Does it constantly scan for Bluetooth devices?

[Commodore]

Does iPad constantly scan for (new) Bluetooth devices (when BT functionality is turned on)? It's that rotating icon in Bluetooth part of the Settings that gives me such impression. Isn't this a bit of an overkill for the battery consumption? Anyway, the whole Bluetooth part of iPad is quite vague -- I suppose it's always scanning and also always displayed to other BT devices. My preferred setup would be to have it "hidden" (as always with BT gadgets so far, at least after you pair those you need to use together), and not constantly scan for new devices when I'm already using it with a keyboard, for instance. Is there any way to achieve this?

 

[Mickey330]

My understanding of the way Bluetooth works is that (1) it's not on or searching if you've never synced a device with it. Yes, the spinner will run if you turn it on, but once you leave Settings, it will not be searching/running. Again, this is only if you've NEVER synced.

Now, (2) if you have synced a device before and you turn the Bluetooth on, it will constantly search for that synced device, even if the device is not turned on. So, in that case (you don't want to have a device connected), you'll need to keep the Bluetooth off to stop it from searching.

Then, (3), if you have a device actively connected to the turned on Bluetooth, it will run for that device. However, I don't believe that it's looking for another device.

So, in situation 2, if you want to leave the Bluetooth on yet not have it searching for a device, I'd recommend you "forget" that device (so that you'll have to do the pairing option again). Otherwise, yes, it will continue to look for the device when the Bluetooth is on.

The easiest thing to do, IMO, is to have the Bluetooth off when you aren't actively using it. That way, you know for sure that it's not actively looking for a previously synced device.

Marilyn

 

[Commodore]

I can confirm the behavior now - I've tested it with a laptop (at the moment, only an external keyboard is paired with iPad).

I put the laptop in constant seeking for new BT devices. As soon as I turn the iPad's BT on, it appears on the laptop's list. I turn the keyboard on, it appears there as well. I tap on keyboard's name on iPad in order to connect the keyboard to the iPad (the keyboard has been already paired, so it's there on the iPad's list already). The two get connected, and the keyboard disappears from the list on the laptop. The iPad is still there at this point. I close the Settings (on iPad), and go to some other app, and soon the iPad also disappears from the laptop's list. After I go back to Settings, the iPad reappears on the laptop's list again.

So that's how it was in my case, and it seems quite intelligent after all (last time I used Bluetooth was quite a while ago, and it was rather "painful" to set everything up without crashing anything or risk being bluejacked).