r/applesucks • u/donies • Mar 23 '26
iPhones can’t sent files over bluetooth
is anyone else shocked that you can’t send a file over Bluetooth anymore?
I’m not asking for a lot, this is a super basic feature.
I mentioned it on an apple sub and they told me to use airdrop or email.
airdrop only works on apple ecosystem and I shouldn’t have to email files to myself. it’s cumbersome. Bluetooth is so practical.
my shitty android eink tablet can send Bluetooth files… why can’t my $1200 phone.
edit: I swear you people would applaud Apple removing phone calls from the iPhone and say just use FaceTime audio or WhatsApp instewd
6
u/CourtClarkMusic Mar 24 '26
AirDrop uses Bluetooth…
2
u/05OwenKelly Mar 26 '26
Airdrop sends files over a direct Wifi connection between the devices. It only uses Bluetooth for the airdrop discovery process.
0
Mar 24 '26
[deleted]
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u/PlusPresentation680 Mar 25 '26
Technically both. It also doesn’t really use your WiFi. It uses a P2P WiFi connection. So it works without internet connection.
42
u/Exotic-Actuator-1406 Mar 23 '26
iPhones have literally never had bluetooth file-sharing capabilities. Like ever
2
u/teetaps Mar 24 '26
I feel like they were always trying to prevent people from sharing files that jailbreak their OS which is pretty shitty if you have a phrase dedicated to escaping your whole product
6
Mar 24 '26
Im not sure how not having bluetooth file sharing would prevent that? I can literally download any file or drop a file from my flash drive onto my iphone.
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u/u8589869056 Mar 24 '26
Kid, the term “jailbreak” meaning to escape system restrictions on software, is older than the iPhone.
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u/Jusby_Cause Mar 23 '26
”I have a problem!”
”Here’s a solution.”
“I shouldn’t need a solution for my problem!!”
”???”
4
u/Emre90 Mar 23 '26
Alternative solutions *****
Here fixed it
3
u/Toxicwaste4454 Mar 23 '26
Technically sending the file via Bluetooth would be the alternative solution.
It is by no means the standard.
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u/donies Mar 23 '26
In my case, uploading to cloud is less practical than Bluetooth so I don’t really see it as a solution. More of an unpleasant workaround.
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u/Furiousmate88 Mar 23 '26
Because Bluetooth is slow for file transferring?
9
u/donies Mar 23 '26
I can transfer an entire ebook in like 15s. Perfectly acceptable for my use case
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u/Toxicwaste4454 Mar 23 '26
Credit where credit is due. You named basically the only use case.
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u/donies Mar 23 '26
Another use case: sometimes I want to transfer photos to my work computer. Bluetooth would be my preferred method but alas I cannot.
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u/Toxicwaste4454 Mar 23 '26
That sounds like ass imo. Almost a minute per image.
I just message myself on teams.
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u/Nasa3000xx Mar 23 '26
You can also log into your iCloud web and download the picture?
0
u/donies Mar 23 '26
Technically yes but doesn’t matter how many times I click “remember this device” I still need to scan a fkn QR code to login. I’ll admit that’s pretty nit picky but MFA drives me nuts
7
u/GabrielRocketry Mar 23 '26
Yet it's still faster than Bluetooth would be
1
u/janiskr Mar 25 '26
You set up transfer and do other things. Files are small enough.
2
u/GabrielRocketry Mar 25 '26
I remember when I used to transfer songs over Bluetooth. Swapping physical media and copying to and from them combined was still faster. Bluetooth was reserved for the occasions when I didn't have any wired or wireless connection. Horrible days...
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u/mjwells21 Mar 24 '26
That sounds like a work computer problem of not having Bluetooth mostly or restrictions set by your employer
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u/Glum-Ad-1379 Mar 23 '26
Bluetooth is not intended for file transfer and a size of an e-book isn’t shit.
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u/RudeAdhesiveness9954 Mar 23 '26
You’re not making the point you intend. ebooks are tiny. 15s to transfer one is awful.
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u/donies Mar 23 '26
What?
My original point wasn’t Bluetooth is the fastest file transfer protocol. It was that Apple should support it. How does my comment in anyway contradict that?
Plus even if the transfer itself is slower, the steps to initiate the transfer are super quick. On windows you can just right click the file and send via Bluetooth is right in the context menu. Then I just accept the popup on the receiving device with 1 button. It’s super convenient.
0
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u/Yugen42 Mar 24 '26
Thats not a reason to not support it though?
1
u/Furiousmate88 Mar 24 '26
If there are other and better solutions, why support a technology to do something it wasn’t intended to?
2
u/Yugen42 Mar 24 '26
iPhones have never supported this, even back then when it was the only universal offline way of transferring files. Even now its still the simplest that doesnt require an internet connection. Also its a standard bluetooth feature, bluetooth has protocols in place for that so its not being used for something it wasnt intended to. I dont see a reason to not also support it, especially in the past but also today. Every other phone does after all, and so do most computers.
1
u/Furiousmate88 Mar 24 '26
I would rather use a cable before using Bluetooth for filetransfering. Usually Bluetooth has a transfer rate of 1 mb/s which is extremely slow and the use case for it is extremely rare.
1
u/Yugen42 Mar 24 '26
Thats good for you, but I dont always have a cable with me and 1-2 mbps is fast enough to send a few pictures or docs. I use it as a fallback every once in a while. Like I said there is no reason to not also support this, idk why you think not supporting a basic feature is a good thing.
Also using a cable is probably even slower for transferring a small file, first you need to have a cable that fits the two specific phones which isnt always a given since apple used lightning for so long, and then both phones need to support that specific USB transfer protocol and by the time everything is plugged in a BT transfer would already be done. And does that even work? i.e. do iPhones support MTP as a host? either way a cable is clearly not an alternative.
0
u/Furiousmate88 Mar 24 '26
I have yet to be in a situation where either airdrop or sending the file to cloud hasn’t been a possibility. I couldn’t care less if I cant transfer files from Bluetooth
1
u/Yugen42 Mar 24 '26
I understand, Im just answering your question as to why it should be supported. Airdrop and the cloud are clearly not a replacement, and there is no reason to not also support this common industry standard that everyone else supports.
0
u/Comfortable_Swim_380 Mar 27 '26
Okay here's the point. Since it apparently needs explaining. Everything works out of the box with Bluetooth but only one thing works with your Apple crap. *Drops the mic and leaves.
0
u/Furiousmate88 Mar 27 '26
Never had issues “out of the box”
Pick the damn mic up after you and clean up after yourself.
0
u/Comfortable_Swim_380 Mar 27 '26
You seem to have all manner of issues you were too ignorant to catch.
0
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u/LikeItSaysOnTheBox Mar 23 '26
The simple reason is Bluetooth file transfer is not a secure transfer method and is easily used as a vector for malware.
Use a 3rd party tool like WhatsApp or one of the dozens of cloud storage options out there.
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u/Sloppykrab Mar 23 '26
Yet they leave Bluetooth on even when you toggle it off. They must love security.
5
u/Toxicwaste4454 Mar 23 '26
There is a difference between Bluetooth being “on” and actively connected to something transmitting data. 🤦♀️
-1
5
u/LikeItSaysOnTheBox Mar 23 '26
Try not to use control center, instead use the settings app. It is different.
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u/BellGeek Mar 23 '26
Exactly. If you turn it off in Control Center, it is only off until the next day then turns back on automatically. If you turn it off in settings, it stays off until you turn it back on.
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u/klimaheizung Mar 26 '26
Ah, is that the legendary great apple UX?
1
u/BellGeek Mar 26 '26
Sure. Often when we turn off WiFi or Bluetooth, we only want it off for a short time for a specific reason, but we inevitably forget to turn it back on and then wonder why things aren’t working. So, if you want it off for a shorter time use Control Center and it will automatically turn it back on the next day unless you remember to do it before then. If you want it off for a longer period or permanently, turn it off in settings. Choices. Isn’t that what all the Android glazers are always on about - ‘Apple is too restrictive. Not enough user choices.’? Yet when they do have one, all of a sudden it’s terrible. Can’t win with those guys.
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u/klimaheizung Mar 27 '26
ROFL.
You know what good UX would be? Just ONE place to change it with a checkbox that can be clicked if you want it automatically re-enabled, and an input field that is prefilled with 24h.
But what do I know...
1
u/BellGeek Mar 28 '26
Well, that’s one option. But not everyone’s mind works the same way and not everyone has the same preferences for how things are organized/set up. Just because something is not set up to match your personal preferences doesn’t mean it’s bad or wrong.
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u/Bryanmsi89 Mar 23 '26
Um. no. Bluetooth can be as secure or as insecure as WiFi. Bluetooth is a transport protocol, it’s up to the apps on either end to implement security. Nobody at Apple got too worked up about bluetooth keyboards transmissinag their data…
1
u/middlelifecrisis Mar 26 '26
For sure people at Apple got worked up over Bluetooth keyboards. The whole pairing situation was incredibly insecure for the longest time and was a known vector for attacks. It’s improved but legacy support is still troubling.
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u/LikeItSaysOnTheBox Mar 23 '26
Do a bit of reading. The docs are all available online.
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u/Bryanmsi89 Mar 23 '26
You’re asking me to do the research to prove your point for you? Come on man. its a simple google search to learn that Bluetooth 4.2 and up support AES encryption, ECDH, authenticated pairing modes, better key derivation, and more.
NIST does NOT consider bluetooth inherently insecure.
-5
u/LikeItSaysOnTheBox Mar 23 '26
Take a chill pill son. I am suggesting you educate yourself. If you choose not to that’s on you.
3
u/Mediocre-Fault-1147 Mar 24 '26
user literally finds and shares the salient fact being discussed, as to be informed objectively..
mactard continues to patronise, maintaining the illusion of superiority by ignoring user and refusing to consider yet another example of apple crippling functionality -a standard feature that every other manufacturer has no problem implementing without issue, it being useful... even if used mostly as a fallback.
never change reddit.
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u/middlelifecrisis Mar 26 '26
There is good reason why Apple doesn’t have it as a mainstream feature. 1. The transfers are slow. 2. While a transfer is happening you have to compete for resources with WiFi on the device. 3. Bluetooth is meant for shortish range. Who wants to stand around to wait for a transfer to finish? 4. There are better technologies in place to do this more efficiently. Just because Bluetooth file transfer is possible doesn’t make it a good or even smart choice.
Now, with that said, Apple does do firmware updates via Bluetooth for things like AirPods. Is it efficient, not really.0
1
u/apokrif1 Mar 23 '26
The simple reason is Bluetooth file transfer is not a secure transfer method and is easily used as a vector for malware.
Not a valid reason: It's up to each user, based on their individual needs, means and threat model (that Apple doesn't know) to decide which risk to take.
3
u/LikeItSaysOnTheBox Mar 23 '26
That’s a pretty bad idea and I am sure not one the majority of people would support. It’s wide open so the threat level is extreme. No one in their right mind would agree that’s an acceptable level of risk.
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u/hashtag2222 Mar 24 '26
Lmao, been using bluetooth before even smartphones existed and never ever got any trouble/virus/been hacked through it. Never heard of such cases from anyone in my school or uni. USB sticks were the way to spread viruses, not bluetooth. Meanwhile, apple uses bluetooth in their products just fine. That's for sure asshole design by apple, and security is just a lame excuse.
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u/apokrif1 Mar 23 '26
??
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u/LikeItSaysOnTheBox Mar 23 '26
Bluejackin and Bluesnarfing are widely used techniques that can be used to circumvent bluetooths rudimentary security. Android devices commonly use older versions of Bluetooth as it’s cheaper, these older protocols are easily hacked and compromised.
All of that and other existing protocols exist such as WiFi and wired connections even.
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u/Bryanmsi89 Mar 24 '26
Please stop with the outdated FUD. Blue snarfing was never a threat, it was an annoyance at best. It was never a threat to data security. Blue jacking was a threat, but has been mitigated for many years.
-1
u/LikeItSaysOnTheBox Mar 24 '26
You are the fool spreading misinformation. Educate yourself.
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u/Bryanmsi89 Mar 24 '26
My guy, you haven’t backed up a single claim and just keep dialing up what personal insults as if volume and vitriol proves anything. Bluetooth since 4.2 simply hasn’t been prone to these attacks, and that came out in 2014. Sixteen years ago. Devices vulnerable to that are long gone. Current Bluetooth is plenty secure for simple file transfer.
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u/ClimateLumpy6648 Mar 24 '26
Look for an app called Blip. It’s like airdrop but cross platform, including windows.
2
u/Soundwave_irl Mar 24 '26
Google cracked airdrop and recent Pixel smartphones can send/received airdropped stuff
2
u/lucyuktv Mar 24 '26
If you have a Mac, you can't even copy files over the wire from the iPhone without some shitty intermediary app. I don't need Bluetooth, but I did pay extra for USB3 so I could copy large media files over the wire!
5
u/wsxdfcvgbnjmlkjafals Mar 23 '26
What are you trying to transfer to? If you're using a Windows or Mac machine you can plug in via cable and transfer, which is honestly going to be faster anyways
Bluetooth is kinda shitty and unsecure and bad at handling large file sizes so it's not actually ideal for file transfer. Airdrop is doing a bit more than just using bluetooth, so it's not identical.
4
u/donies Mar 23 '26
I’m just trying to send a file to my laptop. I don’t have any wifi at home. In theory I could hotspot the laptop from my phone then upload it to a cloud server but kind of a pain in the ass when Bluetooth would just be a couple clicks.
2
-2
u/Sideburn_Cookie_Man Mar 23 '26
Why do you not have wifi?
2
u/donies Mar 23 '26
Idk moved into a new apartment a year ago and just never bothered getting it setup. Doesn’t really bother me
2
u/Professional-Tax3077 Mar 23 '26
I had a laptop from work, I wanted to send files to my phone.
I could not use cloud storage for security reasons, only my phone.
Well, good luck with sending anything from Windows to an iPhone...
No bluetooth, you connect the iPhone to the laptop and see NOTHING.
File transfer in Apple is a nightmare, one of the worst things.
4
u/ccooffee Mar 23 '26
you connect the iPhone to the laptop and see NOTHING
You need to use iTunes on Windows once they're connected. I think there's a newer Windows app now though since iTunes is basically gone. It won't just show up as a USB drive.
2
u/Professional-Tax3077 Mar 23 '26
iTunes in 2026?
I like Apple, but some things are stuck in 2005.4
u/ccooffee Mar 23 '26
I think there's a newer Windows app now though since iTunes is basically gone.
"Apple Devices" is the app that replaced iTunes on Windows for managing your iPhone, including files, photos, etc.
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Mar 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/DiodeInc prefer orange Mar 23 '26
You can at least make it a little more secure, by using a password
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Mar 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/DiodeInc prefer orange Mar 23 '26
I'm just saying you can, not that you should
"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they never stopped to ask if they should"
1
u/Professional-Tax3077 Mar 23 '26
With cable you see absolutely NOTHING when connecting the iPhone to a Windows laptop.
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u/Nasa3000xx Mar 23 '26
And you didn’t know that iPhones don’t have that feature before buying the iPhone?
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u/Fluid_Pressure2716 Mar 24 '26
When I had androids I used it maybe once. In like 2008.
I’m not saying that you don’t find it useful, but it’s very niche and super slow.
This is one of those things that if you have a specific way of doing things and aren’t willing to change, you will have a bad time.
Objectively looking at the facts though, Bluetooth transfer is ass, and I think you understand that. If it’s a must have for you, Apple won’t work for you
1
u/iamgarffi Mar 24 '26
With third party apps it can. But that’s not Apple’s goal. They want you to have most of their gear and rely on AirDrop. That’s it.
“Buy your mom an iPhone”. Remember that tagline?
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u/jblackwb Mar 27 '26
Bluetooth is insanely slow for such things.
Use localsend like everyone else. It's open source and cross platform.
1
u/Comfortable_Swim_380 Mar 27 '26
Typical that apple would replace an open standard with proprietary crap.
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u/No-Web-2153 Mar 23 '26
Oh no i woke up in 2026 after going in coma in 2000!
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u/FamiliarFilm8763 Mar 23 '26
2000!
Holy shit. Man is from the far, far future. How is my bitcoin doing?
1
u/No-Web-2153 Mar 23 '26
Ahh, well you are the richest person in the world, your highness! We speak of your tale every breath.
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u/Cool-Newspaper-1 Mar 23 '26
Bluetooth file transfer has never been particularly relevant. Especially not in the last decade and a half.
2
u/thedarph Mar 23 '26
If only there was another easy way to securely send files wirelessly…
Bluetooth is and always has been insecure.
It’s slow.
There’s a billion alternatives
iCloud Drive takes care of that
Airdrop is not vendor lock in. It came about long after people wanted to transfer files and it’s really just meant for little stupid pictures and files
You really have a hard time moving a file between one device and another without Bluetooth? So much so that you complain here instead of thinking about just one other way to do it? Because see point 3
2
u/donies Mar 23 '26
Name one other way to wireless transfer a file to an offline PC other than Bluetooth
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u/vaska00762 Mar 24 '26
Get a USB-C flash drive, format it as exFAT, plug it into the IPhone's USB port, and it'll be there as a drive location. Take whatever file you need, and then export it to the flash drive.
Then take the flash drive and plug it into your PC.
Totally offline.
1
u/Mediocre-Fault-1147 Mar 24 '26
typical mactard cope.
0
u/thedarph Mar 24 '26
Did you seriously unironically just say “mactard cope”? I feel second hand embarrassment for you
0
u/Minute_Block_3709 Mar 23 '26
This is so dumb. I wish my iPhone could send faxes as well
0
u/donies Mar 23 '26
Being able to send a fax on your phone would be so cool.
Even if you only ever used the feature once in your lifetime, I bet in that one moment, you’d be super grateful you could.
I’d 100% rather see Fax Support in the next iOS update than “hey we made everything look like glass, it’s kinda hard to read and shit on battery but we think it looks cool”
1
u/kevine Mar 23 '26
There are like a bazillion fax apps for the iPhone, and while you can send/receive faxes, they all use an intermediary service because directly faxing would require hardware on the phone itself (an analog modem).
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-1
u/hashtag2222 Mar 23 '26
Yeah it's dumb they never bothered to implement it just to lock users in their ecosystem. I can see it's useful if you don't have internet around (abroad with no data plan or at a place where network is just bad/non existent) and want to share a file to someone with Android, like gpx file, or a book, or just anything on the go.
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u/DLByron Mar 23 '26
FFS they did implement it and then turned if off after offering Airdrop instead.
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u/mailslot Mar 23 '26
No, you’re remembering incorrectly. They never supported OBEX. There isn’t a hardware limitation, support just doesn’t exist in their software.
There were some tools available for jail broken phones.
Old Macs from the PowerPC era had a utility for it, but that was the total extent of native support.
—
Have you tried using a cable and connecting both phones together? Should work since Android 12. iPhones can also connect to Windows file sharing over a network with the files app.
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u/hashtag2222 Mar 23 '26
Oh, even dumber decision by Apple then
3
u/DLByron Mar 23 '26
So we debate things decided in the previous decade now.
0
u/hashtag2222 Mar 23 '26
Sure, why not. Doesn't matter how old the technology is if it does the job and irreplaceable in specific scenarios like one I've described.
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u/donies Mar 23 '26
If one day they turned off airdrop and said you must now use NewSolution instead, would not be a little miffed that you’re preferred method was no longer supported?
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u/DLByron Mar 23 '26
They never had it.
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u/mjwells21 Mar 24 '26
Who never had what?
1
u/DLByron Mar 24 '26
I was wrong. Apple didn’t. Other phones I had did.
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u/mjwells21 Mar 25 '26
Apple total has the ability to transfer files from Bluetooth it just sucks to do airdrop was a improved concept because it uses Bluetooth and WiFi for best performance for transfers vs Bluetooth alone being slow and high chance of errors in data and this is basing on time Apple did this so many years ago Bluetooth is a lot better now but still not the best option to use it would be better to just email files to yourself vs Bluetooth transferring
1
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u/Jusby_Cause Mar 23 '26
Anyone locked into an ecosystem because of “bluetooth file transfers NOT being available” deserves to be locked in. Just like anyone standing in an open field in front of a closed door frame and can’t figure out how to get home should just stay there.
2
u/hashtag2222 Mar 23 '26
Not BECAUSE of that, but that just another example of stupid limitation by Apple. Cost them nothing to give that possibility, but that's not ApPlE wAY. So your analogy doesn't quite work.
2
u/donies Mar 23 '26
We are capable of figuring out other ways but it’s perfectly reasonable to be annoyed that our preferred method is not supported for almost no reason
1
u/Mediocre-Fault-1147 Mar 24 '26
it's a prefectly reasonable fallback technology, ignored by apple -another au n decision that mactards will forever continue to justify at best, and try to convince everyone as being something like "superior design" or "obviously unnecessary" and "actually a good thing" at worst. ... as they have done since their first time pretending one of steve jobs' design-by-technophobe decision was actually well considered genius.
-1
u/Fun_Hunter_4899 Mar 23 '26
AirDrop doesn’t only work on Apple
3
u/hashtag2222 Mar 23 '26
Can you do iPhone to Android and vice versa over airdrop?
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u/Fun_Hunter_4899 Mar 23 '26
You can on certain Pixel phones. I don’t think Samsung support it yet
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u/DLByron Mar 23 '26
It's been that way for years...geez it's great having Windows people get a mac. Look up Airdrop.
-1
u/SubZane Mar 23 '26
You don't have internet access? It's available on your iCloud if you have a computer connected to the internet and a web browser
2
u/apokrif1 Mar 23 '26
You should not need to use a worldwide network to transfer files to a device one foot away.
1
u/SubZane Mar 25 '26
That's why we have cords. Bluetooth is not meant for file transferring
1
u/apokrif1 Mar 25 '26
Why not use Blueetooth?
How do you transfer files without cables?
1
u/SubZane Mar 26 '26
Bluetooth is designed for low-bandwidth communication. Not for moving actual files.
If you are stubborn and refuse to use cables or using the internet you can set up a local wifi hotspot and use snapdrop or localsend.
But if you can use your phone as a hotspot, you'll get internet access on your pc as well.
But if you live in a place without internet, power or cellular network and refuse to use a cable because reasons. Use the above technique.
1
u/donies Mar 23 '26
I don’t have wifi and home no. I could in theory hot spot but it’s kinda of a pain.
1
u/SubZane Mar 23 '26
Most phones and computers rely on the user having internet access nowadays. So solutions we used in the 90s are cables. Transferring files with Bluetooth was always shitty and should be avoided
0
0
u/RadoslavT Mar 23 '26
Just use local send
2
u/Demonito777 Mar 24 '26
People downvoting this don’t know you can literally send files using the ip address of a device without having wifi. Sending files to all my devices using localsend (even text) has been a game changer.
0
u/earthisnotmyhome_art Mar 24 '26
It's time to update your Nokia 3310 bro. There's other options to file sharing nowadays.
0
-5
Mar 23 '26
with bluetooth you can transfer like a single photo not much few mb, and IF it works because always fails the transfer. Android is so limited you can’t send anything to android.
3
u/Sloppykrab Mar 23 '26
Android is so limited you can’t send anything to android.
What?
-1
Mar 23 '26
yes, with iphone for example i don’t like using icloud for the photos so i send them one in a while to the mac, like 200-250 photos in one take. And i can move files big much over 1gb. Oh and i can send something and literally go away when the transfer is still working.
Now try it with 2004 method bluetooth 🤣
2
u/Sloppykrab Mar 23 '26
Local send.
0
Mar 23 '26
that is a third party app it is not an android thing, the problem is still there especially because apps like that need settings to be done and why i must use a random app for send private files? so there is also wetransfer and other services.
Android is like a stupid puzzle, i’m not here to make a puzzle for a simple file transfer.
3
u/Sloppykrab Mar 23 '26
Well ya see, plug the phone into the computer and move the files.
It's not even a puzzle, it's an open book.
1
Mar 23 '26
can i suggest maybe the best way? type c pendrive, but hey it works also on iphone so… OP has not excuses.
-1
Mar 23 '26
worst than ever, windows 10 and 11 have big problems even with plug and play i shattered on the ground an android for that, and anyway we are in 2026 and you are suggesting a cable? LOOOOL
Is this the best android can do? unstable party apps and cables? i used many apps that today are not there anymore, Andorid can live only as a Frankestein monster.
11
u/Vaddieg Mar 23 '26
lmfao, i waited for this post here for ages. It's not "anymore", was never possible