Google Pixel 7 Pro
June Wan/ZDNET
Bluetooth connections go both ways. You can connect your Android phone to third-party devices and you can connect third-party devices to your phone. That’s all fine and good and fairly simple. However, it can get a bit confusing when you have multiple Android phones in your house. Case in point, there are two people in my house, both of which have Pixel 7 Pro phones. So when I go to connect my phone to a device, that device might show two different Pixel 7 Pro phones. Which one do I choose?
This isn’t a deal-breaking issue. And even if you attempt to connect to the wrong phone, you can always start over and connect to the other. But wait…if both phones have the same Bluetooth name, how will you know which is “the other” phone? You might not know.
Let’s solve that simple problem, so you can simplify Bluetooth connectivity.
Requirements
The only thing you’ll need is an Android phone. It doesn’t matter what phone you use or which version of Android you are using. Unless you purchased your phone years ago, most likely you’re running at least version 10 or 11 of the OS, so the process should be the same or similar. I’ll demonstrate this on a Pixel 7 running Android 13.
Also: How to enable UWB on Android (and why you should)
Let’s rename our phone, shall we?
How to change the Android device Bluetooth name
Open your App Drawer, search for the Settings icon, and tap to launch the app.
From the Settings app, tap Connected Devices near the top.
Navigating to the Connected Devices settings option in Android 13.
Image: Jack Wallen
Within the Connected Devices page, tap Connection Preferences at the bottom.
You’ll find the Bluetooth name option in Connection Preferences.
Image: Jack Wallen
In the Connection Preferences page, tap Bluetooth at the top and then, in the resulting window, tap Device Name.
The default name of the Pixel 7 Pro.
Image: Jack Wallen
In the resulting popup, give your device a new name and tap Rename.
Renaming a Pixel 7 Pro.
Image: Jack Wallen
A bit of advice on renaming your phone
I tend to be a bit paranoid about my privacy. Because of that, I’m not about to give my phone my full name. Why? When you’re out in public you never know if someone is trying to hack your device via Bluetooth. Because of that, I’m not going to make it easier for someone to target me by giving my phone my name. Instead, I’ll give my phone some random name or a number to prevent anyone from knowing which phone belongs to me. I will know which phone the name belongs to but no one else will. I’ll even go so far as to change the name every now and then.
But that’s all there is to rename your Android phone for simpler Bluetooth connectivity. Use a bit of caution with this feature and it will serve you well.
Source: Networking - zdnet.com
