Please could someone explain this to me (bluetooth/headphones)

[TequillaTakilla]

If you have noise cancelling head phones that work by bluetooth... how does this work please:

When you turn on your headphones and your smartphone, the smart phone "sees" the headphones and they show up under bluetooth devices as Sony/Bose/whatever. You click on pair and they then connect.

WHAT IF you are on an airplane and you are sitting next to someone with the same brand and model number headphones as you, and you both turn them on at the same time....

Presumably they will both show up as "Sony/Bose"... how you know (and your co-passenger know) which one is "your" headphone set to pair with?

Does your phone some how "know" which is the closest?

I've had this before with blue tooth devices. I remember trying to pair something with my phone in a room where everyone else seemed to have the same type of phone. I had to try pairing them with each one at a time until I got the request on my phone.

The only tips I have are to pair them for the first time with no other devices around and to change the device names to something you'll recognise.

Ah! Good plan. How do you change the device name on an iphone?

I've tapped on it but doesn't seem to offer that as an option.

Apparently you can't rename a bluetooth device without jailbreaking the phone. I've just checked with Apple support.

The device should have a unique id associated with it, so that when you look for it in your device list, you can identify it e.g. Bose HP 123 - just check what it is before you go to see what they are called and you'll know which one to select.

I think it's unlikely you'll have multiple identical devices all pairing up at the same time in the same place but in theory you should only be able to pair with your set, if you've paired before and the device recognises the Bluetooth item. Some devices ask for a passcode too - which will be in the instruction manual.

If you do manage to pair with someone else's device by accident then just break the connection and choose the other item that matches your device name. The other person should not be able to pair with your device without your device prompting you to accept so it should not be able to happen in reverse.

Each device has it's own unique address. You can sit in a room of people using the same model and be fine.

For pairing, they would show up on all the phones if people were looking, but in reality how often are you in a room of people pairing multiple devices? After pairing this isn't an issue anyway.

Also you should only have to pair the first time, your phone will remember the headphones and the headphones will remember the phone.

For pairing, they would show up on all the phones if people were looking, but in reality how often are you in a room of people pairing multiple devices?

These are Bose QC noise cancelling headphones and if you are in business class everyone has them! That was my concern.

Apparently (google tells me) it's a big issue in business meetings with a lot of people having the same keyboards.

Apparently you can't rename a bluetooth device without jailbreaking the phone. I've just checked with Apple support

Absolute nonsense. Every device I own has been given a name and I wouldn't have a clue how to jailbreak anything. When I got my new phone one of the first things it asked me was whether I wanted to give it a name.

We've got two pairs of identical Bluetooth headphones to go with two identical tablets for identical twins . We had this issue yesterday, I made one of them go in another room

Once these devices are paired with the phone initially they should appear on your connected devices list in Bluetooth settings. Since Mr random person on planes headphones have never been connected with your phone there should be no confusion.

DeathStare

Absolute nonsense. Every device I own has been given a name and I wouldn't have a clue how to jailbreak anything.

It's not absolute nonsense. I am talking about an iphone. This is what I was told today by iphone support. Apparently you can rename bluetooth devices if you pair them via a Mac but none-apple devices are likely to revert to their computer name if paired other than via the Mac.

When I got my new phone one of the first things it asked me was whether I wanted to give it a name.

The issue is NOT the name of the phone. The issue is the name of bluetooth devices like Bose headphones and speakers etc which are just named "Bose QC Headphones".

So if (say) everyone in your family has the same headphones (or a pile of people on a plane) the devices all show up named the same thing.

Since you are so confident it is "absolute nonsense" DeathStare, please walk me through exactly how when I access the bluetooth menu on my iphone, I can rename the Bose headphones to say "Tequila's headphones".

It's pretty annoying to use offensive language like "absolute nonsense" as if you are talking to an idiot, when in fact it is you who is completely wrong!!

Tequilla Takilla gosh you've suddenly got a lot of confidence that you know what you are doing!

I won't argue with you, what's the point you clearly know best.

Anyway I'm about to be very busy.... from where I'm sitting I can see nine blue tooth devices that I've changed the name of. I'd better get phoning their manufacturers to tell them that I've managed to do something that some person on the internet (who doesn't even know how to pair their own devices!) swears is impossible.

Oh and "absolute nonsense" is "offensive language"????

Just pair them before you get on the plane!

Is it possible that you don't understand what pairing is? You do it once, not every time you connect.

People around you are using bluetooth all the time - have you ever accidentally connected to a smart watch? A speaker? Someone's car? No, because that's not how it works. It's not new technology, it's actually pretty mature.

You can change names easily on android (obviously that makes no difference to any other device), so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Death assumed an iPhone could do it because it's fairly basic functionality. That's a flaw with Apple, not with Bose, not with Bluetooth.

LivingInMidnight I've done it on my I-pad too, but don't tell the OP - she'll just say I haven't and that I'm being offensive

Death oooh how? I have about 5 things all named 'Anker' and the model number on my iPad and have had to try and memorise model numbers!

(I possibly have too many speakers)