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iPhone to Bluetooth Devices

Your iPhone is configured to use a wireless technology called Bluetooth, which enables you to make wireless connections to other Bluetooth-friendly devices. Most Macs come with Bluetooth built in, and they use it to connect to a wide range of devices, including mice, keyboards, cell phones, printers, digital cameras, and even other Macs. Your iPhone can, at the very least, connect to a Bluetooth headset on which you can listen to phone conversations, music, and movies without wires and without disturbing your neighbors.

In theory, connecting Bluetooth devices should be criminally easy: you bring them within 33 feet of each other (the maximum Bluetooth range), and they connect without further ado. In practice, however, there is usually at least a bit of further ado (and sometimes plenty of it). This usually takes one or both of the following forms:

  • Making the devices discoverable. Unlike Wi-Fi devices that broadcast their signals constantly, most Bluetooth devices only broadcast their availability - that is, they make themselves discoverable - when you say so. This makes sense in many cases because you usually only want to connect a Bluetooth component such as a headset with a single device. By controlling when the device is discoverable, you ensure that it works only with the device you want it to.
  • Pairing the iPhone and the device. As a security precaution, many Bluetooth devices need to be paired with another device before the connection is established. Usually, the pairing is accomplished by entering a multidigit passkey - your iPhone calls it a PIN - that you must then enter into the Bluetooth device (assuming, of course, that it has some kind of keypad). In the case of a headset, the device comes with a default passkey that you must enter into your iPhone to set up the pairing.

Making your iPhone discoverable

So your first order of Bluetooth business is to ensure that your iPhone is discoverable by activating the Bluetooth feature. Follow these steps to turn on Bluetooth and make your iPhone discoverable:

  1. On the Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings app appears.
  2. Tap Bluetooth. The Bluetooth screen appears.
  3. Tap the Bluetooth switch to change the setting to On.

The status bar now shows the Bluetooth logo to the left of the Battery Status icon, which tells you that Bluetooth is up and running on your phone.

Pairing your iPhone with a Bluetooth keyboard

The iPhone virtual keyboard is an ingenious invention, but it's not always a convenient one, particularly when you need to type fast or type a lot. Fortunately, iOS supports connections to a Bluetooth keyboard that, while paired, disables the on-screen keyboard. Follow these steps to pair your iPhone with a Bluetooth keyboard:

  1. On the Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings app appears.
  2. Tap Bluetooth. The Bluetooth screen appears.
  3. If the keyboard has a separate switch or button that makes the device discoverable, turn on that switch or press that button. Wait until you see the keyboard appear in the Bluetooth screen.
  4. Tap the name of the Bluetooth keyboard. Your iPhone displays a passkey.
  5. On the Bluetooth keyboard, type the passkey and press Return or Enter. Your iPhone pairs with the keyboard and returns you to the Bluetooth screen, where you now see Connected beside the keyboard.

Pairing your iPhone with a Bluetooth headset

If you want to listen to music, headphones are a great way to go because the sound is often better than with the built-in iPhone speakers (and no one else around is subjected to Weezer at top volume). Similarly, if you want to conduct a hands-free call, a headset (a combination of headphones for listening and a microphone for talking) makes life easier because you can put the phone down and make all the hand gestures you want (provided you aren't driving, of course). Add Bluetooth into the mix, and you've got an easy and wireless audio solution for your iPhone.

Follow these general steps to pair your iPhone with a Bluetooth headset:

  1. On the Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings app appears.
  2. Tap Bluetooth. The Bluetooth screen appears.
  3. If the headset has a separate switch or button that makes the device discoverable, turn on that switch or press that button. Wait until you see the correct headset name appear in the Bluetooth screen.
  4. Tap the name of the Bluetooth headset. Your iPhone should pair with the headset automatically, and you should see Connected in the Bluetooth screen. If you see this, you can skip the rest of these steps. Otherwise you see the Enter PIN screen.
  5. Enter the headset's passkey in the PIN box. See the headset documentation to get the passkey (it's often 0000).
  6. Tap Done. Your iPhone pairs with the headset and returns you to the Bluetooth screen, where you now see Connected beside the headset name.

Selecting a paired headset as the audio output device

After you pair a Bluetooth headset, you usually need to configure your iPhone to blast your tunes through the headset rather than the phone's built-in speaker. Here's what you do:

  1. On the Home screen, tap Music. The Music app loads.
  2. Tap a song to start the playback.
  3. Tap the Output icon that appears to the right of the playback controls. The Output dialog appears.
  4. Tap your paired Bluetooth headset. Your iPhone starts playing the song through the headset.

Unpairing your iPhone from a Bluetooth device

If you no longer plan to use a Bluetooth device, you should unpair it from your iPhone. Follow these steps:

  1. On the Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings app appears.
  2. Tap Bluetooth. The Bluetooth screen appears.
  3. Tap the name of the Bluetooth device.
  4. Tap Forget this Device. Your iPhone unpairs the device.