Airdrop, iPhone only receives when on wifi

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Level 1

12 points

Airdrop, iPhone only receives when on wifi

tldr: iphone only receives airdrops when on wifi. can send regardless.

iPhone 12 and iPad Pro 4th gen, both are my devices on my icloud.

Both devices with active wifi connections to the same access point, AirDrop behaves as expected. Both devices can see each other in AirDrop. Files transfer between both.

Both devices disconnected from wifi (forgotten) but with radio enabled, both devices can see each other in AirDrop. iPhone can transfer files to iPad. iPad can not transfer to iPhone, "waiting..."

iPhone connected to wifi, iPad remains disconnected. iPad can now transfer to iPhone.

iPhone and iPad again disconnected from wifi. iPad can not transfer to iPhone, "waiting..."

iPhone disconnected from wifi, iPad connected to wifi. iPad can not transfer to iPhone. iPhone can transfer to iPad.

After connecting iPhone to wifi, iPhone receives missed transfers.

So it seems my iPhone can only receive transfers from my iPad when the iPhone is on the wifi network whether or not the iPad is also. I don't have any other devices to test with. I have tried cycling the radios and rebooting with no effect. The only thing so far that works is connecting the iPhone to wifi.

I understand in general how AirDrop works but am a new apple user. Something missing?

Posted on Aug 21, 2021 6:56 PM

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Answer 1

theapc Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 29, 2021 9:12 AM in response to Eric_G1

My VPN apps have been disconnected the whole time, but so far completely uninstalling might have solved it. However, I reinstalled them and the problem does not return so I can't confirm. Will continue testing.

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Answer 2

Eric_G1

Community Specialist

Aug 22, 2021 1:10 PM in response to theapc

Hello theapc,

We see you're having issues with AirDrop, and we'd be happy to help.

AirDrop should just require Wi-Fi being enabled, but won't necessarily need to connect to Wi-Fi to utilize it, so we can help to explore this.

As a test, do you see an 'Other People' section when selecting AirDrop from the Share menu? If you do, and you see the recipient's name, try sending it this way.

Also, do you have any VPNs or other security software/profiles installed? If so, try temporarily uninstalling them.

Also check in Settings > Safari > Content Blockers to see if any are present here. Profiles will be found in Settings > General > Profiles & Device Management. If you find any that may affect connectivity, try to uninstall these as well.

Take care.

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Answer 3

Eric_G1

Community Specialist

Aug 29, 2021 12:43 PM in response to theapc

theapc,

We're happy to hear that things are working smoothly after reinstalling the VPN apps. It's always our pleasure to help.

Cheers.

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Airdrop, iPhone only receives when on wifi

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