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I am attempting to develop an android app on a Kindle Fire 7 device, but using the Google Nearby Connections API I've noticed certain Kindle devices are unable to connect to each other, whereas other are, and the ones that do so successfully seem to have a mobile hotspot icon in their top settings bar. I'm referring to the following icon:

This is the icon I'm referring to

I've found the connections work on devices with this icon, and fail on those without it, so I'm hypothesizing this may be the reason why. However, I have no idea how to turn on/off this hotspot feature, as when I go to settings on both the "successful" and "unsuccessful" devices, there is absolutely no option to turn this on or off. Additionally, none of the devices are equipped with a data plan, so I have no idea why a hotspot would be possible in the first place. I've been struggling with issues pertaining to this for a while, and would appreciate anyone's expertise on the matter.

edit: the error I'm getting from Google Nearby API is STATUS_BLUETOOTH_ERROR (though bluetooth is turned on for all devices).

Phantômaxx
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user313
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    You've mixed up cause and effect. Once devices successfully connect over Bluetooth, then they start upgrading to a Wifi Hotspot. So the only ones that show that symbol (the 'Wifi Hotspot' symbol) are the ones that didn't get BLUETOOTH_ERROR. We've bought a few Kindle Fires to try to experiment locally because we don't have enough information to understand why some continue to fail while others work. – Xlythe Nov 04 '18 at 18:31
  • ah I see. thank you for the explanation, that makes more sense. So, are you saying this is something specific to development on Kindle devices? Also- if you don't mind me asking- do you have any suggestions on how to go about implementing this functionality from here on out? Perhaps a different approach using the Nearby API, or maybe another google API that's similar – user313 Nov 04 '18 at 22:07
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    You can look through my post history to get some ideas for troubleshooting the Nearby API. There are some common things you can try (eg. toggle the BT radio, choose one advertiser and one discoverer, etc). If you're trying to connect all the devices to one device at the same time, try to give some backoff and let the earlier devices upgrade to Wifi first. – Xlythe Nov 05 '18 at 18:35
  • Does "toggling BT radio" mean the same thing as toggling bluetooth? and could you clarify what you mean by "try to give some backoff and let the earlier devices upgrade to Wifi first"? Sorry, I'm relatively new to this stuff, so I just want to make sure. I will also be sure to read through your post history. – user313 Nov 05 '18 at 23:47
  • Yup, turning Bluetooth on and off fixes some classes of bugs. And for the second question, I mean that if one device connects at 5:00pm, try to wait until 5:01pm to connect the second device. There's a lot of radio activity when devices connect, so by staggering out each connection, you can increase the success rate. – Xlythe Nov 06 '18 at 22:53

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