iPhone’s Bluetooth is dumb, purposely crippled or both?

{ 46 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Verde 07.15.07 at 1:57 am

Thanks for the heads up on the iPhone Bluetooth stats. I’ve be trying to find out what profiles it supports. I didn’t think there would be DUN. Even though it’s horribly slow, it’s still useful when you’re on the road and you need to use a laptop. But more importantly is not being able to ever have a solution like Salling Clicker (treo app) or sending images to others using BT.

2 mark perrin 07.15.07 at 3:35 am

sounds like something thats not too dificult to add on later with a software update.

3 Jenn 07.15.07 at 4:44 am

I’d like to be able to connect a BT portable keyboard. I don’t think enabling this functionality would be an admission by Apple that the on-screen keyboard isn’t any good. Or would it?

4 Mr. ChangME 07.15.07 at 11:58 am

damn straight Jenn! You oughta be able to pair iPhone up with an external BT keyboard. I doubt Apple will ever allow it. It will be a big blow to their ego.

5 Rhett 07.15.07 at 7:19 pm

I’ve used Dial Up Networking over EDGE before and it’s not that bad in a pinch.

What I can’t understand is why the greatest music (and video) phone the world has ever seen doesn’t have A2DP! That’s just STUPID! It’s the only thing I don’t like about my iPhone.

6 hardmanb 07.15.07 at 7:31 pm

I think it is purposeful…for now.

Steve Job’s distain for wireless control by the carriers is no secret…he thinks they should be mere “portals”. He doesn’t want them to control the content.

If the iPhone had streaming music downloads, streaming video, and Instant Messaging (the carrier’s most profitable)…he would have had to contract them away to AT & T. But…if those capabilities are added later…and by third parties, to bypass the carrier (and carrier charges and control), it would fit Job’s plan.

7 Marc Abrams 07.16.07 at 7:37 pm

DUN actually does serve a purpose other than slow dialup on the road.

I have a TOMTOM GO GPS and it actually finds the iPhone Bluetooth and can pair, but that’s it. If DUN were supported, then the GO would be able to use the connection on the iPhone to query the traffic and weather services.

I don’t care about the weather too much because I can see it from my car window, but the traffic service could be very useful and convenient.

No DUN = no TOMTOM traffic service on iPhone.

Grrrrrrr…..

8 Newly_Obsessive 07.17.07 at 11:07 am

The LACK of complete Bluetooth is mystifying, and seems to be deliberate on Apple’s part. I say that because in another blog I found the info that the Bluetooth stack is called BLUEmagic by Open Interface, and if you go to their site (www.oi-us.com) it appears that they support ALL the Bluetooth profiles. In particular, they have A2DP - my particular gripe is that I can’t use good (stereo) wireless earbuds like the Etymotics.

Have to agree with the comment above, this must be a deliberate call by Mr. Steve. Probably because they want to sell their own Apple-only hardware?

9 Ryan Brodkin 07.23.07 at 9:56 pm

While I understand your point, I’m sure Apple’s goal was to keep things simple so that they can build on more features later. Also, on the point of DUN, I’m sure that the goal was partly to ensure that the influx of phones didn’t create too much of a disturbance on the already slow EDGE network. I have faith that Apple will make more features available in the future.

To be honest, I’m not sure how much research you did into current support because my TomTom GO 910 was able to download the entire address book of my iPhone via bluetooth. Wouldn’t that require PBAP?

10 Tapio 07.31.07 at 12:14 am

You can download basic data of your address book in your phone using AT commands with HFP (Hands-Free Profile), this method usually works.
PBAP will provide “all” the data in a more sophisticated way.

11 kenny 08.29.07 at 5:22 pm

I should have read this review before I ordered by O ROKR sunglasses from Oakley. This sunglass is awesome and you can streamline music wirelessly from your phone if ONLY it supports A2DP and AVRCP which unfortunately my iphone does not support. I am really pissed off that apple does not support this features after all the hype about Iphone that it does and support everything. I am keeping my figures cross though maybe in the near future i will be able to use my sunglasses whenever apple feels like updataing their software to support these features.

12 David 09.26.07 at 5:33 pm

When is the lack of Bluetooth profile support going to end! I hate that you can’t connect these “cutting edge” phones to all things bluetooth. It just erks me that it is such a simple fix and I see no reason not to include it. It would make everyone more happy and Apple to sell more accessories too. It is a win win situation. Still love the iPhone though. Great informative post. Thanks!

13 supers c 10.03.07 at 10:29 pm

the stupid low tech limited included blue tooth profiles are my only complaint. What the hell is apple thinking. Hopefully they will unlock the power of this awesome gadget

14 Steve White 10.13.07 at 12:05 pm

When I’m in the field I need files sent to me from the office then take those file and upload them to our equipment I was thinking that an iphone with bluetooth serial port, an iphone terminal program might work but since iphone doesn’t support (SPP) and (FTP) protocols. I will have to find another solution

15 Mike Wiltshire 10.20.07 at 11:07 pm

Better solution for your transfer of files: MyF2P.com…I use it for the same thing…

16 rollee 11.15.07 at 3:23 pm

I am so happy to found this site. I was about to return my iphone! Was trying to send photos to it for wallpaper via bluetooth…no luck!
Even my 5 year old SE phone can do it with ease, that is so dumb.

17 Monkey Cat 11.22.07 at 8:07 pm

This forum put me at ease a bit… At least I’m not the only one frustrated. Can anyone give me an alternate suggestion?

How can I most easily transfer my contacts from my old treo treo to my new iPhone without having to go to the att store?

Thanks,

Jeff

18 Rkaine 12.03.07 at 6:59 pm

Thanks for the info. I am not familiar with how bluetooth hardware and software works, but i was just wondering if it was possible to enable more profiles in the future via software update alone, or is some sort of hardware adjustment necessary to enable more BT profiles. (ie, would it be possible to hack the BT profiles with the existing hardware?)

19 moshe 12.07.07 at 5:50 am

iPhone 1.1.1 BlueTooth: I cannot make connection between my powerbook or other Mobile phone , via the iphone BlueTooth? Appreciate if someone can advis eme how to do it or if at all? Surprised that this is so difficult…. thanks.

20 Yves 01.12.08 at 9:28 am

[quote comment="11089"]Better solution for your transfer of files: MyF2P.com…I use it for the same thing…[/quote]

Even better, this free app: iPhone Remote
http://code.google.com/p/telekinesis/

21 Damas 01.16.08 at 12:55 pm

Hi guys,
i just bougth 2 iphones, and for the sake of god…the same thing is happening. i Can’t even put the 2 of them on same page with the bluetooth. How can i put them to work…..but it still a cuting edge tec.

22 Damas 01.17.08 at 3:06 am

Hi guys, can someone help please…… I forgot 2 tell you, that i live in angola. i just updated one of them, but it happen the same thing. it’s saing that the psim card is unsuported, can someone help ?

23 Farady 03.05.08 at 9:47 am

Well I think Jobs did a shit with his iphone crippled bluetooth.

24 Rexflexman 03.20.08 at 7:57 pm

Great post, thanks, I´m no techno buff and had no idea there was so many blue tooth formats. It really grips me that I can´t send photo´s and vid clips to my mates in the pub. In Europe its a popular thing to do.I love my iphone really but the lack of this feature, if I had known, I would maybe not have even bought one.Does anybody know if Apple know about how pissed off we are? and are they going to unlock it? I have been on thier web site and there is no e-mail address to get answers.We need to inform them really.

25 Zakir 04.04.08 at 10:44 pm

why you guys always talk about the bad side of I-Phone, when you buy a thing you should study about it before you go for it, i dont blame i-phone for not adding these feature in bluetooth, cos they have made the i-phone so perfect and this is there first phone, we should not let them down, we should ask them to make a better phone than this, have you ever felt the smoothness in the operating system, its so great, not like nokia and sony E where it get stuck when you zoom a picture, and when you surf the web did u try the page zooming, how good features they have added, this phone newer get stuck, and the huge screen with 16 million colors, give them some time to create there second phone with lot of options, untill then get use to the phone which they have created, email them your ideas and the dificulties your going through this phone for them to make a new mechine,

26 hassen 04.23.08 at 6:13 pm

zakir i think you wrong bro. apple has made other electronic devices before like laptops, etc which is beside the point. my point is however, that apple could see the market out there and what they competing against. i mean look at nokia for example, they include a camera, gps, full bluetooth functionality, etc because why? because you paying for it and its for you to enjoy. i mean why sell something if you don’t allow the full enjoyment and pleasure out of the thing? than rather, make one unit, be proud of it, look at it and keep it at home in your cupboard, than tell people, hey do this with it or don’t. we paying for this device we not getting it free that we have to or must use it under controll. its my iphone, damn i can throw it in the river if i want to. u get what i mean? this device is really cool, no doubt, but honestly theres more that you cannot do with it than what you can do with it. it looks nice BIG DEAL!!! bluetooth connection with other devices is a damn important thing because why? because we use to it and people don’t like things taken away from them when they already had it before and now cant do without it. i mean whats the point, i think a nokia 6230 beats this thing. this phone doesn’t get stuck because it can’t do half the things nokia can do. hell yea i wudn’t mind it getting stuck because than all you do is software update or repair and wow, its fine again. as long as i can do what the other phones can and what i paid for i wudnt mind it freezing. oh and by the way, are you telling us that apple isn’t so advanced like other cellphone companies that they can’t even make multi media messaging or a video camera? cmun guy think about it. as u can see, im highly pissed lol.

27 Luca 04.26.08 at 3:57 pm

I was asking my mate to send that picture with taken with the i-phone. ‘no, sorry, it’s a mess…’ was his reply.
I then bought an iPhone myself for my sister, and I spent two hours trying to send one picture… NO WAY! When I told it to my sister she didn’t want to believe me, she thought that I was kidding! Honestly, ANY phone after nokia 3310 can send pictures over bluetooth… If only I had known…I admit that it’s nice, it’s fast, but I still prefer my Orbit even if it’s slower because I can use Excel and Word (if you can do it also with iPhone, please tell me how!) and it has built in GPS antenna so TomTom can run without any problem… I can see people asking for directions with google maps open in their iPhones, never seen somebody with an Orbit doing it.
I’ll think to buy an iPhone when it will be less dumb and it will have at least a built in GPS antenna.

28 TTT 04.27.08 at 10:19 am

does that mean that i cannot do nything with bluetooth in iPhone xcept using a headset to it

29 fortunek 04.28.08 at 7:02 am

i have the same problem too, and it’s shameful for a phone of this build quality not to have features like bluetooth working, i’m sure there’s a pretty “good” reason for this but this is so disappointing.

30 Mido 05.02.08 at 5:32 pm

does it mean that third party software won’t be able to solve the problem of bluetooth

31 Grigoris 05.07.08 at 3:48 am

I was so happy to open my box with the new iphone 16GB it has so much space for my movies and songs and it makes calls everything i was hoping for… firstly i had to pay £25 for unlocking software to unlock the phone and i now canot download software updates or the phone will lock again… i cannot set mp3 as a ringtone which is not good and the worste of all is the bluetooth!! how can this great phone not have bluetooth?!?!?1 it has the feater but to send and recieve files??? thats stupid!! i made my peace with no flash and only a 2mp camera but no working bluetooth?!?! for all this money everyone pays.. i hope these bugs are fixed.

32 nikolay 05.17.08 at 7:40 pm

iPhone, iPhone,wow check it out iPhone man, holy crap he’s got an iPhone……..bla bla black sheep have you any balls… One day after I purchased my iPhone I truly discovered how weak it is or useless in many simple features. The Bluetooth absolutely invalid, crippled and all it does is loads and loads. I can’t even detect my Sony erricson 2 millimeters distance. I want to transfer a file but it isunreadible as a harddisk unless you install iPhone browser on your computer or such programs. I want to type a word doc but I can’t as there is no doc support unless you install 1 million third party apps. I have wasted so many night searching and installing apps just to d a simple function. The only nice thing about a iphoneis it looks pretty and has a ok Internet wireless capability but no flash support and so muchore that simple phones can already do. Photo transfer is slow if you are using a pc. Apple knows how to advertise very well andthat is what makes sales grow. Sorry Steve I am changing to ore usefull device: a pocket pc.

33 Nostok 05.19.08 at 2:21 am

A friend in the office just got one of these amazing phones and I helped locate the unlocking software and what have you. Then I thought we’ll just transfer all his contacts via Bluetooth and the old phone can go on eBay. Not a chance of finding another device and then I found this website and low and behold yet another crAPPLEd device. My P1i makes this things features look like poop and SE don’t even care about their user base. Admittedly it looks sweet but quite frankly I think my money will be better invested in some Asian piece of hardware when my time to upgrade arrives.

Come on Apple look after your loyal user base! Good luck everyone.

34 Manny 06.05.08 at 12:19 pm

Hey i got an idea lets make a Cyber Strike asking for a full unlock of the iPhone Bluetooth capability.. Lets, i dunno, fill their email addresses of letters asking for it, fill their forums and stuffs like that..

35 3g iPhone Boy 06.06.08 at 11:56 am

I was surprised at the tagline for this thread but that was probably because my one experience with blutooth has been fine. The phone syncs with my Parrot car kit without any issues. Far easier than my old K800i, which used to lock up every five minutes under the strain.

36 Adi Bell 06.10.08 at 7:40 am

Yes, i am very impressed with the whole 3G ihpone now, but there was no update to this Bluetooth problem…..WHY!?

The iphone is now cheaper, so the reason i’m not going to buy one isn’t because of the price, it’s because of the lack of very simple, but key features that the iphone just doesn’t have!!

I agree with the above comment….if i go down to the pub, and take a really funny picture of my mate doing something stupid, chances are, the people i’m with want the photo. On pretty much every other phone nowadays, i can select the photo file, and send it by bluetooth. Why on earth can the iphone not do this?! It’s got bluetooth in there, so why does it only support these two bt profiles?

And also, i don’t want to plug in a stupid wire to put a photo on my computer from my phone! I want to be able to just send it to my computer from an iphone by bluetooth, rather than connecting the cable and having to fuck about with itunes coming up, and having to import all the photos in my phone library into iphoto.

Is the fact that the iphone can’t use all those profiles a physical hardware problem? or could it be solved by apple including software in the next iphone update to unlock all the profiles?

I agree that we should make a ‘cyber-strike’ to raise apple’s awareness of these problems. What email address can we send things to apple at?

Also why i’m not buying an iphone; Why include a crappy 2mp camera in it and not even update this along with the 3G update? 5mp cameras in phones are becoming the norm now! For such a massive, technologically advanced company such as apple, it would be chils play to put a 5mp camera in there, along with updating the software so that there are more camera options, and also video recording enabled. The camera on my Sony Ericsson K800i is fantastic: 3.2mp camera with autofocus, multiple-shot capture where it takes a number of photos, macro mode, video capture etc etc…..and this phone’s already been and gone out of fashion! The new sony ericsson is 5mp, and probably has even better features! Why does the iphone not?

I will STILL not be buying an iphone, and i urge everyone to agree with me, so apple can see that the lack of features is causing them a loss of sales

37 Paul 07.12.08 at 4:17 am

Glad I found this forum. I’m already getting bored with my new iPhone that I upgraded to yesterday. I have tried over and over again to transfer all my favourite photos from my N95 to my iPhone but no chance of that. My N95 can just about find my iPhone but no chance of actually connecting to it.

I’m not dead impressed with the camera as I’ve been using the N95 5 megapixel camera for over a year now so going back to 2 megapixel seems stupid, especially as you can instantly tell the difference in quality. I have an iPod already so although it might hurt me to let go of what is on the outside a cool little piece of hardware I think I may have to take my iPhone back to O2 and ask them to swap it for the N95 8GB. At least I know that’ll do what I want it to do.

Such a shame Apple, you could’ve done so much better. :(

38 KIZzz 07.18.08 at 12:32 pm

Iphone itz SUCK!!

39 Matt 07.18.08 at 3:00 pm

There is a petition at http://www.iphonefeatures.org to get Apple to include basic features such as ‘copy and paste’ and more bluetooth profiles in the next iPhone software release. Please sign it!

40 AB 07.28.08 at 11:19 pm

It looks sleek and nice, but a horrible phone from a functionality perspective.

-no nice camera
-no MMS (pic sending)
-no bluetooth with AD2P
-no GPS antenna

Its advantage is, it looks pretty. The Nokia phones have it all, but they are so fat and ugly its embarrassing.

Still trying to decide which phone i should get.

41 James 08.01.08 at 5:07 pm

I am actually really disappointed in Apple on this one. I mean, I am as Apple fanatic as one can get really. I have a MBP, iPod, iPhone. I love their stuff.

But three strikes tonight. First the 3G couldn’t get a website even after 10+ tries while we were having a chat at drinks. Then the bluetooth couldn’t transfer an image from my friends phone to my iPhone while at dinner (the point of this article). Then I tried to play Super Monkey Ball while on the underground and it wouldn’t get passed the title screen - until I got back into a cell phone coverage area I couldn’t play the video game. For the love of God, how can that be possible - I want to play the fricken game when I have no cell reception.

These three things are making me angry with Apple and this phone tonight. I could put up with the interface locking up occasionally (especially the contacts app when launched from inside the phone or mail). I can put up with the dodgy keyboard. I can put up with the buttons sometimes requiring 3 or 4 presses before the touch screen responds with a click.

But I’m really upset about crippled blue tooth. It makes the phone feel like it is broken.

42 Timax 08.10.08 at 6:08 am

How P****d off do you think I am? Prior to my IPhone 8gb 3G and IPhone 8gb 2g I had the SE K810i and a wonderful set of Motorola stereo wireless bluetooth headset.

I would strap my phone to my upper arm, connect my headset and go cycling, running ,walking in total comfort.
Now, although I love my Iphone, the inability to use bluetooth devices of my choice with this handset has left a bitter taste in my mouth and needless to say greatly out of pocket. Come on Stevie Baby sort it out!!!!

43 Brill Pappin 08.18.08 at 8:53 am

Yes. I’m pi’ed off as well…. I tried to do something simple (that my cheap GSM phone does easily) like send a contact over bluetooth…

There are several things that are really bthering me about the phone… did they just not think of it?

44 Escu Cristian 08.22.08 at 11:35 am

I have to say that i regret i’ve chose to buy this phone. I had 3 choices HTC, TREO750 and Iphone. I did wrong, I’ve chose the last one. What can I say, it is a good looking gadget, but that’s it just a good looking phone. I am gonna put it on sale and i will advise my friends not to do the same mistake that i did. iPhone SUCKS!

45 JL 08.23.08 at 12:58 am

LOL, it’s called iPhone, not iMicroPC. It doesn’t pet you write word/excel? No shot, it’s a phone not a word processor. No Bluetooth pub pics? It has a button righ in the camera to send via email! Spoiled kids all grown up, not realizing the actual shit the iPhone does/has that your other phones you’re comparing it to don’t, just whining about your missed features.

46 LOL 08.23.08 at 5:03 pm

Wow JL. You just don’t get it. 10 people in a pub all share the same picture. Except you of course, because you have one of the most expensive phones out there. You have to wait until one of them sync’s their phone to their desktop and remembers to email it to you. Of course, they may be sober then and think twice, but your other 8 buddies got the pic.

Oh and again, cheaper smart phones allow simple things like editing of docs, spreadsheets, etc. iphone shows them but won’t let you modify them.

When you crawl out of your comfortable place, let us know.

In the mean time, we’ll all sit here with this expensive smart phone / music player that won’t even let you use wireless headset to listen through.

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