iPhone Paired but Won't "Connect" with Mac via Bluetooth

The problem was that I wasn’t listed in my MacBook Air’s Contacts so limiting discoverability to Contacts found no matches. 🤦🏼‍♂️

After adding a Card for me (including the email address that I use for my Apple ID) and designating the Card as “me,” AirDrop now works flawlessly.

Apparently, pairing is not symmetric.

What I mean by this is that on the Mac I can Forget the iPhone and re-pair it. Yes, on the iPhone, after Forgetting the Mac, the Mac soon appears in the list of "Other Devices) in the iPhone's Bluetooth settings. However, why I try to pair the two devices from the iPhone, I get this error message: <bold>Pairing Unsuccessful</bold><newline> "<name of Mac>" is not supported.

Turns out that pairing is NOT necessary for Continuity Camera (or AirDrop for that matter).

search for my thread on: talk TidBITS com.

(My prior links to this domain are flagged as “commercial“ and removed.)

To use Continuity Camera, launch an app that uses video, e.g., either FaceTime or Zoom, and then look at the app’s preferences for video. You will see your iPhone there as long as: (1) both the Mac are on the same WiFi network, both have Bluetooth turned on, and (3) you are longed into the same Apple ID on both.

Once selected as a video input, you will find Continuity Camera settings in your Mac’s Control Center.

For more details, see:

Continuity Camera: Use iPhone as a webcam for Mac - Apple Support