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I hope in iOS "2020" Airdrop will be functional
- Thread starter DJTaurus
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iPad Air and Mini 2 AirDrop not working to 5s or Macbook Air 2013.
5s and Macbook Air 2013 always perform wonderfully, but Air and Mini 2 never detected.
5s and Macbook Air 2013 always perform wonderfully, but Air and Mini 2 never detected.
Indeed. Do those people run around in service shops and tell everyone their stuff is working perfectly ? If you don't have a problem, stop typing, close the thread and open another.
Have zero issues with airdrop between OSX-OSX/OSX-iOS/iOS-iOS as long as file size is below 2GB.
Sorry, but people have the freedom to respond to overly sarcastic threads that imply something simply doesn't work... when for many people it does. Just as people have the freedom to whine about 16 GB base models in every thread under the sun.
There's a difference between whining 16GB base storage and basic feature that are not working.
You are right about freedom of speech though.
I use airdrop quite regularly between my retina mbp on El Cap and my ip6+ (9.0.2) and ipad mini 2 (9.1) and unfortunately it's quite inconsistent. If the mac detects the i-devices then the transfer usually goes through without a hitch. The problem is that it doesn't always detect the devices, even after waiting, switching wifi/bt on & off and even necessitating a reboot, which is really annoying.
I wonder if Airdrop issues are environmental, i.e. wifi/firewall/dns related. For example Airdrop works 100% of the time at home..
However, I stayed at a hotel recently and Airdrop wouldn't work, at all, between my iPhone 6S+ and mid 2014 rMBP even when I forgot the hotel's WiFi. Viewing the console I could see it was attempting to connect but nothing happened.
When I got home, without touching anything, Airdrop worked first go.
Airdrop at home:
27/10/15 6:38:01.746 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.746 : Finder entered AirDrop
27/10/15 6:38:01.747 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.746 : BTLE scanning stopped
27/10/15 6:38:01.747 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.746 : BTLE scanning started
27/10/15 6:38:01.747 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.746 : Scanning mode Contacts Only
27/10/15 6:38:01.765 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.764 : BTLE advertiser Powered On
27/10/15 6:38:01.766 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.766 : BTLE advertising hashes <xxx>
27/10/15 6:38:01.766 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.766 : BTLE scanner Powered On
27/10/15 6:38:02.661 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.661 : Bonjour discovered xxx over awdl0
27/10/15 6:38:02.671 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.670 : Bonjour discovered xxx TXT record
27/10/15 6:38:02.671 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.671 : Bonjour resolving xxx service over 0
27/10/15 6:38:02.673 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.673 : Bonjour resolved xxx over awdl0
27/10/15 6:38:02.674 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.673 : Connecting to xxx at [xxx.local]:8770
27/10/15 6:38:02.839 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.839 : Sending client certificate to xxx
27/10/15 6:38:02.918 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.918 : Discovered identity of xxx
Airdrop when I was at the hotel:
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.636 : Finder entered AirDrop
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.636 : BTLE scanning stopped
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.636 : BTLE scanning started
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.636 : Scanning mode Everyone
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.646 : BTLE advertiser Powered On
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.647 : BTLE advertising hashes <xx>
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.649 : BTLE scanner Powered On
And nothing would happen after that, so I wonder if something causes bonjour discovery to fail so the phone never responds even when I forgot the wifi network..
At home the devices are connected to a Airport Extreme which is acting as an AP only, pfsense does DHCP, DNS, firewall etc. I also have a Ruckus AP which I tested and Airdrop works fine through that as well.
However, I stayed at a hotel recently and Airdrop wouldn't work, at all, between my iPhone 6S+ and mid 2014 rMBP even when I forgot the hotel's WiFi. Viewing the console I could see it was attempting to connect but nothing happened.
When I got home, without touching anything, Airdrop worked first go.
Airdrop at home:
27/10/15 6:38:01.746 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.746 : Finder entered AirDrop
27/10/15 6:38:01.747 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.746 : BTLE scanning stopped
27/10/15 6:38:01.747 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.746 : BTLE scanning started
27/10/15 6:38:01.747 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.746 : Scanning mode Contacts Only
27/10/15 6:38:01.765 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.764 : BTLE advertiser Powered On
27/10/15 6:38:01.766 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.766 : BTLE advertising hashes <xxx>
27/10/15 6:38:01.766 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:01.766 : BTLE scanner Powered On
27/10/15 6:38:02.661 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.661 : Bonjour discovered xxx over awdl0
27/10/15 6:38:02.671 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.670 : Bonjour discovered xxx TXT record
27/10/15 6:38:02.671 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.671 : Bonjour resolving xxx service over 0
27/10/15 6:38:02.673 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.673 : Bonjour resolved xxx over awdl0
27/10/15 6:38:02.674 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.673 : Connecting to xxx at [xxx.local]:8770
27/10/15 6:38:02.839 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.839 : Sending client certificate to xxx
27/10/15 6:38:02.918 PM sharingd[238]: 18:38:02.918 : Discovered identity of xxx
Airdrop when I was at the hotel:
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.636 : Finder entered AirDrop
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.636 : BTLE scanning stopped
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.636 : BTLE scanning started
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.636 : Scanning mode Everyone
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.646 : BTLE advertiser Powered On
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.647 : BTLE advertising hashes <xx>
Oct 25 10:45:38 xxx sharingd[231]: 10:45:38.649 : BTLE scanner Powered On
And nothing would happen after that, so I wonder if something causes bonjour discovery to fail so the phone never responds even when I forgot the wifi network..
At home the devices are connected to a Airport Extreme which is acting as an AP only, pfsense does DHCP, DNS, firewall etc. I also have a Ruckus AP which I tested and Airdrop works fine through that as well.
Ok, to quote myself. I've tested it.
- It didn't work between 9.0 and 10.11.0 devices.
- However it works fine between 9.1 and 10.11.1, at least for small files (if this can be confirmed by other users we could start building some statistics).
Anyway...we can only hope that at some point airdrop will just work across devices and OS versions.
1) The first step is that it works on every bt4 device running the latest operating system; That should be our baseline. How far are we from that now? Are we already there? Even though Airdrop SEEMS to work for me now, my sample is too small and I've already read about other people still having problems. Let's try to state the exact OS versions and specs of our devices.
2) From that point forward (present of future) it should keep working even, for example, between an iOS 11.2 device trying to send a file to OsX 10.12.0.
At some point it has to reach that point of maturity, you can't expect that it works only when the OS is updated to the latest version!
What would we think about a pendrive that works like that?
"Can you give me that PDF?"
"Sure, I'll put it in my USB pen!"
"Mmm...doesn't work..."
"Well, i formatted the pen on el Capitan, you are still on Yosemite, of course it doesn't work!!"
"No! Actually I updated yesterday, I'm on el Cap!"
"Oh, well...this morning we got 10.11.1 and I have updated before formatting the pendrive...err, maybe you have to be on 10.11.1 as well...then it will work...hopefully..."
"Oh...go to hell!"
And that's why selling a 1500 laptop with no ports (almost) and a 1300 iPad Pro with no ports, while saying "nobody needs ports, just use airdrop, wifi ac is SUPER FAST!!" is a blind and stupid attitude (but what do I know, I don't make billions of profits every quarter, so I must be the stupid one, right?)
Anyway... First we need to understand if it finally works at the 9.1-10.1.1 level, then we can only hope that it will not break with updates and that compatibility will resist between different OS versions from here on.
My devices:
- 2014 13" Macbook Air, OSX 10.11.1 → works with my iOS devices.
- iPad Air 2, iOS 9.1 → works with my iPhone and 2014 Macbook Air.
- iPhone 6s, iOS 9.1 → works with my iPad and 2014 MacBook Air.
- 2012 15" retina MacBook Pro, on Mavericks → doesn't work, neither with iOS devices (expected, as they are unsupported with Mavericks) nor with my MBA.
* Being connected to a wifi network (or not) doesn't seem to alter these results.
* Big files (> 1gb), not tested yet.
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My Devices:
Macbook Pro Retina 2014 El Cap 10.11.1
iMac Late 2013(Workplace mac) El Cap 10.11.1 on works network that uses a proxy to get online.
iPhone 6 9.0.2(Friends)
iPad Air 2 9.0.2(Wifes)
iPhone 6s 9.1
Tests carried out at work all on WIFI, note prior to El cap 10.11.1 non of these devices could AirDrop iOS to Mac, iOS to iOS was fine.
iMac 2013 > iPhone 6 works
Iphone 6s > iMac 2013 work *was large 4k file around 500mb was very quick
iMac 2013 > iPhone 6s
iMac 2013 > iMac 2013(other office machine) works fine
Tests carried out at home using AirPort Extreme
Macbook 2014 > iPhone 6s works sending large 1.5Gb avi file, transfer succeeded but didn't have a compatible app for the file
iPhone 6s >Macbook 2014 works
Macbook 2014 > iPhone 6s works
iPad Air 2 > Macbook 2014 works
Macbook 2014 > iPad Air 2 works
So the fix for all my troubles was definitely El cap 10.11.1, as 2 of the iOS devices are still 9.0.2.
Hope this helps others
Macbook Pro Retina 2014 El Cap 10.11.1
iMac Late 2013(Workplace mac) El Cap 10.11.1 on works network that uses a proxy to get online.
iPhone 6 9.0.2(Friends)
iPad Air 2 9.0.2(Wifes)
iPhone 6s 9.1
Tests carried out at work all on WIFI, note prior to El cap 10.11.1 non of these devices could AirDrop iOS to Mac, iOS to iOS was fine.
iMac 2013 > iPhone 6 works
Iphone 6s > iMac 2013 work *was large 4k file around 500mb was very quick
iMac 2013 > iPhone 6s
iMac 2013 > iMac 2013(other office machine) works fine
Tests carried out at home using AirPort Extreme
Macbook 2014 > iPhone 6s works sending large 1.5Gb avi file, transfer succeeded but didn't have a compatible app for the file
iPhone 6s >Macbook 2014 works
Macbook 2014 > iPhone 6s works
iPad Air 2 > Macbook 2014 works
Macbook 2014 > iPad Air 2 works
So the fix for all my troubles was definitely El cap 10.11.1, as 2 of the iOS devices are still 9.0.2.
Hope this helps others
Since 9.1 Airdrop between 6S and MBAir works flawlessly/instantly..... at last! Hope it will stay like this 
I use it some, mainly between my wife and I (usually sharing pics, videos and web pages).
It's a coin toss. Sometimes she is there, sometimes she isn't. Same on her device with me. I have a 6s+ she has a 5s. Both on 9.1 but it's been like this as long as airdrop has been around.
When it does work, it's pretty fantastic. When it doesn't, I just roll my eyes and send as an iMessage.
It's a coin toss. Sometimes she is there, sometimes she isn't. Same on her device with me. I have a 6s+ she has a 5s. Both on 9.1 but it's been like this as long as airdrop has been around.
When it does work, it's pretty fantastic. When it doesn't, I just roll my eyes and send as an iMessage.
I have a lot of problems with El Cap and Bluetooth. Bluetooth is constantly disabling itself. I'm hoping the next El Cap release fixes it.
So far, in the newest Betas (OS X 10.11.2, iOS 9.2), it has. With 5 devices - an iPhone 6S+, an iPhone 6, an iPad Air, a late-2013 rMBP, and a 2012 Mini Server - with only the 6S+ running the current non-Beta SW, connectivity has been 100% flawless except for the 6S+ (which is hit-and-miss still). I prefer AirDrop for photo transfers from my iOS devices as they make that transfer at full size, as opposed to emailing them to myself - and I don't have to find a cable.
I'd want to transfer files between my Air or iPhone 6 and my rMBP or between my rMBP and Mini Server and experienced frustration - dropped transfers and one device not seeing the other or it does until it doesn't. On the latest Betas, it finally just works. Patience, and hope that somebody at Apple doesn't screw it up again!
You can quote all the threads you like, but I have been using AirDrop without issue between my iPhone 6 Plus, my iPad Mini 4 and my 2012 rMBP without incident. I upgraded to the 6S Plus and it continues to work flawlessly. I also share photos with my wife's iPhone 6 Plus and other family members' iPhones. Maybe you're holding your mouth wrong.
Currently running iOS 9.2 beta 4 and El Capitan (10.11.2 beta 4).
People post on the forums to complain about problems and to seek help. Rarely do people start threads just to say how well a product or feature works. It's just the nature of things.
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