3 ms·

I disable bluetooth on my phone, though periodically I find that it's back on. Edit: iOS

deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]
craftkiller 9mo ago
I have the opposite experience: GrapheneOS has an option to automatically turn your bluetooth off after a configurable period of not being used. So when I need to use bluetooth, I turn it on like normal. Then, without thinking about it, it automatically turns off. The end result is my bluetooth is only ever on for a couple hours each month when I'm making phone calls.
- littlecorner 9mo ago
  Did not realize I could do that! Thank you!
- rationalist 9mo ago
  I only see an option to turn back on tomorrow. How do you find this option?
  - craftkiller 9mo ago
    It's under Settings > Security and Privacy > Exploit Protection > Turn off bluetooth automatically Definitely not the most obvious location. I would have expected to find this under the bluetooth settings.
    - rationalist 9mo ago
      Awesome, thank you. I don't recall that being there when I first installed GrapheneOS. I need to go through the settings more often I guess. It might be a cool feature if settings were highlighted or had a red dot or something until it was viewed (like an unread notification).
- 9991 9mo ago
  Your problem is that you chose an OS that respects you and treats you with dignity.
silon42 9mo ago
Android now has an option to enable it every day.. (I have it disabled).
officeplant 9mo ago
With iOS the easiest way to make sure it off and stays off is to build a shortcut to cut off wifi/bluetooth. Otherwise it's typically off until you get geolocated as being back home/work and wifi comes back on. I have a "store mode" button that just kills wifi/bt that I hit before I go into any store.
- mcosta 9mo ago
  what do you gain doing this?
  - officeplant 9mo ago
    Peace of mind that I'm not being tracked around the store by wifi/bt, and/or having my device fingerprinted for further identification on future visits.
dylan604 9mo ago
I miss wired headphones for this purpose. It's the only reason I even have BT enabled.
- poolnoodle 9mo ago
  Wired headphones do still exist. :-) I often use a pair of cheap USB C Apple earpods with my Google Pixel.
joemi 9mo ago
I used to fervently keep my bluetooth off on iOS, and I learned that if you turn it off via the Control Center, then it automatically gets turned back on the next day. But if you turn it off via Settings, then it only gets turned back on when the system software updates. (I stopped doing this a couple iOS versions ago, though, so it may have changed since then.)
- jerlam 9mo ago
  Bluetooth (and wifi) aren't turned off at all through the Control Center - they changed the wording to say "disconnected", meaning that your phone only disconnects from known devices. But both are still turned on for other purposes such as CarPlay, Handoff, and Location Services (via wifi). For the purposes of this discussion, they are potentially still transmitting a known identifier. Apple reconnects to known devices and networks at 5am: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102412 https://support.apple.com/en-us/102412 Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Aren't Fully Disabled When Off in iOS 11 Control Center https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15297387 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15297387 (2017, 143 comments)

deleted 9mo ago

[deleted]

I have the opposite experience: GrapheneOS has an option to automatically turn your bluetooth off after a configurable period of not being used. So when I need to use bluetooth, I turn it on like normal. Then, without thinking about it, it automatically turns off. The end result is my bluetooth is only ever on for a couple hours each month when I'm making phone calls.

littlecorner 9mo ago
Did not realize I could do that! Thank you!
rationalist 9mo ago
I only see an option to turn back on tomorrow. How do you find this option?
- craftkiller 9mo ago
  It's under Settings > Security and Privacy > Exploit Protection > Turn off bluetooth automatically Definitely not the most obvious location. I would have expected to find this under the bluetooth settings.
  - rationalist 9mo ago
    Awesome, thank you. I don't recall that being there when I first installed GrapheneOS. I need to go through the settings more often I guess. It might be a cool feature if settings were highlighted or had a red dot or something until it was viewed (like an unread notification).
9991 9mo ago
Your problem is that you chose an OS that respects you and treats you with dignity.

silon42 9mo ago

Android now has an option to enable it every day.. (I have it disabled).

officeplant 9mo ago

With iOS the easiest way to make sure it off and stays off is to build a shortcut to cut off wifi/bluetooth. Otherwise it's typically off until you get geolocated as being back home/work and wifi comes back on. I have a "store mode" button that just kills wifi/bt that I hit before I go into any store.

mcosta 9mo ago
what do you gain doing this?
- officeplant 9mo ago
  Peace of mind that I'm not being tracked around the store by wifi/bt, and/or having my device fingerprinted for further identification on future visits.

dylan604 9mo ago

I miss wired headphones for this purpose. It's the only reason I even have BT enabled.

poolnoodle 9mo ago
Wired headphones do still exist. :-) I often use a pair of cheap USB C Apple earpods with my Google Pixel.

joemi 9mo ago

I used to fervently keep my bluetooth off on iOS, and I learned that if you turn it off via the Control Center, then it automatically gets turned back on the next day. But if you turn it off via Settings, then it only gets turned back on when the system software updates. (I stopped doing this a couple iOS versions ago, though, so it may have changed since then.)

jerlam 9mo ago
Bluetooth (and wifi) aren't turned off at all through the Control Center - they changed the wording to say "disconnected", meaning that your phone only disconnects from known devices. But both are still turned on for other purposes such as CarPlay, Handoff, and Location Services (via wifi). For the purposes of this discussion, they are potentially still transmitting a known identifier. Apple reconnects to known devices and networks at 5am: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102412 https://support.apple.com/en-us/102412 Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Aren't Fully Disabled When Off in iOS 11 Control Center https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15297387 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15297387 (2017, 143 comments)