Cannot connect ios8 and Yosemite with Bluetooth

Question

whsiii Author

Level 1

18 points

Cannot connect ios8 and Yosemite with Bluetooth

Here's the rundown:

Mac Mini on Yosemite, Bluetooth On

Connects to Bluetooth keyboard and mouse

Bluetooth "sees" iPhone and iPad, but will not connect to them

iPhone 6 on IOS8, Bluetooth On

Connects and operates Bluetooth CAR AUDIO

"sees" iPad and Mac Mini, but will not connect to them

cannot "see" Mac Mini's bluetooth keyboard when disconnected from Mac Mini

iPad (original A1219 on iOS 5.5.1, Bluetooth 2.1 On)

"sees" IPhone and Mac Mini, but will not connect to them

cannot "see" Mac Mini's bluetooth keyboard when disconnected from Mac Mini

I've done many resets and shutdowns and restarts

Shouldn't this technology work better and more automatically, or am I just not understanding something basic?

Mac mini, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Oct 28, 2014 12:49 PM

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Answer 1

Phil0124

Level 10

216,944 points

Oct 28, 2014 12:55 PM in response to whsiii

The iPhone, iPad and Mac cannot pair with each other directly over bluetooth. There is just no supported profile to do this.

You can use AirDrop between the devices with iOS 8 and the Mac Mini running Yosemite though. However there is no Bluetooth Pairing involved for this.

Mac Basics: AirDrop lets you send files from your Mac to nearby Macs and iOS devices

The Original iPad on iOS 5.1.1 will need additional software on it and the target device if you want to send files over bluetooth between them.

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Answer 2

whsiii Author

Level 1

18 points

Oct 28, 2014 4:46 PM in response to Phil0124

Thanks so much for the clarification, Phil0124. Maybe I DREAMED I connected my Mac and iPhone by Bluetooth before. Your reply causes me to question what I was thinking about "who would talk to whom" IF such a connection could be made, or maybe I was just thinking Bluetooth could do all kinds of connections. Still, it would be nice if, when someone tries to connect iOS8 and Yosemite together by Bluetooth, either the Mac or the device would give an informative message; what I was seeing was a brief "Connected" indication in Bluetooth, which immediately reverted to "Unconnected", which made me think I still had work to do. But you're right, between the Cloud and AirDrop, I can do any file sharing I'm likely to need.

My old iPad needs to be replaced anyway, but I'm curious to know what additional software I could install on it now. App Store says it's given my old iPad everything it can offer.

I KNOW I successfully disconnected my Bluetooth keyboard from my Mac and connected it by Bluetooth for use as an external keyboard on either the iPad or the iPhone. Can't seem to make that one work either, and that IS a useful capability. What am I missing here, please?

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Answer 3

whsiii Author

Level 1

18 points

Oct 28, 2014 5:51 PM in response to whsiii

Hey WHSIII figured it out for himself! But it took some tinkering. I still think Bluetooth on Yosemite and iOS8 could work together a lot better and more automatically than seems to be the case. The processes feel clunky. Can't Apple provide a "Bluetooth Wizard" to help with all this?

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Answer 4

Oct 29, 2014 6:41 AM in response to whsiii

I KNOW I successfully disconnected my Bluetooth keyboard from my Mac and connected it by Bluetooth for use as an external keyboard on either the iPad or the iPhone. Can't seem to make that one work either, and that IS a useful capability. What am I missing here, please?

Did you delete it from the Mac. BT devices may only be paired with one thing at a time.

My old iPad needs to be replaced anyway, but I'm curious to know what additional software I could install on it now. App Store says it's given my old iPad everything it can offer.

5.1.1 is as far as it will go.

Barry

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Answer 5

Phil0124

Level 10

216,944 points

Oct 29, 2014 8:15 AM in response to whsiii

You can use Apps to connect them through bluetooth, or share the internet connection form your iPhone with your Mac over bluetooth, but none of these require pairing the iPhone with the Mac.

As to your first gen iPad you could use this https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/photo-transfer-app-easily/id365152940?mt=8

To transfer Photos, it only requires iOS 5 and as long as its installed on your iPhone or you have their desktop version on your Mac you can transfer photos between the devices.

There may be others available in the store. Not everything requires iOS 7 or 8.

As to the Keyboard, yes, the keyboard should work as long is its no longer paired with another device when you try to connect it to the iPad or iPhone.

Make sure the Keyboard is in Pairing mode as per its instructions, and make sure any devices its been paired with before are not in range or turned off. The Keyboard will connect with known devices automatically or rather known devices will try to connect to the keyboard automatically if its within range.

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