power to simply monitor for an incoming connection.

The amount of power your iPhone will use when it's just looking for a Wi-Fi network compared to when you're transferring a large amount of data is significantly different.

Bluetooth was designed to be very energy efficient from the very beginning and there have been several revisions to the standard since then.

 

[bp1000]

Thank you

I will just leave it on - perhaps i've been a little naive and assuming bluetooth drain hasn't progressed since my old nokias and Blackberrys. I know the 4s now uses rev 4. bluetooth so as mentioned, it is probably very efficient.

I dont notice much difference on my mba with rev4.

 

[deeddawg]

Really? I see it drain much faster with BT enabled on the phone. As a result I always shut it off when exiting my car.

All I can speak to with confidence is my personal experience. With my 4S, it's showing 72% battery with 1hr 38min usage, 1 day 1 hr Standby. BT and Wifi both on. I've seen it go to 5h 53min usage / 1 day 20hrs standby with 1% battery when I was cycling the battery.

I have Wifi set to NOT ask to join networks, perhaps it doesn't search as aggressively when this is off? I don't know one way or the other.

assuming bluetooth drain hasn't progressed since my old nokias and Blackberrys.

That's fair, in years past I also found bluetooth on old blackberries, treos, and nokias burned a lot more power than it seems to do these days.

In the end, give it a go and see if it makes a difference.

 

[Stella]

Really? I see it drain much faster with BT enabled on the phone. As a result I always shut it off when exiting my car.

I wish Apple would make both BT and Wifi automatic, so that when you're not connected to preferred devices or networks, that the features don't just disconnect, but turn off.

My experience with all my phones ( Nokia, iPhone ) that BT doesn't signficantly impact battery life, especially when not connected to anything. Sure - I may lose an hour of stand by over a battery charge.

Its a shame that iPhone 3rd party apps aren't allowed to turn on/off BT themselves.. something I miss - at night previously on other phones, BT was turned OFF automatically.

 

[pdqgp]

How would WiFi or BT know that there is something to connect to, if it's off? Doesn't make sense.

WiFi needs to be ON to see if there is available wireless networks...

In both cases I realize that. I don't mind having to go into them to turn them on, but I'd like an auto off upon disconnection.

An example is when I leave home for work, I don't connect my iPhone to wifi at the office, so I just would like it to turn off when I leave.

Same with BT. When I exit my car at work, turn it off. I'll flip it back on when I leave.

Perhaps a silly time saver, but as an option, it's just something I wouldn't mind exploring.