IPhone 4s bluetooth not working

Hi guys, I tried to transfer some pictures from my IPhone 4 to iPad 2 and the Bluetooth for iPhone 4 seems to be facing the same problem. I tried go to setting>on personal hotspot. Then, I realize my iPhone 4 is detectable my iPad 2 now and paired. Hope it helps.

I understand exactly man. I spent 600 euro on this thing and its a joke that we cant use a simple function that every old mobile has.

Apple are a disgrace. I mean we are not allowed to even use it as a data stick!!! There are so many restrictions on it that I couldn be bothered to keep goin.

But alas salvation is close to hand. Cant wait for the 5.1.1 jailbreak

I had an iphone before and jailbroke it... best piece of kit I ever had :-)

Thank you! I have had problems getting my plantronics work with my Iphone4s lately. It worked fine in the beginning, but then suddenly, it did not work any more.

But- searching for good advice- I also brougth out the instructions for my plantronics, and voila! It works fine again!

Guess those instructions are made for some reason!

:-)

Didn't work.

I have the same problem, my wife has the galaxy III and the Galaxy S before it and they are a lot better phones in terms of funcionality. They are not iphones, but who cares, you can do the same and more. The amount of options available on android is really amaizing.

I have the 4S because it's free, otherwise I would use Android.

Apple, please wake up and make your devices more friendly to everyone, it's a pain such a good device is shadow for poor funcionality. Apple is doing a brain wash to everyone making the itunes the only place to get stuff, which is wrong, we should be free to get stuff to/from everywhere, even bluetooth.

Ah, one of the "I want everything for free" generation. Say no more...

Hello everyone,

I've been following several forums about the lack of bluetooth on the iphone 4s, and quite frankly, I am very surprised that such an issue has not been resolved by Apple. I am in no way an expert on the iphone - I just bought two iphone 4s' a couple of months ago, for my girlfriend and I, and had a great time with it (taking pictures, recording videos, making calls, listening to music.. etc) but, we didn't know that we wouldn't be able to transfer the files to either phone via bluetooth. Instead, we had to go home and sync the phones so we can "then" transfer the files.

As KiltedKim mentioned before, on her October 27th, 2011 post, "The iPhone does NOT support bluetooth file transfer. It never has."; and then again on her November 18, 2011 post "OK. Let's try one more time. The iPhone has never supported bluetooth file transfer. You cannot pair one iPhone with another."

So the answer is pretty basic - bluetooth file transfer and pairing of one iphone with another iphone is not available and is not supported.

In my situation, and like many other users out there, I cannot simply throw away the iphone for the lack of bluetooth and call it a day - I have to deal with it and hope that one day Apple will fix this issue and make it available for everyone... 🙂

People need to remember that it was always Steve Jobs' intention that the devices remained as simple as possible. More advanced users will always want to do more - such as phone to phone file transfer - but that is not the Jobs philosophy. Tasks like moving files or creating playlists cannot be done on the iPhone because that would add what Steve felt was unwanted complexity for the average user. Those tasks must be done on a computer running iTunes.

Personally, I would love to be able to do absolutely everything right on my phone. But that is not how the system is designed. And it's not something that Apple is going to "fix" because in their view it doesn't need fixing.

Bluetooth works just fine for headsets. If you want more... well, too bad. Take comfort in the fact that on the whole, the functionality of your iPhone is still 10 times better than any other phone.

BCboy (in all seriousness, not trying to be snarky) which bluetooth headset do you use with your iPhone 4s? I have been barely able to hold an decently audible conversation with my headset ever since the iOS 5.0.1 update (continuing through 5.1.1), even though it worked absolutely flawlessly when I first got the iPhone 4s with iOS 5.0 installed. I reset both devices, re-pair, lather, rinse, repeat, and it just never works like it did originally. So while I completely understand the sentiment of your recent post, frankly, I am unable to truly successfully use my iPhone 4s as a PHONE where bluetooth is concerned. Handsfree is required for driving use, so I personally think that would be considered a fairly "simple" feature that I am not able to use. And it seems like many others on this forum are experiencing the same issue with simple phone use. Since the tone of your post implies you're apparently having good success with bluetooth as a headset, I'd really love to know what headset you are using successfully, and I'll buy one! Thanks much.

bug00,

I use a Jawbone and it works for me, but I have to admit that I wish it was louder. I wonder if that's what you mean by "decently audible". I have always wished it was louder, even back when running ios5 or before that with my old blackberry so it never occured to me that it was an iphone problem. My vehicle is kinda loud so I just put it down to that.

Obviously there are many people having problems using their bt headsets with the iphone. I'm sure this stems from the fact that everyone has a headset from a different manufacturer running it's own firmare and iOS has to deal with each. I'm just guessing but I'm pretty sure that Apple's solution would be... use an Apple headset! I don't even know if they make one, but as you know, Steve believed in total integration using proprietary software and hardware.

I'll bet that an Apple headset would pair by you just thinking about it!

Of course, it would cost twice as much every other. 😉

Thanks much, BCboy. Darn it all...I'm using a Jawbone, too...perhaps a different model. My "decently audible" comment was not related to volume though, but rather to sound quality. My voice is muffled/distorted to the person I'm speaking with and their voice cuts in and out. I have experimented to make sure it's not a basic cell connection issue, by switching to the Apple earbuds or to speakerphone, and that does eliminate the sound quality issues. So it seems it is the bluetooth headset that is causing the problem. I've verified that my voice must be distorted because Siri cannot understand me at all through the bluetooth headset, and originally (before updating) I could actually dictate texts through the headset with almost dead-on accuracy.

It's also now problematic with its ability to hold a connection. If I am not basically statue-still when I use mine, it drops. It also drops occasionally when the iPhone is receiving an email. Disabling wi-fi and disabling Siri (as suggested here) help a bit. But seriously, I can't do that everytime I need to make a call. It's just not feasible.

All this is so aggravating, because as mentioned the two worked together so perfectly well when I first got the phone. People had no idea I was even on a cell phone...and I could hear them perfectly. Then I updated, and boom...quality completely degraded. Believe me, I would LOVE it if Apple would create its own bluetooth headset. I'm surprised they haven't. You're so right (and I got a good giggle) that an Apple bluetooth headset probably *would* pair by just thinking about it! Well, maybe someday. Thanks again for your help.

Hello BCboy,

You know, I would agree with most of your comments, but this one part is not entirely true anymore:

"Tasks like moving files or creating playlists cannot be done on the iPhone because that would add what Steve felt was unwanted complexity for the average user."

Correct me if i'm wrong, but that philosophy was in place years ago - it cannot be compared to today's technology or what you refer to as the "average user". We have come a long way in the technology world for the average user to know what bluetooth is and what is capable of. Obviously, I am referring to simple tasks such as transferring and sharing files. Yes, there is a percentage of users that might not be familiar with it, but that is such a low percentage now, that just asking a friend "how-to-do-it" brings them up to speed.

Keep in mind that I, as well as a lot of other users, are simply asking for something to be implemented in a phone that seems to exceed in many ways to any other smartphones out there, and for not to have such a device to perform the simple functions of sharing and transferring files available to the average user, in my humble opinion, is simply surprising... that's all. 🙂

I don't think it's surprising. I don't think Apple's philosophy has changed one bit. Or perhaps you think that people generally have become more advanced users..? I think think that's true either. Maybe because you are an advanced user you have the view that others must be able to grasp tasks that you see as quite simple. I think you may have a biased view of what an average user looks like. The fact is that most people still view these devices as incredibly complex. Average users don't know how to pair their bluetooth device, they get their advance user friend to help them. Average users don't belong to the Apple Support Community and would never even think to look for a tech solution online. Average users are people like my parents and my boss and half of my friends.

Steve Jobs insisted on making devices for the average user. That is why the devices are so easy to use. And that is why advanced users like you are sometimes frustrated when they can't easily open the devices and add ram or change a battery or manage files on their phone.

I can get my Nokia BH-503 to pair with my 4S. I can stream music to it, and I can talk (make and receive calls on it), but when the phone goes out of range for too long, the BH-503 turns off (i suppose to save battery power). Upon turning it back on, the iPhone 4s sees it, but will not connect. I have to tell the iPhone to forget the bg-503, then pair again to get it to work. Any advice on this issue?

Meg St._Clair,

No one "needs" to talk on the phone while driving. Doing so, even with a hands free device is dangerous. And please stop shouting.

This is like Apple selling cigarettes and if you cannot smoke them, you justify that by saying Anyways Cigarette smoking is injurious to health!

So your reply should have been that there is an issue with the latest update or something rather than educating what is dangerous, etc..