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Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
#48826 05/11/18 06:57 PM
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kevs Offline OP
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If you
a) use speakerphone a lot.
b) have Bluetooth on always.

Anyone else notice that now after using Bluetooth at all; the speakerphone icon defaults incorrectly to Bluetooth instead of Speakerphone (even when all Bluetooth devices are off)?

Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
kevs #48827 05/12/18 01:44 PM
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Specifically where are you seeing this? Can you walk me through your process so I can try to replicate the situation? It would be helpful to know the model of your iPhone and your iOS version as well.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
joemikeb #48828 05/12/18 06:18 PM
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Thanks Joe,
I just got a refurbished 7 a month or so ago, ios says: 11.3.1

Sadly it may be too intermittent to recreate. As I just tried to recreate, and now it's not happening.

But every couple weeks now, since about time got the phone, (yet not sure it's phones fault)... I make a Bluetooth call, and then the next day or afternoon, I'll call someone-- (the bluetooth, the little Plantroncis thing I put in my ear is off off for long time).... Yet still the speak phone icon does not act normal on the new / or next call. the little circle that normally would be speakerphone is the bluetooth icon-- even though bluetooth is off for a long time.

It's intermittent, seems to self correct in a day or two and highly annoying as you can't quicly go to speakerphone.

Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
kevs #48833 05/13/18 11:57 AM
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Your Plantronics may be off, but it probably was not disconnected so your iPhone thinks it is still there but perhaps sleeping to conserve power (many Bluetooth devices do that). I can't and won't guarantee this will work, but I suspect if you are intentional about powering the Plantronics down while it is still in Bluetooth range your iPhone will be aware that it was disconnected and your problem will be solved. In case you ask disconnecting does not unpair a device.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
joemikeb #48835 05/13/18 01:45 PM
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Joe, thanks--the device is your suggestion to unpair the device?

I've never done an unpair... would be very tedious to do that every time no? Odd, never seen this issue in 3 years I have been using Bluetooth. Bluetooth for me is only this Plantronic ear bud.

Last edited by kevs; 05/13/18 02:13 PM.
Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
kevs #48836 05/13/18 02:39 PM
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DO NOT UNPAIR

I am unfamiliar with Pantronics devices, but my Beats Bluetooth headphones and Anker Bluetooth earbuds, have a switch to power them on or off. If I power them OFF while they are still in Bluetooth range of the phone they send a disconnect signal is sent to the iPhone essentially telling the iPhone they are going off line and disconnecting at which point the iPhone automatically switches either to internal output/input or another connected Bluetooth device. This is not the same as unpairing.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
joemikeb #48837 05/13/18 03:01 PM
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Joe, 'I can't and won't guarantee this will work"

What are you referring to working or not working? Got lost there.

Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
kevs #48838 05/13/18 04:35 PM
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Originally Posted By: keys
What are you referring to working or not working? Got lost there.
I was referring to my suggestion to be sure you turn your Plantronics headset off when you are not using it.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
joemikeb #48840 05/13/18 04:57 PM
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Yes it's always off; that's the conundrum. This issue happens even though it's off.

Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
kevs #48841 05/14/18 02:42 PM
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I tried to come up with a simple way of explaining what is happening, but all I could come up with takes a lot of explanation of how the Bluetooth hand [*]I don't know about your Plantronics headset but mine will automatically send the disconnect signal when they power down due to low battery shaking works. THIS IS NOT PAIRING - which is a separate process.
  1. ASSUMPTIONS
    • Assuming a paired device
    • Like all wireless devices Bluetooth is power hungry
    • Battery conservation is a very high priority and that is a major driver in how connections are made and maintained
  2. ESTABLISHING THE CONNECTION
    1. When the external device is initiall powered on it transmits a signal that essentially says here I am, I am Plantronics Headset with this Bluetooth address/identifier
    2. Every other Bluetooth device within range checks to see if that identifier is among the list of devices it is paired with
    3. If there is a match then a connection is established.
  3. MAINTAINING THE CONNECTION
    1. Once the connection is established there is no back and forth communication between your Plantronics headset and your iPhone, unless there is a call in progress, both devices assume the other is still there and ready to operate
    2. Both devices listen for a signal from the other paired device/
    3. Either device can initiate a call by sending a signal to the other device telling it to "wake up" and handle the traffic.
    4. If the devices get "out of range" of one another neither is aware of that and both continue to wait patienty for a signal from the other device
  4. NORMAL DISCONNECTION
    1. IF the Plantronics is powered down normally it automatically sends a disconnect signal to the iPhone and the iPhone disconnects the device.
    2. I dont know about our Plantronics headset, but mine also send a disconnect signal when they automatically power down due to low battery.
    3. This only works when the paired devices are within range of one another
  5. ABNORMAL DISCONNECTION
    1. An abnormal disconnection occurs any time your iPhone does not get a disconnect signal from your Plantronics headphone. This could be due to any number of reasons such as being powered down when out of range, failure to send a disconnect when it powers down due to low battery, or whatever.
    2. This leaves the iPhone believing the Plantronics is still connected and the default I/O device even though it may be powered off or not even present.
  6. SOLUTION
    • Be sure to shut down normally — I don't know about your Plantronics but on my devices that involves pressing and holding the power on button until you hear a descending musical tone.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
joemikeb #48842 05/14/18 08:04 PM
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Outstanding post Joe, thanks!

Now, I finally have my head around a bit, or start why this may be happening.

Not sure this is part of it: but most of my bluetooth use is for occasional calls in the car, and the car is parked 1/2 mile from where I live. Maybe that is the deal. I shut it off, maybe the phone does not think it's shut off? That said, I did 2 years without an issue and this just starts happening. The Bluetooths I've had a few years, the phone is new.

When I turn off, I push the lever down, and the lady says "device now off".. I don't confirm that anymore as it's so consistent, but now I'll get into a habit of eyeballing the eye phone after that....

Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
kevs #48847 05/15/18 11:33 PM
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and just now Joe, out blue, boom I return a call, and speakphone not working, bluetooth icon is on instead. And I've not touched blue tooth in a few days, so I'm stumped. I turned off bluetooth and rebooted phone and bluetooth is still overtaking the speakphone icon.

Update new culprit: ipad in living room.
Used to keep this in closet for special needs, but brought it out to living room full time a couple of weeks ago. I turned it's bluetooth off, and then bam. The iphone locked out of bluetooth and into normal speakerphone. Hope this sticks. Why would an ipad trigger an iphone cancel it's speakerphone for bluetooth though?

Last edited by kevs; 05/16/18 01:49 AM.
Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
kevs #48849 05/16/18 01:09 PM
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Originally Posted By: kevs
Update new culprit: ipad in living room.
Used to keep this in closet for special needs, but brought it out to living room full time a couple of weeks ago. I turned it's bluetooth off, and then bam. The iphone locked out of bluetooth and into normal speakerphone. Hope this sticks. Why would an ipad trigger an iphone cancel it's speakerphone for bluetooth though?

An offhand guess — and it is just a guess — is the iPad and iPhone are either paired with one another, or both are paired with the same device.

It is possible to have Bluetooth enabled on both your iPhone and iPad without interfering with one another. I have my Mac Book Pro, iPhone, and iPad Pro all in the same room, all with Bluetooth enabled and a variety of devices connections, but they are not interconnected to one another via Bluetooth and no two are connected to the same device at the same time.

For a permanent fix that does not require the presence of the iPad I would suggest you UNpair every device from both your iPhone and iPad and then carefully pair them once again being careful to avoid cross pairing.

NOTE: The rules for pairing and connecting are dependent on the particular device(s) involved.
  1. Some devices can only be paired with one other device at a time and must be unpaired before they can be paired with another device (these are mostly older or cheap devices)
  2. others can be paired with multiple other devices but only connected to one at a time
  3. still others can be paired and connected with multiple devices simultaneously.
  4. Apples newest ear buds pair automatically and instantaneously with the nearest compatible Bluetooth device so pairing and connecting are for all practical purposes one in the same.

To be on the safe side when you REpair your bluetooth devices I would avoid pairing one device to two or more other devices if possible.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
joemikeb #48851 05/16/18 04:06 PM
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Thanks Joe, good info. I've never used the ipad for anything regarding bluetooth. Bluetooth was enabled, but I never used it at all for ipad. So I don't know how they could be paired to on another, but who knows!

So first, now that Bluetooth, is off on ipad, let's see it that is a permanent fix/ solution. When I turned bluetooth off on ipad, the speakphone issue fixed on spot.

The iphone which has to have the easy access to speakerphone (whole issue here), is paired to 2 Plantronic headsets that's it. One in car and one at home. Those are always off.. So if issues comes back, and it's not the ipad. I'll unpair them both, and start over...with the battle. Thanks!

Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
kevs #48993 06/03/18 04:36 PM
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Update Joe, if you are there, I had a Genius bar appointment yesterday, this started acting up 3 days ago, but is was not acting up when I walked in the store of course., so the guy said come back with bluetooth when acting up. He had no idea.

And then today it starts acting up. No bluetooth device in the house and everything bluetooth is off.

He said I have full year warranty on the refurbished iphone 7. Would you return it or just live with it? Getting another one is a pita, and have to do a restore...

Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
kevs #48995 06/03/18 08:51 PM
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Over the years I have had two or three Macs, two iPhones, and even an Apple Watch replaced under warranty or AppleCare and in one case ended up with a free upgrade to a newer and more powerful iMac. If you are offered a replacement for your problematic iPhone I would never hesitate to take it. If nothing else the warranty restarts with the new device.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
joemikeb #49007 06/04/18 08:47 PM
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Thanks Joe, "If nothing else the warranty restarts with the new device."... Lost on that.. 7 is my new device, had it about 3 months, great except this bluetooth bug... but we don't know what it is..

Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
kevs #49013 06/05/18 04:35 PM
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There may have been changes in Apple's policy since I had an iPhone replaced under warranty, but in the past, the warranty period restarted as of the day I received the replacement device. In your case that would mean the warranty on your iPhone 7 would effectively be extended three months.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
joemikeb #49022 06/05/18 07:14 PM
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
Over the years I have had two or three Macs, two iPhones, and even an Apple Watch replaced under warranty or AppleCare and in one case ended up with a free upgrade to a newer and more powerful iMac. If you are offered a replacement for your problematic iPhone I would never hesitate to take it. If nothing else the warranty restarts with the new device.

If you transfer your AppleCare to a newly purchased device, the new device gets the remaining extended warranty.

So if you bought a computer and AppleCare Jan 2014, and bought a new computer in June 2016, your computer would be 2.6 years old and would be 1.5 years into your 2 years of AppleCare. So it would kick in a year after the new computer was purchased (June 2017) when the new computer's initial warranty was over, lasting half a year and expiring in Jan 2018.

I was just thinking... I don't know if you can purchase AppleCare for the new computer once you've extended another one? speculating, it would probably replace the extension and so you'd just get a total of 3 years coverage?


I work for the Department of Redundancy Department
Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
Virtual1 #49894 09/04/18 05:15 PM
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Joe, others, new update Sept/ 2018; I figured it out but still don't what to do:

It's my ATT cable modem and if the iphone is has wifi turned on.

If i turn Wifi off, then problem goes away. But problem is not solved as I have to turn wifi on/ and off. on off, weird bug..

Also tested wifi in Starbucks and one other place and issue did not happen.

Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
kevs #49895 09/04/18 05:24 PM
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Tell AT&T you are having modem problems and ask for a replacement.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
joemikeb #49896 09/04/18 06:24 PM
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THANKS JOE.
Well I'm going to call Apple 1st, tomorrow, and then ATT, but ATT, geez... you get ATT knumsles on the phone, and at best, they will have no idea what I'm talking about..

"Your modem wifi is making the speakerphone icon on my iphone 7 (no problem with 6), have a bluetooth icon?"

That is another point/ variable: this did not happen with the previous iphone 6. Just started with the refurbished 7.

And as far as I know, unfortunately, I'm the only one in the world to have the issue! (I'm sure others, but Apple and ATT wont admit it or have enough reports on it to reference)

Super annoying though..

Re: Anyone notice new iphone Bluetooth Bug?
kevs #50178 10/08/18 03:07 PM
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Update Joe others/ problem solved, 2 hours with senior supervisor Apple:

The bluetooth icon went away after last ios update, so it was mileading all time:

The fix: was unchecking preference in the iphone to "allow call on other devices".

The dang thing was making the speakerphone icon go to that menu at bottom of iphone with imac, latptop, instead of just speakerphone working. Nasty one.


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