Hi all,
I'm growing increasingly frustrated with this watch because of connection issues.
When I received this watch in January, I was able to set it up no problem. Everything worked great. I just had two issues-
1. The Bluetooth car system would no longer work because the phone would use the watch as the default headset.
2. Google duo would go bonkers when I was getting a call if the watch was connected.
Both of these issues were solved with a solution found here in the forums-by unchecking the option to use the watch for phone connection.
I noticed immediately after doing that that the connection became unstable. I would disconnect randomly then reconnect. As the weeks went on the disconnections became more frequent i.e. Every 2-3 minutes. Then the watch wouldn't connect anymore. Once the watch wouldn't connect anymore neither would my car. Nothing related to Bluetooth would work on my phone. My Tiles wouldn't connect anymore either.
So I went through and deleted all data and cache related to the three Samsung apps and uninstalled the apps. I deleted all Bluetooth connections. Then reinstalled the apps and connected the watch. Within an hour I was still in the same situation. (With no other things connected to Bluetooth.)
I figured out that if I restart my phone everything works again for about 20-30 minutes.
I'm at the point where I don't feel like it is worth keeping anymore. I can't have anything else connected to Bluetooth and I have to restart the phone so often that it just doesn't make sense.
After reading through the forums here it doesn't sound like this is a common problem. Is there something I am missing? Is the watch defective? Any suggestions is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
You could well find the issue is with your phone and not the watch. I initially used my S3 with a Samsung phone that went bust. I went back to my Nexus 5 and found I had some issues and one app had disappeared from the app store. I contacted the app firm who told me that they were aware of it but it was Samsung that was blocking the app. On going back to a Samsung phone the app was available again and works fine. Can you check your S3 with a different phone?
I also have a S3 and a 6P. Disconnect the S3 Bluetooth from your phone Bluetooth settings and it should connect to your car. You should still see the "Gear S Plugin" notification if you swipe down on the the phone. You should still receive notifications on your phone but the Bluetooth will connect to your car. Connect the S3 to your phones Bluetooth again if you want to answer calls via your watch. Hope this helps.
I have the Mate 9 and the Frontier... when i enter my truck i just press airplan mode on the watch turning off all connection. bluetooth from phone to truck connects 1-2-3....
Clarification
Hi all,
Thanks for the responses. Probably because of my long rambling post there is a little misunderstanding of where I'm at now.
Right now my problem is that my phone can't stay connected to my watch. I have nothing else connected via Bluetooth to my phone. Once it can't connect anymore, I have to restart my phone in order for it to connect again. And then it only stay connected for a couple of minutes before disconnecting.
It is like the Bluetooth gets locked up on my phone by the Samsung gear apps.
Maybe it's my phone. Maybe time to get a Pixel.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Try this. I do it when I lose notifications. Go to Bluetooth on your phone. "forget your watch" it will disconnect. Reboot phone. Then re pair watch and phone after reboot using your phone and the watch (not the gear app). That usually fixes most problems for me.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
Hi.
Just got my S8 and tried to pair it to my Gear S3. All goes fine and both stay connected until I disable the watch audio function in the S8 bluetooth options (to not conflict with my car handsfree system).
After that, they just disconnect and don't connect anymore.
Any help out there?
Thanks!
Similar issue over here: I lose BT connection of my Gear S3 to my One+ 3T phone after a day or so. Factory reset of th ewatch does not help, in combination with ROM falsh of the phone it connects just fine but loses connection again in a day or so. Any hints what can cause this are most welcome.
I've had the same issues since getting my S3 Frontier with my S8. It "seems" that when my phone connects to some other BlueTooth source like my car and then I leave my car it doesn't want to reconnect to the Gear. I've also set my phone down, walked away (out of BT range) and its switch to connected remotely. Then when I get closer it just disconnects and sits at stand alone even through my phone is next to me.
It's driving me crazy and makes the Gear very unreliable. If I go into the Gear app and turn off "Gear Connection" then back on it connects no problem.
I've checked the battery settings, they are fine. Also the Gear and S8 are fully up to date but the problem has been there between software versions, no changes between updates.
-Allan
I am having the same problem with Gear S3 and S8. Toggle airplane mode on the phone fixes it. The problem is I don't like to do this every time they refuses to automatically connect.
I'm going to put in a support request with Samsung, this is getting ridiculous. That or I'm gonna sell it. New thing it's doing:
I put my phone on its charger.
I walk outside to let out the dog.
BlueTooth disconnects (fine). It switches to my house wireless. Its now "connected remotely".
It never switches back to bluetooth, stays connected remotely.
I leave the house the next day.
My wireless network is out of range
Gear is now "Stand Alone" with the phone 3 feet away.
Stays stand alone until I either turn off and on airplane mode (effectively turning off and on Bluetooth) or go into the gear app and turn off and on its connection.
-Allan
vseven said:
I'm going to put in a support request with Samsung, this is getting ridiculous. That or I'm gonna sell it. New thing it's doing:
I put my phone on its charger.
I walk outside to let out the dog.
BlueTooth disconnects (fine). It switches to my house wireless. Its now "connected remotely".
It never switches back to bluetooth, stays connected remotely.
I leave the house the next day.
My wireless network is out of range
Gear is now "Stand Alone" with the phone 3 feet away.
Stays stand alone until I either turn off and on airplane mode (effectively turning off and on Bluetooth) or go into the gear app and turn off and on its connection.
-Allan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this exact issue! I just purchased Gear S3 Frontier non-LTE model and have it paired to my Galaxy S8. It seems like sometimes it goes into standalone mode when I leave the bluetooth range and does not want to reconnect to bluetooth once I'm back in range until I force it to connect within the Gear app on the Phone... this is very frustration. Coming from an Android wear, I never had connectivity issues...
nitewolfgtr said:
I have this exact issue! I just purchased Gear S3 Frontier non-LTE model and have it paired to my Galaxy S8. It seems like sometimes it goes into standalone mode when I leave the bluetooth range and does not want to reconnect to bluetooth once I'm back in range until I force it to connect within the Gear app on the Phone... this is very frustration. Coming from an Android wear, I never had connectivity issues...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Talked to support. They said reset the S3 and if it keeps happening it's a hardware issue and I need to send it in. I highly doubt it's a hardware issue....really seems like faulty software. But I reset it, again, and I'll see what happens.
I suggest everyone having this issue does the same: http://www.samsung.com/us/support/#contact_us_for_support Maybe they don't even know it's a issue.
vseven said:
Talked to support. They said reset the S3 and if it keeps happening it's a hardware issue and I need to send it in. I highly doubt it's a hardware issue....really seems like faulty software. But I reset it, again, and I'll see what happens.
I suggest everyone having this issue does the same: http://www.samsung.com/us/support/#contact_us_for_support Maybe they don't even know it's a issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just did the reset as well... i'll let you know if it fixes mine. If not, it's going back to Amazon... lol!
So resetting mine worked for about 3 days then I started having the same issue. Reset again, another 2 - 3 days then more problems. However my S8 just got a system update and in the release notes:
- Prevents unintended Bluetooth® disconnections with a companion Gear S3 smartwatch.
So far since the update yesterday mine has been better.....we'll see.
Same issue with my Oneplus 3 and Gear S3 Frontier.
Combination of Turning off everything on Connections on Gear s3 settings than turning on bluetooth and rebooting phone and gear s3 ussualy solves this.
But there is no logic to the steps. I coulnt pinpoint what of the above fixes it. Because its always different.
Having this problem on my OnePlus 5T. Going to phone's bluetooth settings and unpairing then pairing again seems to do the trick.
My S3 Frontier ran out of battery and shutdown, from there on, after getting charged again of course, the parring just stalled.
Normally I can slide down the top buttons and "Gear S3" is displayed under the BT icon, but not now
First I tried to turn off BT and turn on again on my S8, no success.
The I deleting the parring and pairing the watch again, no success.
Then I booted the phone, no success.
Going to BT settings on the S8 showed the gear, details showed nothing is turned on, i tried to turn on the input device, now the gear was connected on the top button BT icon... but still Samsung health says no gear device is connected.
I was just about to reset the watch, thinking "oh, now I have to setup the watch again with height, weight, etc... lovely!" then I thought I wanna try one last thing, disable BT on the watch and turn it on again. That did the trick for me!
I have OP7 PRO running android 10 and stock Oxygen OS (not root).
When I pair my device to my car bluetooth set everything works fine, but once the connection is lost it will not auto-reconnect the next time i'm in my car.
Moreover, in order to connect again i need to do the pairing again (not just select the device from the existing devices list).
I saw tons of threads online about this with no solution, some mentioned they think it's an issue with android OS and not the phone itself (this is supported by the fact that my wife just got a new Xiaomi and have the exact same problem).
Does it make sense that this is a global Android issue and has no fix for such a long time? did anyone experience it and managed to fix it?
I would guess at an issue with the car Bluetooth. May be theres a firmware update for that ?
UrbanBushman said:
I would guess at an issue with the car Bluetooth. May be theres a firmware update for that ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my first thought, but it seems that the issue is on the device side as i can see that after connecting the device doesn't appear in the previously connected devices list.
As if the phone forgets it for some reason.
I've had occasional problems too. I'm using Launcher 10. Just last week, I turned on my wifi before starting my car as usual. It connected, then disconnected 2 times and then was stable. There's been times where I'll restart my car to fix it. It's irritating but who knows what can be done about it.
I have a rooted stock op7pro and I have a Samsung active2 watch that randomly disconnects and reconnects once or twice an hour. I have battery set to all Samsung apps on my phone to not optimize battery usage and I have no idea why it does this.
Sent from my OnePlus7Pro using XDA Labs
I have understood that it's also possible that it depend on the order in wich you connect.
You should first have to connect the car to the phone instead of the phone to the car.
Iow have the car lookup the phone
Yes, i head a lot about people with flaky connection but i hope that was the situation, for me it won't reconnet 100% of the times.
Changing the order of connections didn't work.
I have been experiencing issues connecting to devices over Bluetooth. Sometimes it just works, other times it doesn't work at all, and some times it kinda works but not right.
All of these issues are resolved by restarting the phone, but that isn't a solution because the issue comes back.
3 Devices I have been having issues with
1. S Pen - Sometimes it won't connect to the phone, I get an "S-Pen Missing" message and it will not connect. If I t ry to connect to it manually via nRF Connect (The Nordic Semiconductors Bluetooth App) it tells me that the BLE device has a GATT error. It happens semi-randomly but I can always make it happen by doing #2
2. Car Stereo - This is the weird one, it will connect and play music, but it will not do "calls" if I connect to Discord it won't recognise the car as a Bluetooth device it can route to.
3. Raspberry Pi - This one it appears it will connect to ONCE, and then after a disconnect it will not connect again.
Again, each of these can be fixed by restarting the device, but they happen again after a while. The pen & RPi use BLE, I don't know what the car uses for calls.
Turn off global power management completely in Device Care.
Network reset, reboot and clear system cache from the boot menu.
Ok, I've done a network reset, and cleared the cache partition. I checked Device Care for something like global power management, and I couldn't find anything. Most of the pwm settings are off except the "optomise daily" setting.
I'll let you know later if I have the same issue again.
These, this is a N10+ running on Pie.
To check if you have disabled global power go to Developer options>standby apps, all buckets should show as active otherwise power management is enable.
KindarConrath said:
I have been experiencing issues connecting to devices over Bluetooth. Sometimes it just works, other times it doesn't work at all, and some times it kinda works but not right.
All of these issues are resolved by restarting the phone, but that isn't a solution because the issue comes back.
3 Devices I have been having issues with
1. S Pen - Sometimes it won't connect to the phone, I get an "S-Pen Missing" message and it will not connect. If I t ry to connect to it manually via nRF Connect (The Nordic Semiconductors Bluetooth App) it tells me that the BLE device has a GATT error. It happens semi-randomly but I can always make it happen by doing #2
2. Car Stereo - This is the weird one, it will connect and play music, but it will not do "calls" if I connect to Discord it won't recognise the car as a Bluetooth device it can route to.
3. Raspberry Pi - This one it appears it will connect to ONCE, and then after a disconnect it will not connect again.
Again, each of these can be fixed by restarting the device, but they happen again after a while. The pen & RPi use BLE, I don't know what the car uses for calls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are those the only three devices you connect via BT? What other apps do you use that need to use BT (i.e. Galaxy Wear, Apple Music, etc.).
You mentioned "Nordic Semiconductors Bluetooth App." I looked it up. Why do you need a third party generic BLE connecting app? It seems to me that could be the problem. You shouldn't need a third-party app to connect your BLE devices. The S22U's native pairing will work with any BT device that adheres to BT standards.
Try uninstalling the nRF Connect app and see what happens.
The only other Bluetooth devices I have are other in-house hardware, running on SiliconLabs BGM13P chips or NRF52840 chips...
The NRF app isn't a replacement for your bluetooth pairing app, its a debugging app... it can connect to BLE devices and show their GATT profiles, update devices that have Nordic's OTA update code and copy a devices GATT profile to act as a BLE Server.
We use it for testing and debugging.
KindarConrath said:
The only other Bluetooth devices I have are other in-house hardware, running on SiliconLabs BGM13P chips or NRF52840 chips...
The NRF app isn't a replacement for your bluetooth pairing app, its a debugging app... it can connect to BLE devices and show their GATT profiles, update devices that have Nordic's OTA update code and copy a devices GATT profile to act as a BLE Server.
We use it for testing and debugging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. I recommend uninstalling nRF Connect anyway. If anything, to rule out the app. How old is your car and the Raspberry Pi? Even though BT 5.2 is backwards compatible, sometimes older BT devices won't work with newer devices. That doesn't account for the S Pen issue though.
I uninstalled nRF connect, and changed all the settings you both recommended. Exactly the same behaviour when I went to leave work. My car stereo would do music but not calls, then when I restarted my phone, it worked. Then when I got home, my S Pen would not connect to my phone, then I restarted my phone and it worked.
Its not a problem of not being compatible, its a problem of something stops working.
Please also note that these devices worked fine together in the past. I am concered that it is either a change made by an update or a Bluetooth chip that is faulty....
OP- Have you debloated at all and if so maybe you've removed something relevant that might be causing these issues?
No, stock image, no OS modification beyond the things that Samsung offers (GoodLock and Stock customisation)
I have our in-house apps for interacting with our equipment (over Bluetooth) installed, but #1 they shouldn't affect anything if they are not open and #2 they don't do this to ANY of our other test equipment.
I would just like to say, that I appreciate the assistance that you are all offering! I have used many forums over the years when looking for support on things and I rarely find a place that is more ready to try and help than XDA forums!
KindarConrath said:
I have been experiencing issues connecting to devices over Bluetooth. Sometimes it just works, other times it doesn't work at all, and some times it kinda works but not right.
All of these issues are resolved by restarting the phone, but that isn't a solution because the issue comes back.
3 Devices I have been having issues with
1. S Pen - Sometimes it won't connect to the phone, I get an "S-Pen Missing" message and it will not connect. If I t ry to connect to it manually via nRF Connect (The Nordic Semiconductors Bluetooth App) it tells me that the BLE device has a GATT error. It happens semi-randomly but I can always make it happen by doing #2
2. Car Stereo - This is the weird one, it will connect and play music, but it will not do "calls" if I connect to Discord it won't recognise the car as a Bluetooth device it can route to.
3. Raspberry Pi - This one it appears it will connect to ONCE, and then after a disconnect it will not connect again.
Again, each of these can be fixed by restarting the device, but they happen again after a while. The pen & RPi use BLE, I don't know what the car uses for calls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen the issue of the spen disconnecting but only a couple of times and the issue worked itself out within a couple of minutes with me not having to do anything.
I've also have had a couple of wonky issues when connecting a new Samsung phone to my car. I've narrowed down my issue to the fact that when I transfer my data & settings via Samsung smart switch, it includes the details of my Bluetooth pairings. To fix it, I have to go in and delete my Bluetooth phone settings from the car and from my phone and re-pair them.
Rubby1025 said:
I've seen the issue of the spen disconnecting but only a couple of times and the issue worked itself out within a couple of minutes with me not having to do anything.
I've also have had a couple of wonky issues when connecting a new Samsung phone to my car. I've narrowed down my issue to the fact that when I transfer my data & settings via Samsung smart switch, it includes the details of my Bluetooth pairings. To fix it, I have to go in and delete my Bluetooth phone settings from the car and from my phone and re-pair them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As cool as I think Smart-Switch is as a program, I actually never use it when moving from one phone to another. The junk that Google drags with me from one phone to the next is already too much, I like to use a new device as a chance to do some housecleaning. So no old-data oddities here.
KindarConrath said:
I uninstalled nRF connect, and changed all the settings you both recommended. Exactly the same behaviour when I went to leave work. My car stereo would do music but not calls, then when I restarted my phone, it worked. Then when I got home, my S Pen would not connect to my phone, then I restarted my phone and it worked.
Its not a problem of not being compatible, its a problem of something stops working.
Please also note that these devices worked fine together in the past. I am concered that it is either a change made by an update or a Bluetooth chip that is faulty....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm.. Ok. You're probably right about the suspect causes. I know there is a code you can dial to get into diagnostic mode, I just don't know what it is.
The only other option you can try (as a last resort) is to factory reset it. If it is update caused, a factory reset MAY fix it. If you take it to a service center, send it in for repairs, or do a warranty replacement, they're going to factory reset it, or have you reset it.
have you tried running diagnostics in device care ?
or check with this dc
android
Bluetooth test*#*#232331#*#*
samsung
Bluetooth Test Mode*#232331#
I still haven't done a factory reset, but I continue to have the issue.
I have run the BT Test in device care, it always reports good.
I tried the codes, neither of them work as the first one is for vanilla android and the second is for older versions of Samsung firmware.
I've tried completely unpairing from the car radio and re-pairing, disconnecting and connecting from the other device to no avail.
KindarConrath said:
I still haven't done a factory reset, but I continue to have the issue.
I have run the BT Test in device care, it always reports good.
I tried the codes, neither of them work as the first one is for vanilla android and the second is for older versions of Samsung firmware.
I've tried completely unpairing from the car radio and re-pairing, disconnecting and connecting from the other device to no avail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not entirely sold on the idea that it is a hardware fault. It could be a hardware limitation; meaning you cannot connect to more than a certain number of devices simultaneously. I don't know how many BT devices you can connect to at once. I know at least two simultaneous connections (I've only had two simultaneous connections at a time).
You said you have other BT devices in your house other than those three your having issues with. How many are there? How many are you connected to at any given moment?
Is it possible that you have too many simultaneous connections?
When you try to connect to your car.. Did you check under BT connection (your vehicle) to make sure both audio and calls are checked..
doubledragon5 said:
When you try to connect to your car.. Did you check under BT connection (your vehicle) to make sure both audio and calls are checked..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and I've disconnected, reconnected and even unpaired and re-paired the phone to the car.
gernerttl said:
I'm not entirely sold on the idea that it is a hardware fault. It could be a hardware limitation; meaning you cannot connect to more than a certain number of devices simultaneously. I don't know how many BT devices you can connect to at once. I know at least two simultaneous connections (I've only had two simultaneous connections at a time).
You said you have other BT devices in your house other than those three your having issues with. How many are there? How many are you connected to at any given moment?
Is it possible that you have too many simultaneous connections?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless having multiple connections causes the BT to fail completely, no. Even after turning the car off and walking away, it still will not connect to the S Pen. The only BT devices I use with that phone regularly are:
S Pen, Car (Music & Calls)
At work I develop devices that use Bluetooth and I sometimes connect to them, but only ever one at a time.