Android connection problems

Bluetooth radio designs are selected by the specific Android phone/tablet manufacturer (not by Android/Google), so Bluetooth and Wifi radio performance varies dramatically across different Android devices.
Because Avi-on relies on the quality of the phone’s radio and antenna, the quality of the phone or tablet directly impacts the performance of Avi-on compatible products.

The quality of the phone radio impacts your Avi-on products because we support much longer range communications than conventional Bluetooth applications. Historically, Android was a little slow to embrace Bluetooth Smart (BLE), and some phone manufacturers have done a better job supporting the technology than others.

Avi-on tests our releases with literally dozens of phone models, but not all work as well as we would like. Compatibility issues we have found include the following items. 

• Reduced radio range due to poor antenna design (Samsung 6 Tablet), or case designs that interfere with the radio antenna (HTC Sense)
• Wifi drivers that do not perform well with BLE (Many Samsung, HTC, some Motorola)

We are currently working on a number of improvements that we are hopeful will help address many of these issues.

If your phone is having trouble connecting to Avi-on compatible devices, here are a couple of things you can try.

1. Be sure you are nearby the device you are trying to connect to.  When you first try to connect to it, send the app to background and foreground first and let it reconnect.  This will make sure you are talking to the device closest to you.
2. As soon as you start experiencing problems cycle the airplane mode or reboot your phone.  This can reset the Bluetooth radio and help improve communications.
3. Place the phone on a table instead of in your hand when using the Avi-on app. (might help with radio interference caused by your hand.  See: Death Grip Issue)
4. If you are able to get your device set up, but find it hard to use every day, you can purchase an Avi-on battery switch to control the lights.  Once set up, you will not need to use your phone at all, and the switch will not experience range or connection problems.
5. To validate if it is the phone, try using a different smartphone or tablet to connect to your Avi-on Account. Just download the app, and login with the SAME username and password that you used on your Android device. Learn about sparse networks here.

Update your Avi-on app right away whenever there is a new release notice on your phone, we frequently issue improvements.

Here is another article with additional information about Device Compatibility.