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Thread: Bluetooth annoyances...

  1. #1

    Bluetooth annoyances...

    I am sick and tired of Bluetooth being flaky. Samsung Galaxy S4, GT-I9515, running 5.0.1.

    Following works poorly: Sony SWR-10 fitness tracker. Walk away from the phone and you have to delete the data from the app, kill the app, immediately reboot the phone, reboot the SWR-10, and it'll hook up until it decides not to. Seriously? If the app senses the SWR10 before I link it to Bluetooth manually, everything works, but the SWR10 cannot be accessed outside of the app, meaning I can't check battery status...

    Following doesn't want to work at all: Epson Pulsense PS-100. Was able to deliberately pair once, ever since then it's been totally intermittent and random. Even paired once when the phone was a good 20 feet away, close to the limit of Bluetooth. But when I want to pair, no go.

    Suunto SmartSensor: kinda sorta works. But not automatically: it's been paired, it should automagically log in and be available when it wakes up. Doesn't. Manual pairing works maybe 80% of the time...until it doesn't. :-(

    Suunto Ambit3 Peak Sapphire (yep!): watch is paired, but the app won't sync worth a damn. The SmartSensor is paired with the watch and works just fine, which is the whole reason I got the Ambit. :-)

    Sony SHB-80 headphones: works just fine.

    BMW Wireless: flake city. Crash, crash, crash, crash. Not the car, the app. :-)

    Three devices pair properly and effortlessly and are permanently available on the phone under the native Bluetooth app: my 3 series, the SBH80 and the Ambit. Not a problem whatsoever...

    Now, the problems seem to be less with Bluetooth as such and much, much more with the apps and the way that the manufacturers don't want you to access these units without using their app. The SmartSensor I can pair wuth a nice app, Sport Gear Tracker, and that works just fine: but that app can't work with the Epson at all. The Epson app doesn't want to work worth anything...

    I get the feeling that each and every manufacturer chooses to implement the Bluetooth standard with their own proprietary extensions or protocols that don't actually work...tedious at best, infuriating usually.

    Anyone know any Bluetooth debuggers that will let me inspect what is going on? I can't find any app that lets me see what is going on. BlueScan just gives me addresses, Bluetooth Viewer not much more...

    What are your experiences with BlueTooth accessories for your phones? Right now I'm soured on the whole damn thing...it's rotten. Like a bad tooth...a blue tooth... :-)

    The technology has so much promise...I remember turning it on and walking through work, finding eveyone's smart phones and even hooked up with one or two to make the point that colleagues with company phones need to have their phones set up such that Bluetooth isn't on per default. :-)

  2. #2
    The Dude Abides Nokie's Avatar
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    My computer tech told me about an app you can get called BLE Debugger, but don't know if it comes on Apple and/or Android.

    Good luck.
    "Either He's Dead, Or My Watch Has Stopped....."
    Groucho Marx

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