How to Connect JBL Speaker to iPhone

Front right view of the JBL Xtreme 2 Bluetooth speaker.

This post shows how to connect JBL speaker to iPhone.

How to Connect JBL Speaker to iPhone: Step by Step

We’ll run this illustration with a JBL Flip 4. So, with the speaker OFF (power button is dark), run through this routine to connect it to your iPhone. We use an iPad Air tablet for this demo since we do not have an iPhone to get screenshots from. But the setup pages are about the same. So, the routine is virtually the same.

1. Bring Up the Home Screen on your iPhone

Firstly, press the Home button to reveal the iPhone’s Home screen.

2. Find the Settings App

We found ours on the second page of the iOS home screen as shown next.

iOS Home screen showing the -Settings- app.

3. Bring up the Settings App

Tap the Settings app icon.

The iPhone then displays the first page of its settings, as shown in the next step.

4. Go to the Bluetooth Settings Page to Continue with How to Connect JBL Speaker to iPhone

Our Bluetooth settings screen displays as follows. Note that our Bluetooth is running here. But since speaker is currently OFF, it does not appear in the devices list. Also, we don’t see it since we’ve never paired this speaker with this iOS device before. See this in this list of previously paired Bluetooth devices next.

The Bluetooth devices list. Note that there’s no JBL speaker.

5. Turn On your JBL Speaker

You turn on most JBL speakers by quickly pressing its Power button. See this circled in green for our example, in the next picture.

A JBL speaker turned OFF, showing the dark -Power- button.

The speaker then powers up.

But since the iPhone would not know about this speaker, the connecting will not happen automatically. The light that comes on in the power switch denotes this not-paired state by glowing solid white, as shown next.

The speaker powered ON, showing the glowing -Power- button.

6. Put your JBL Bluetooth Speaker into Pairing Mode

Then, to see your JBL speaker on your iPhone, place it into Bluetooth discovery mode (a.k.a. Pairing Mode). So to do that, press and release the Bluetooth button, as shown in the next picture.

The -Bluetooth- button.

When you press the Bluetooth Discovery Mode button, the speaker makes a repeating single pluck guitar note sound several times. Also, the Power button changes from a solid white glow to flashing blue. See this next.

The JBL speaker in Bluetooth discovery mode. Showing the -Power- button flashing blue.

7. Find your JBL Flip 4 on your Phone to Continue with How to Connect JBL Speaker to iPhone

See the screen shot next. We found our speaker, as pointed at by the purple arrow.

Back to the -Bluetooth Settings- screen, now showing -Tom’s Flip 4- discovered but not paired yet.

8. Next, Connect with your JBL Speaker

Tap the listed speaker in the Other Devices section of the Bluetooth Devices list.

Your iPhone then pairs with the speaker (“Tom’s Flip 4” in this example). The iPhone’s Bluetooth Settings screen then changes to look something like the following.

The JBL speaker -Tom’s Flip 4- now connected.