Why is it so long winded to turn on Bluetooth?

Why is it so long winded to turn on Bluetooth?

Author
Discussion

fasimew

Original Poster:

417 posts

12 months

Friday 29th March
quotequote all
Pixel 6 pro. Latest update has me baffled. I want to turn on Bluetooth and have my phone connect to whatever device it recognises. Google says no, you will press the bluetooth button and then I will make you press another button which asks if you want to turn Bluetooth on... Of course I want to turn it on! Why else would I press the Bluetooth button you prick?!

The current process goes like this:
1. Slide down the notification bar
2. Press Bluetooth
3. Press use Bluetooth
4. Press done
5. Slide notification bar up

The same process is repeated in reverse for turning Bluetooth off.

Is this some sort of joke?

Edited by fasimew on Friday 29th March 21:59

TotalControl

8,225 posts

205 months

Friday 29th March
quotequote all
Pixel 7 here and same issue. Quite frustrating as I also use my hearing aids with the device to take phonecalls. It's only an extra button now but annoying to say the least.

I generally don't like keeping my BT on all the time as I'd prefer to preserve my battery life.

greygoose

8,643 posts

202 months

Friday 29th March
quotequote all
TotalControl said:
I generally don't like keeping my BT on all the time as I'd prefer to preserve my battery life.
It doesn't really use much battery according to this test, only about 1.8% over 26 hours.

TotalControl

8,225 posts

205 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
That's actually true of my pixel buds when connected. But for some strange reason when my hearing aids are connected, the battery life on both the phone and aids becomes poor.

xeny

4,673 posts

85 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
TotalControl said:
That's actually true of my pixel buds when connected. But for some strange reason when my hearing aids are connected, the battery life on both the phone and aids becomes poor.
Probably more time went into the pixel buds software to power manage the connection - lower bit rate for low fidelity sound, checking for requests to play less frequently, that kind of thing.

MikeM6

5,228 posts

109 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
I'd not even noticed this change on my 7 pro, although I only turn it off to reset Bluetooth if there is a problem. I find battery life to be good enough for it not to be an issue.

Fore Left

1,504 posts

189 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
If you must turn Bluetooth on and off here's a widget you can put on your home screen.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=lapa...

I've no idea if its any good as I never turn BT off. Other widgets are probably available.

Jamescrs

4,875 posts

72 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
I don't really understand why you would turn it off and on all the time and not just leave it on?

I use Bluetooth for many things, my own car, various work cars, ear buds, headphones. just leave it switched on and problem solved.

Road2Ruin

5,490 posts

223 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
Crikey, life is tough for some people...I wonder how they get out of bed in the morning.

fasimew

Original Poster:

417 posts

12 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
Road2Ruin said:
Crikey, life is tough for some people...I wonder how they get out of bed in the morning.
I'm disabled. Getting out of bed seldom happens.

fasimew

Original Poster:

417 posts

12 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
greygoose said:
It doesn't really use much battery according to this test, only about 1.8% over 26 hours.
Very interesting. I always thought it drained the battery noticeably quicker.

Corso Marche

1,764 posts

208 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
Submit Feedback (in the Settings menu) with your thoughts and experiences?
If you don't submit feedback to the development team they'll always presume they're on the right track and taking things in the right direction.
Currently I presume they seem to believe the vast majority of users leave BT turned on.

I just use voice commands now to turn it on and off.
But that's because it's faster and more convenient than multiple taps on the screen.
And admittedly the reason for turning it off is to reduce attack vectors and for security/privacy reasons. But that could just be me being over zealous.

TotalControl

8,225 posts

205 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
Road2Ruin said:
Crikey, life is tough for some people...I wonder how they get out of bed in the morning.
I have fibromyalgia and it has become a bit of a pain getting up in the mornings most times. I usually have my aids and phone near me but due to pain don't use the aids until the pain has died down somewhat.

Also interesting to note that the pixel buds power management is optimised, as expected really. The one issue I have with the buds is they're not really loud enough for my use. I switch between using the buds on the iPad and the phone with media and using subtitles where I can, but phonecalls are aids only as everything sounds far clearer with them on. Maybe there's an amplifying app that could help?

The aids are Phonacs, so maybe they draw more power due to a generic app not optimised enough? I'll have to investigate further.

peterperkins

3,209 posts

249 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
And another thing why do so many apps demand you turn on location before installing/operating even when they are nothing to do with navigating etc...

Griffith4ever

4,784 posts

42 months

Sunday 31st March
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fasimew said:
greygoose said:
It doesn't really use much battery according to this test, only about 1.8% over 26 hours.
Very interesting. I always thought it drained the battery noticeably quicker.
Nah. I never turn mine off and I get two days out of my phone. It USED to be a big drain but modern low power BT isn't and in particular its standby / resting mode is very low power. Low power BT end devices are common now too, like ear buds. I used to have reasons to toggle mine on and off a lot like the OP and I used a widget app.

devnull

3,792 posts

164 months

Monday 1st April
quotequote all
Indeed, it’s not the early 2000s where Bluetooth would wreck the life of my Ericsson T39m. Just leave it on.

fasimew

Original Poster:

417 posts

12 months

Tuesday 2nd April
quotequote all
Here's another one - is there a way I can keep my screen from dimming when playing music (or in general) whilst it's connected to a Bluetooth device? I've managed to set it so it doesn't lock, but there's no option for dimming in the settings as far as I can see.



Edited by fasimew on Tuesday 2nd April 02:16

21st Century Man

41,770 posts

255 months

Tuesday 2nd April
quotequote all
fasimew said:
Pixel 6 pro. Latest update has me baffled. I want to turn on Bluetooth and have my phone connect to whatever device it recognises. Google says no, you will press the bluetooth button and then I will make you press another button which asks if you want to turn Bluetooth on... Of course I want to turn it on! Why else would I press the Bluetooth button you prick?!

The current process goes like this:
1. Slide down the notification bar
2. Press Bluetooth
3. Press use Bluetooth
4. Press done
5. Slide notification bar up

The same process is repeated in reverse for turning Bluetooth off.

Is this some sort of joke?
The previous process was a simple slide down from the top and tap the tile to toggle off or on, two quick actions. Now it's five actions and three of them aren't so quick and easy. It's a joke for sure, no need whatsoever to have changed it, let alone to something so faffy and lengthy, particularly when driving. I too like to turn it off when it's not being used, it's a security risk.