Bluetooth Leash

About Bluetooth Leash Android App

Think of this app as cheap insurance against the loss of your small, valuable BT device!

Upon connection of a user-specified, non-LE, Bluetooth device this app begins to monitor the BT connection and, optionally, the signal strength of that connection. It can also optionally track the location where the device was last known to be connected.

When either the connection is lost or the signal strength drops below a user-specified threshold, this app will fire an alarm on your phone or tablet in an effort to prevent loss of the BT device. Should you fail to notice the alarm and wander far from the device, you can show its last known location on your default map program if you had the optional location tracking enabled.

After install, tap the app's icon and and complete necessary house keeping (including granting the required Storage and Location permissions (on Android 10+ you must also grant Draw Over Other Apps permission). You will then be prompted to provide the app's basic configuration. All of this can be changed at any time.

The major configuration options include:

(a) Choose BT Device - You must specify which of your paired non-LE BT devices you wish to "leash".

(b) Choose Alarm Elements - You must select at least one of the optional alarm elements to be executed whenever the alarm is fired. The alarm can speak, vibrate, and/or play a sound. One or more of these must be included. The alarm will always display an on-screen popup and this cannot be disabled. But since the popup cannot be seen when the screen is off or the device is locked, one other element is needed. To experience a sample lost connection alarm use the Test Alarm function. Use Choose Sounds to select different notification tones used in alarms.

(c) Set Signal Threshold - This app will always fire an alarm when your "leashed" device disconnects and BT is still turned on. But the distance required to disconnect may be further than you wish before being informed that you have left your "leashed" device behind. So, you may optionally set a signal strength threshold and permit the app to periodically monitor the power level of the radio signal to your "leashed" device. Signal strength is represented by a negative number so a stronger signal is less negative. A value of 0 will disable signal strength monitoring.

(d) Show Location - You may track the location of your "leashed" device when it is known to be connected. Location services must be enabled for this to work. Tracking cannot work until Location services has acquired a fix. Please be aware that when you disable location tracking, any last known location data is cleared. If your device gets lost, you can show its location on the default map app.

There are several other settings, options, and information pages. For example, you might want to look into (e) Show Battery Optimizations and (f) Show App Notification Settings. For advanced users, there is support for automation apps like Tasker.

For all details, please take the time to consult the app's Help. It is offered shortly after the first install or version update. You can also view it at any time later.

Testing has been performed on only a limited number of phones and with a limited number of leashed devices. So your mileage may vary. Please let me know your results.

NOTE: only a single BT device may be leashed at one time within this app. Look for the free, Bluetooth Leash2 app on Play Store to support a second simultaneously "leashed" BT device.

Please use the email address provided in the About dialog and on this page for support contact. I will try to resolve problems when I can. Please do NOT use the Play Store review mechanism to ask for assistance. It is too limited for this purpose.