Let discovery accompany your day
Keep Bluetooth and discovery switched on when you put your phone away. Beside supports Bluetooth discovery in the background, and the settings below help your phone keep it available. Android and iOS manage when background activity runs.
Set up your Android phone
- Open Settings → Apps → Beside → Permissions. Allow Nearby devices or Bluetooth and the location access requested by Beside, including background access when prompted.
- In Beside’s app settings, open Battery or Background activity. Allow background activity and remove any battery restriction that is stopping Beside from running.
- If your phone has a sleeping-apps list, keep Beside out of it. Setting names vary by manufacturer.
- Open Beside again, confirm discovery is active and leave it running when you lock the screen. Reopen the app after force-stopping it.
Set up your iPhone
- Turn on Bluetooth in Settings and enable Beside under Settings → Privacy & Security → Bluetooth.
- Open Beside and enable discovery using the Beside logo.
- Lock your screen and let Beside stay in the background. If you deliberately close it from the app switcher, reopen it before your next outing.
Keep it ready for your next encounter
Leave discovery active between stops and on the way home. Our tests found very low daily battery use; the battery guide explains the results and how to check usage on your own phone.
If encounters appear only with the app open, work through your phone’s steps above, then use the nearby-discovery guide. On iPhone, Bluetooth background activity is managed by iOS; the Background App Refresh switch alone does not determine whether discovery runs.
If you want a break, tap the Beside logo to pause discovery and resume it when you are ready. Your earlier encounters stay in your history.
