Q: why cant i connect my iphone 5 via bluetooth to my macboook pro

Again check out https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/ifileexpress-instantly-take/id543830394?mt=8

iFileexpress in conjunction with iFunbox will let you transfer files from PC to/from iDevice using Wi-Fi. or USB. but only for use in iFileexpress but on the bright side it plays MP3

Also AVMediaPlayer can transfer any format movies as well via WiFi also using iFunbox.

iFunbox is a great alternative to the Nasty iTunes for transfering documents, music and Audio to various apps directly.

Instashare.

Case closed

Yep Instshare is good. unless you want to transfer to a Windows based PC.. (app not yet available for Windows or Android devices).

iFunbox and iFileExpress is cross platform

I am still not seeing how either one of those suggestions solve the issue of not being able to use the iPhone Keynote app as a remote to control slides on my macbook w/o WiFi.

Help! Is there any way around this? I need to update data in an app on my phone. The app is made to  sync with bluetooth.

srhoffman wrote:

 

Help! Is there any way around this? I need to update data in an app on my phone. The app is made to  sync with bluetooth.

What bluetooth profile does your app want to use? With what app on the other end does it want to sync? What kind of phone do you have?

Always good to read a comment based on knowledge rather than just dribblings about not being able to do something that you "should" be able to. I feel much more at ease now knowing that the reason I can't use Bluetooth to do something is because it's an old protocol and Apple are doing their usual thing of not just supporting something because people expect them to. The confusion is that both devices have bluetooth so "should" be able to connect to each other, but it would seem that neither is setup to do that. They both have uses, mice and keyboard (etc.) for the mac and handfree and other bluetooth devices for the iphone, but that deosn't mean that they should be able to connect to each other, that's just not their function and it would probably cause other problems because of the instability of the protocol which would then be blamed on Apple, so really it makes sense for them to just not support each other

If you are trying to initiate Pairing through the iPhone, you might get that warning because your computer side does not have a mobile hotspot server (eg Tethering on phone does). All you need to is to initiate Pairing through the Macbook. I'm assuming that nothing is blocking tethering services on your iPhone (eg: Cellular networks).

I have a iPhone 5c new iMac desktop, just purchased an iPod Nano, none of them can connect via bluetooth, what a load of crap! Apple products that can't communicate with each other by bluetooth, makes a lot of **** sense to me...

It is beyond me why Apple allows bluetooth connections between iOS devices but not between Macs and iOS devices. My usecase for this is giving lectures with Keynote slides at university classes, where I don't have access to Keynote remote sharing via the local wifi – the network is setup up to shield each device from other devices.

I have devised 5 solutions:

1) Hook up an iPad to the projector instead of the Mac and connect your iPhone via bluetooth to the iPad. This works great. Also, this requires iCloud sync setup (or other kind of file transfer/sync method) if you stil prefer to create your presentation on your Mac – for me, this complicates my workflow a little, and I miss my laptop at class (for retrieving images, etc faster than on the iPad).

2) Hook up an Apple tv to the projector and use Airplay from the iPhone or an iPad. This require an extra power outlet and it seems really clunky having to bring an Apple-tv just for this. Also, just mirroring the presentation is less optimal.

3) Setup a portable router (like an Airport Express) so as to create your own local wifi, on which the Mac and iPhone will then connect effortlessly. This require an extra power outlet and an available ethernet connector in the lecture hall to connect the router to, if you need to connect to the internet during lectures.

4) Another solution could be to setup the Mac to create a wifi network for the iPhone. This also require an available ethernet connector in the lecture hall to connect the router to, if you need to connect to internet during lectures.YMMW.

5) The final solution I could think of would be to create a local wifi (Internet sharing) from the iPhone, and then connect to the iPhone wifi from your Mac. This is the cheapest and perhaps most elegant solution, as its a simple software setup, and reduces the number of involved devices. The downside is that internet sharing normally drains the battery quite fast.

You use AirDrop now.