How to control Bluetooth tethering in Android

Question

I have a custom app that needs to use a Bluetooth tethered connection but the "Use for internet access" in the Bluetooth setting for the connection keeps being switched off so I lose the internet connection. As the app only needs to connect every 30 mins or so for a few seconds to update, I can't afford to keep the connection alive (this is a battery powered device)

I've seen apps in the Play Store that allow you to setup auto connect but as this is a custom system, there is no access to the store so I need to include this capability in the app I am developing.

How do I do this from an Android application? Which permissions and system settings do I need to get access to do this from?

Answer 1

try this for Android 2.2

int USBTethering(boolean b) {
    try {
        ConnectivityManager cm = (ConnectivityManager) getSystemService(Context.CONNECTIVITY_SERVICE);
        Log.d(tag, "test enable usb tethering");
        Method[] wmMethods = cm.getClass().getDeclaredMethods();
        String str = "";
        if (b)
            str = "tether";
        else
            str = "untether";
        for (Method method : wmMethods) {
            Log.d("in usb tethering method",method.getName()+"<<nn>>");
            if (method.getName().equals(str)) {
                Log.d(tag, "gg==" + method.getName());
                Log.d("in if", " case matches "+method.getName()+"and str is "+str);
                try {
                    Integer code = (Integer) method.invoke(cm, "usb0");
                //  code = (Integer) method.invoke(cm, "setting TH");
                    Log.d(tag, "code===" + code);
                    return 1;
                } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
                    Log.d(tag, "eroor== gg " + e.toString());
                    e.printStackTrace();
                } catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
                    Log.d(tag, "eroor== gg " + e.toString());
                    e.printStackTrace();
                } catch (InvocationTargetException e) {
                    Log.d(tag, "eroor== gg " + e.toString());
                    e.printStackTrace();
                }
            }
        }
        return 0;

                   } catch (Exception e) {
        Log.e(tag, "" + e);
        return 0;
    }

}

for Android 4.0 device add following lines

method.setAccessible(true);

before you call

Integer code = (Integer) method.invoke(cm, "usb0");

The other thing is that the interface name (in your case "usb0" is also vendor-specific. The interface name is different on different devices from different manufacturers. Make sure that you've got the correct interface name for the device you are testing.