Using Bluetooth with iPhone se?

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I am trying to send photos currently on my iPhone se to my Windows 10 laptop. I turned on Bluetooth on both devices, each device found the other device, each device showed the same code, and the devices paired with each other. I selected a photo on the iPhone se and hit the send button (the square with a vertical arrow through it). However, the only icons that showed up as sending options were AirDrop, email, and messages. After trying this several times I read online that Bluetooth can not be used to send files from an iPhone and that AirDrop was the method to use but that AirDrop can only be used when both devices are Apple devices. Is this true?

This is my first attempt at using Bluetooth with any device so maybe I am missing something obvious.

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At first I thought… Bluetooth version mismatch? Both the iPhone SE and iPhone SE2 support Bluetooth 5.

I can get my Dell Latitude E7450 to pair with my iPhone SE2 but not to transfer files.

To check the version of the Bluetooth radio in your Windows device, open Device Manager, *right*-click on the Bluetooth radio device and select Properties. When the Properties dialog opens, select the Advanced tab and look for the LMP (Link Manager Protocol) version.

This can be used to discover the supported version of Bluetooth using the following table:

LMP 0 : Bluetooth Core Specification 1.0b (withdrawn)
LMP 1 : Bluetooth Core Specification 1.1 (withdrawn)
LMP 2 : Bluetooth Core Specification 1.2 (withdrawn)
LMP 3 : Bluetooth Core Specification 2.0 + EDR (withdrawn)
LMP 4 : Bluetooth Core Specification 2.1 + EDR (deprecated, to be withdrawn)
LMP 5 : Bluetooth Core Specification 3.0 + HS (deprecated, to be withdrawn)
LMP 6 : Bluetooth Core Specification 4.0
LMP 7 : Bluetooth Core Specification 4.1
LMP 8 : Bluetooth Core Specification 4.2
LMP 9 : Bluetooth Core Specification 5.0
LMP 10 : Bluetooth Core Specification 5.1
LMP 11 : Bluetooth Core Specification 5.2

As you can see from the screenshot above, my laptop’s radio shows as LMP 8.4096, i.e. LMP 8… which the table shows as Bluetooth 4.2. My iPhone SE2 supports Bluetooth 5.0. Close but no cigar

However, I have the same situation with my iPad 6th Generation which supports Bluetooth 4.2. My iPad will pair with my laptop but, even though both are using Bluetooth 4.2, will not transfer files either way.

I went Googling and found this Apple Support doc: Transfer files between iPad and your Windows PC. If you read it you will see there is no mention at all about using Bluetooth.

In an Apple discussion article – Bluetooth: Why can’t I pair my iPhone or iPad with another iOS device or with my computer? – I found the following (my emphasis in bold):

Bluetooth supports many different “Profiles”, or methods of connecting BlueTooth compatible devices. Since the iPhone first came out Apple has chosen to primarily support hands-free profiles, such as “ear roaches”, stereo headsets, automobile integration for sound systems and phone calls, remote control, etc. The specific profiles supported are described here: iOS: Supported Bluetooth profiles. Conspicuously absent from the supported profiles is device to device file transfer. That is, you cannot pair an iOS device with another iOS device or with a computer for file transfer. That’s the simple answer.

But I was able to pair… and have the screenshots.

However, further Googling did not result in any doc or article showing that file transfer could be done successfully with Bluetooth (unless part of AirPlay between two Apple devices).

If you look at the iOS: Supported Bluetooth profiles article it’s very clear that file transfer from *any* iOS device to a Windows device via Bluetooth is just not supported.

Hope this helps…

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280park

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Thanks for confirming that Bluetooth can not be used to transfer files from an iPhone to a Windows PC.

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Have you seen this?

https://support.apple.com/et-ee/guide/mac-help/mchle7fa9e15/mac

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280park

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280park wrote:

AirDrop can only be used when both devices are Apple devices. Is this true?

It is true.

The simplest way to transfer photos from iPhone to a Windows PC is just connecting the iPhone to your PC using USB cable and coping the photos. No software needed.

If you backup your iPhone to iCloud, as you should, you can log into your account and download photos to your PC.

Another simple way is to mail photos to yourself from the iPhone and reading the mail on your PC.

I use both iCloud and Google Photos to backup my photos automatically.

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280park

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Alex5723 wrote:

Another simple way is to mail photos to yourself from the iPhone and reading the mail on your PC.

I have used this method. However, because my internet speed is not very fast and my email service does not provide much storage I was looking for a more direct device-to-device method.

Alex5723 wrote:

The simplest way to transfer photos from iPhone to a Windows PC is just connecting the iPhone to your PC using USB cable and coping the photos. No software needed.

I like simple. I will try this.

Thanks.

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I use Snapdrop. All you need is the devices on the same network.

cheers, Paul

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280park

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https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01F7KJDIM?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I use this Apple adapter (reasonably priced in my opinion) to transfer photos and files from my iPhone 8Plus to my PC. Simply plug the adapter into the iPhone charging port and use a USB thumb drive by inserting it into the USB port located at the other end of the adapter. You will also need to use a power source, that being the adapter plug for your iPhone SE. There is a lightning port located next to the USB port on the camera adapter. Go to the link on Amazon and it shows what you need. It’s a very quick and easy transfer process. I use it all the time as opposed to plugging the phone into the PC. When you’ve copied all the photos from your iPhone to the USB drive, just unplug the USB and connect it to the USB port on your PC. Find the USB drive on your PC and open it to copy the files to your computer.

MacOS iPadOS and sometimes SOS

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280park

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