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Bluetooth presence (auto-arm)

Bluetooth presence lets MacWatcher arm itself when your phone or watch goes out of range, and disarm when you come back — hands-free away-mode.

  1. Pair the Bluetooth device (your iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods, etc.) with your Mac.
  2. Open Settings → Detectors → Bluetooth presence and choose the device.
  3. Set the signal threshold — how weak the Bluetooth signal must get before MacWatcher considers you “away”. The default (-75 dBm) suits most rooms; make it less negative (e.g. -60) to trigger when you’re closer, more negative (e.g. -85) to require you to be further away.
  • When your device’s signal drops below the threshold → MacWatcher arms.
  • When it comes back above → MacWatcher disarms.

Pair this with capture triggers (USB, wake, power) so that walking away automatically starts watching, and returning stops it.

  • Signal strength varies with walls and interference; test your threshold by walking away and watching the menubar state.
  • A wearable you always carry (watch/phone) is the most reliable presence beacon.