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When to use Bluetooth

W

Wirenut

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 6, 2016
198
94
I only use Bluetooth in my work van. I don't have any Bluetooth devices or speakerphone anywhere else.

Today I realized that although I turned Bluetooth off in the quickmenu thingie when scrolling up, it still connected to my work van.

So I read into it and it seems like that quick menu button only disconnects the connection, it doesn't shut off Bluetooth.

My question is whether Bluetooth is using the battery? I always used to shut Bluetooth off because I would go days without being in my work van (I have other work vehicles) and there was no need to keep Bluetooth on since it used the battery.

So here I am, wondering if I have to go into Settings each time I enter or leave my work van so that Bluetooth doesn't kill my battery?
 
In testing for better battery life I could never find any significant savings turning BT off. Actually I couldn't even get as good of battery life, accounting for variables I would imagine it was just a non factor. The act of me turning it off probably used more power than it being off.

Keep in mind the wireless connectivity is so integrated that turning off bluetooth doesn't physically remove the power from, it just shuts off locks it out from being used.

At one time this may have been a thing (like turning off LTE) however anymore I don't think it matters. The same applied to wifi unless my cellular reception was very bad.
 
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Unless you are never going to use Bluetooth at all there is very little point turning it off completely. Years ago i had no bluetooth devices so no point having it on but now i do i see no real difference having it on all the time. Far more other things likely to be a battery problem than Bluetooth.
 
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I see. Maybe it's just the age of my 6S that is causing the battery to not hold a charge as well as it used to.

But when I saw how the new iOS didn't shut off bluetooth from the quick menu I definitely thought it was that.
 
Go in to the Battery bit and see what the stats say about which apps are using the battery. I've got a 6S and having no issues at all on iOS11
 
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