Getting Bluetooth to stop searching

Question

Level 1

8 points

Getting Bluetooth to stop searching

I got a Motorola H680 Bluetooth headset for Christmas (yay!), and have successfully paired it, tested making and receiving calls, etc. All good.

The only problem is that there doesn't seem to be a setting on my iPhone 3G to make it stop searching for additional BT devices, once it's connected happily to the headset. The "spinning wheel" and the activity it represents seems to be draining the battery, which as we all know, already has a pretty paltry life.

Has anyone else had this issue? Know how to resolve it? Thank you!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.6), iPhone 3G (16GB, black), Motorola H680 Bluetooth headset

Posted on Dec 26, 2008 3:59 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 26, 2008 4:18 PM in response to Nena_nieve

It stops searching when you leave the settings page - like the light in the fridge goes out when you close the door. Open the door again and the light is on. Select the bluetooth settings and it begins searching again.

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Answer 2

Nena_nieve Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 26, 2008 6:46 PM in response to Jim VanLeeuwen

Thanks for the response!

I wonder whether my phone is actually "turning off the fridge light," as you say, considering that the battery was completely drained overnight while doing nothing unusual. (I had charged it completely, and left it idle on my desk.) The only thing different from usual activity was that Bluetooth was enabled.

If you have any ideas as to what is going on, I'd appreciate hearing them! Meanwhile, I'm going to try to duplicate the result by leaving BT enabled overnight again, while doing nothing else with the phone, and see whether it's low on battery by morning.

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Answer 3

Dec 26, 2008 7:10 PM in response to Nena_nieve

Are you leaving your BT headset ON at night? Maybe keeping the connection is draining your battery. My BT is in the car in the garage and out of range when I'm at home. I never turn the phone's BT off and don't have any battery problems.

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Answer 4

Nena_nieve Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 27, 2008 5:42 AM in response to Jim VanLeeuwen

No, the headset itself is switched off. BT is enabled on the phone, but not connecting to anything (grey BT icon). I tested it again last night, as I mentioned I would, and indeed the battery was drained again by morning.

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Answer 5

DanH

Level 5

4,372 points

Dec 27, 2008 8:06 AM in response to Nena_nieve

I find BT to be the 2nd biggest drain on the battery (after screen brightness). I always turn off BT when not in use (and really wish I could create a Home screen widget to toggle BT without resorting to jailbusting).

I do believe the phone continues to search for available BT devices whenever BT is enabled, just as laptops do. Observe how WiFi works by way of contrast - my phone displays the EDGE icon until I tap Mail, for example, when WiFi kicks in. Then WiFi goes back to sleep when I'm done. I've never had to turn off WiFi to save battery power.

-dan

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