Can Automator be used to enable Bluetooth when detecting a power source?

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Can Automator be used to enable Bluetooth when detecting a power source?

My intention:

I would like my MacBook Air's Bluetooth to turn on whenever I connect the macbook to the charger. Also, when I disconnect the charger, I would like the bluetooth to turn off.

If you're wondering, I use my macbook with an external monitor and wireless keyboard and mouse at home and I need it to to have bluetooth on for that. However, when I unplug my macbook from the monitor, I no longer need a bluetooth connection, and to conserve battery life, I have to manually turn off bluetooth each and every time. You may think this is not that much trouble, but the purpose here is to have this done without manually clicking the button.

In Automator, there is a function called "Watch me do". What this does is record what you do and repeat this process whenever necessary. For example: I can click record in Automator and then click the bluetooth button at the top right of the screen and click turn bluetooth on. Automator will record this and if the action is played, it will repeat this process.

Unfortunately, I don't know how to connect this to the action of connecting a power source. Like when I plug in the charger, to have this Automator action repeated.

If anyone knows how to set this up, please help out. It will be greatly appreciated.

Also, does anyone know of a third party application that can do this?

Its relatively a simple process, the question is, has anyone ever thought of creating such an app?

Posted on Jan 15, 2012 6:35 PM

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Answer 1

portgreen Author

Level 1

20 points

Jan 16, 2012 7:48 AM in response to portgreen

Its incredible how many questions get posted here, so I'm not surprised no one replies to this.

Hopefully eventually someone will have the answer.

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Answer 2

Jul 2, 2012 8:25 PM in response to portgreen

There are rarely answers in these forums. I too would like to turn Bluetooth on/off in coordination with the use of my 'home base" / desk - I was thinking my 2TB firewire backup could be the trigger but the power cord is a great idea!

Ahhhh... anybody listening... ?

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Answer 3

Jul 2, 2012 8:30 PM in response to WackMacHack

Ah-ha!

http://lifehacker.com/5815211/proximity-runs-scripts-on-your-mac-when-bluetooth- devices-are-near-or-far

http://code.google.com/p/reduxcomputing-proximity/

But if the Bluetooth isn't on to begin with... d'oah!

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Answer 4

portgreen Author

Level 1

20 points

Jul 2, 2012 8:35 PM in response to WackMacHack

I don't see how this can be used to turn Bluetooth on and off since it runs on Bluetooth.

Someone should make this. I would totally buy it.

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Answer 5

Sep 14, 2012 8:41 AM in response to portgreen

I'm trying to do the same thing, and have had limited success with an app called Control Plane. Please understand that I am pretty computer illiterate so this may not be the best way, or even a good way to accomplish this. http://www.controlplaneapp.com/

It allows you to automatically toggle bluetooth(and many other aspects) on or off under certain contexts. I tried setting it up to detect the display connection but sometimes it would detect the display, and sometimes it wouldn't. So I set it up to detect the specific power adapter for the display. So when I plug the monitor power adapter in it switches to the context i labeled "monitor" and I set an action to toggle bluetooth on under this context, when I unplug the power adapter it switches to a context I've named "battery" and turns the bluetooth off.

Automatically turning the bluetooth on is specific to only connecting the monitor power adapter, when other power adapters are connected it does not turn bluetooth on. But it is limited in the fact that if I have bluetooth on in instances other than the monitor connection, and then disconnect any power adapter, it will automatically turn the bluetooth off.

Also if my computer is in clamshell mode, and therefore asleep, when I plug the monitor+power adapter in it doesn't automatically turn on bluetooth, and I cannot use my bluetooth keyboard or trackpad to wake the computer. This forces me to open the computer momentarily to allow it to wake up and control panel to turn on bluetooth for me.

Since my main issue was that I didn't want bluetooth on constantly to save battery life, this works for me, but it is not ideal. Ideally connecting the monitor to the computer in clamshell mode would wake it from sleep, but as of now I can't figure out how to make it do that. If you have any suggestions on how to make this process more efficient please let me know. Hope this helped.

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Answer 6

portgreen Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 4, 2013 11:49 AM in response to chrisb7686

chrisb7686 - thanks for the reply and the great suggestion. I tried it out myself but since I'm running a developer version of an unreleased version of OSX, none of the functions worked. That or I didn't know how to use it.

I set up so that when I plug in the power adapter, the bluetooth will disconnect, and it was labelled as automatic.

It never worked. Tried some different sources and different triggers as well. Not a single one worked, while the app was running and stable.

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I have not found anything else that works either. So far, I'm still stuck turning the bluetooth off manually once I leave home. Because I the same am trying to save battery power.

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