Bluetooth?

Please see any of these previous threads on the subject.

Actually those threads don't address this question. They are all about sending SMS. I too want to know how to actively connect my nokia phone. I have paired it and it is in the devices section of the bluetooth preference pane, but always shows as not connected. In Tiger I could just click the bluetooth icon in address book and the phone would be connected and hitting sync in isync would start a sync. Now there seems to be no way to get an active connection. I can still sync at times by removing the device from the bluetooth preferences and then rediscover it, put in a new pass key etc. Its very time consuming and annoying. Anyone discovered an easier alternative.
Cheers
BTW before you tell me to send feedback, Julian, I already have

Message was edited by: Reg Livers

With Leopard, the bluetooth icon will no longer appear in the Address Book application.

what does that mean though? we can no longer use bluetooth with regular phones to sync and use sms features properly?

I'm not sure about the SMS bit, but you can still sync regular phones (mine is a Motorola L6) via bluetooth with the iSync application.

So how do you get the phone to connect in order to sync?

In exactly the same way as you did before - by pressing the Sync Devices button in iSync.

You do not have to have an active Address Book bluetooth connection in order to sync - and never have had. iSync automatically connects via Bluetooth when you click the sync button.

Apple's removal of Bluetooth SMS & Call functions from Address Book, is totally separate to iSyncs ability to sync contacts and calendars to your phone.

I have had two different Nokia bluetooth phones (6233 and 6110 navigator). Neither of them has ever just connected when the "sync devices" button in isync has been pushed alone. In Tiger, they had to be connected first by pushing the bluetooth button in address book. After they are connected then syncing happens straight away.

Now in Leopard this will not happen. The device is listed in the bluetooth preference pane and is paired. On the phone my computer is set to connect automatically. I push sync devices and isync starts but there is no response from the phone, and the connected status in the bluetooth preference pane remains "not connected". I can only get syncing happening by deleting the device and "reinstalling" it. Perhaps this is a nokia thing, but it is one of the biggest phone companies in the world. Anyone out there got a solution or managed to get this to work on a 6110 navigator?

Strange... well, I can tell you that the Bluetooth button in Address Book was purely for initiating a connection to a supported phone for SMS and Call functions (send/receive SMS, make/receive calls).

The Address Book application does not even need to be running for iSync to do its stuff.

Below is a link to Apple's iSync instruction document. You'll notice there's no mention of clicking the Address Book's Bluetooth icon as being a requirement to sync.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304771

Reg,

I can support the position that connecting to your Address Book was NOT needed to sync using iSync. You only needed to connect to the AB if you wanted to send/receive SMS messages or place/accept calls with your cell phone.

Shame though as I liked being able to send SMS through my AB :^(

I concur that I used to have to have an Ericsson T39 connected via Bluetooth for syncing. Whatever the reason is not the point. of the supposed 300 new innovations in Leopard, the removal of this elegant feature of Address Book is to be lamented.

In the history of Mac OS X development, the transparent menu bar (and menus for that matter, the lack of global Finder view control, the 'wobbly' stacks, and lack of Address Book Bluetooth support will surely go down as the biggest boo boos.

However, in the spirit of positivity, there is the quite wonderful Bluephone Elite application, which has just entered a Leopard friendly version 2.

The support level is quite astounding, as is the range of confirmed compatible devices.

The application takes a little getting used to, but now works (v2) quite cleverly like an email client, but for bluetooth devices.

It is at http://mirasoftware.com/BPE2

Although I preferred the simplicity and elegance of the Address Book integration, this app does work much more efficiently. However, I actually expected the application to become an Address Book plug in, rather than Apple drop the Bluetooth support altogether. I am very surprised by this decision.

Excellent post Nathan, that was very helpful and expressed my feelings perfectly, thank you.

Hello,

Sorry to bother you, but:

i notice you mentioned in a post on apple.com that your Moto L6 syncs with Isync without any problems. I only encountered problems after the Leopard upgrade, and was wondering if you could give me any tips. ISync finds the phone ok (they're paired and everything), and then looks like it's syncing, but after downloading the changes from the phone it then skips to the end (ie. doesn't upload changes). Even downloaded changes don't appear in my iCal (all calendars are showing). iSync's log read as if everything went fine & the sync completed successfully.

I also notice my Bluetooth File Exchange doesn't list any files, even though it does connect to the phone without error.

let me know if you have any ideas/suggestions or if you also ran into problems re-setting up your phone in Leopard. otherwise, you may ignore this email entirely if you'd like!

Thanks.