HT204144: How to use AirDrop with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Learn about How to use AirDrop with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
robertisyourface86
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Airdrop not working for iphone 5?!?!?!?!

I have 2 iphone 5. Both just updated to iOS 7. Airdrop not working. It can't find wither phone. Both bluetooth and wifi are turned on. Anyone else having a problem like this? Anyone know how to fix it?

iPhone 5, iOS 7

Posted on Sep 18, 2013 6:09 PM

by MTurner04,Solvedanswer
MTurner04 MTurner04
Level 1 (10 points)
A:

I was having this issue and solved it by getting off my home wifi network. Airdrop uses wifi to create a 1 to 1 network with the other phone in the equation. If those phones are currently already on a wifi network it can't create a second connection to use for sharing data and therefore nothing shows up in the airdrop space on the sharing screen. Once I told my phone and my wife's phone to "forget" our home wifi network airdrop worked like a charm. I'm not positive the above logic makes sense as I'm not well versed in mobile technology, but the end result is what I was looking for. Hopefully this works for others.

Posted on Sep 20, 2013 8:01 PM

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robertisyourface86

Q: Airdrop not working for iphone 5?!?!?!?!

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  • by itsmew0rld,

    itsmew0rld itsmew0rld Nov 5, 2014 3:52 AM in response to deggie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 5, 2014 3:52 AM in response to deggie

    My friend has one of the recent Macbook Pro's as well. She just bought hers this year. Her laptop also can't detect her iphone/ipad and vice versa.

  • by airmanchairman,

    airmanchairman airmanchairman Nov 23, 2014 6:27 AM in response to Suarone
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 23, 2014 6:27 AM in response to Suarone

    Perfect solution! Worked for me...

    • Turned Airdrop, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi OFF on BOTH phones (iPhone 5 and 5S)
    • Turned Personal Hotspot OFF on iPhone 5S
    • Rebooted both iPhones
    • Turned AirDrop back ON, on both iPhones, which automatically switched on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on BOTH iPhones
    • Set AirDrop permissions to EVERYONE
    • Shared a photograph successfully in BOTH directions

  • by leafygreentree,

    leafygreentree leafygreentree Nov 30, 2014 6:27 AM in response to robertisyourface86
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 30, 2014 6:27 AM in response to robertisyourface86

    Here's the issue, the feature should just "work"

    People should not have to do 10 jumping jacks, spin around for 5 seconds and do the hippy hop through the forest to get this to work.

    I have turned off the phone, reset the network settings, and everything else and it doesn't work. This is an issue in wifi or non wifi areas. Soooo..... without sharing to everybody and having to  force it to work, other reasonable options?

  • by TEAREM,

    TEAREM TEAREM Dec 31, 2014 8:30 PM in response to itztinaxp
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Dec 31, 2014 8:30 PM in response to itztinaxp

    I have solved my AirDrop issue after way too many read throughs of Apple Support posts... These were the MOST helpful ones that I have found, figured I'd share:

     

    FIX #1: Turn on Bluetooth on your iOS (Settings → Bluetooth) and Mac (System Preferences → Bluetooth → Turn Bluetooth On).

     

    FIX #2: If you have a firewall enabled on your Mac, go to System Preferences → General → Security & Privacy → Firewall → Firewall Options and ensure that "Block all incoming connections" is not checked.

     

    FIX #3: Double Check Restrictions on your iOS: Go to Settings → General → Restrictions and make sure AirDrop is switched ON.

     

    "Fix #3" was my issue, I had restrictions turned on my iPhone 5S, and had not enabled AirDrop. Hope this Helps Everyone!

     

    Tasha

  • by DJFitzieFitz,

    DJFitzieFitz DJFitzieFitz Jan 23, 2015 10:35 AM in response to robertisyourface86
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 23, 2015 10:35 AM in response to robertisyourface86

    You can share content such as photos and videos using AirDrop on iOS 7. The AirDrop option is located in Control Center. To open Control Center, simply swipe up from the bottom of  your screen:

  • by anilsen,

    anilsen anilsen Mar 4, 2015 12:08 PM in response to TEAREM
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 4, 2015 12:08 PM in response to TEAREM

    Thanks, Tasha.

     

    Your fix #3 did the trick for me too. Can't believe it is so stupid implemented. One must turn on restrictions even though you do not wan't any.

     

    Regards

     

    Anders

  • by deggie,

    deggie deggie Mar 4, 2015 12:13 PM in response to anilsen
    Level 9 (54,464 points)
    Mar 4, 2015 12:13 PM in response to anilsen

    I don't have restrictions on and it works for me so my guess is it wasn't implemented that way.

  • by anilsen,

    anilsen anilsen Mar 5, 2015 1:51 AM in response to deggie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 5, 2015 1:51 AM in response to deggie

    Hmmm. On my iPhone 5s with iOS 8.1.3 I turn on restrictions and my Macbook shows up in airDrop. I turn off restrictions and the macBook immediately dissapears from airDrop on the iPhone.

     

    With iOS devices it is another story. They will show up without restrictions turned on. Also I do not need to have restrictions enabled on the iPhone 5s for it to show up in airDrop on the MacBook with OS 10.10. Maybe the issue only is related to the airDrop connection in direction Mac to iOS?

  • by deggie,

    deggie deggie Mar 5, 2015 10:04 AM in response to anilsen
    Level 9 (54,464 points)
    Mar 5, 2015 10:04 AM in response to anilsen

    Airdrop between an iDevice and a computer only works if they are running iOS 8.x and OS X 10.10.x.

  • by Pastama42,

    Pastama42 Pastama42 Apr 14, 2015 11:10 AM in response to MTurner04
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 14, 2015 11:10 AM in response to MTurner04

    Thank you for this.  I followed your instructions even though I had not previously had to do this.  Shut off my WiFi, made sure my Air Drop was on and received the transmission immediately.  I was surprised to see that my WiFi automatically turned itself back on. 

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