Pairing JBL Flip 3 with iPhone

JBL Flip 3 wireless speaker, red version, showing its back and left end passive radiator.

This post demonstrates pairing JBL Flip 3 Bluetooth Speaker with iPhone iPad iPod iOS devices, including the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad Air line of Apple phones and tablets.

Pairing JBL Flip 3 with iPhone, Step by Step

First, with your JBL Flip 3 powered off (power button is dark), run through this routine to pair it to your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch iOS mobile device. Furthermore, we’re using an iPad Air tablet for this demo.

1. Navigate to the Home Screen on your iOS Device

Then press the Home button to reveal the mobile iOS device’s Home screen. Shown next.

2. Find the Settings App

We found ours on the second page of the iOS home screen on our iPad Air running iOS 11.4.1, as shown next.

iOS Home Screen with Settings app highlighted.

3. Bring up the Settings App

Tap the Settings app icon.

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

4. Go to Bluetooth Settings to Continue with Pairing JBL Flip 3 with iPhone

Our Bluetooth settings screen displays, similar to the following.

Note that our Bluetooth is enabled here. But since JBL Flip 3 speaker is currently powered OFF, it does not show up in the Bluetooth devices list. Also, we don’t see it since we’ve never paired our Flip 3 with the iPad Air before. See this as shown in this list of previously paired Bluetooth devices, shown next.

iOS 11 iPad Air, showing previously paired Bluetooth devices list. Note that there’s no JBL Flip 3 speaker now.

5. Turn On your JBL Flip 3 Bluetooth Speaker

Then. turn on the JBL Flip 3 by quickly pressing its Power button. See this circled in green, in the next picture.

JBL Flip 3 speaker, top view, showing power button highlighted. Speaker is OFF.

The speaker then powers up.

But since our iPad does not know about this speaker, the Flip 3 will not pair with it automatically. The light that comes on in the power switch denotes this not-paired state by glowing solid white, as shown next.

JBL Flip 3 portable Bluetooth speaker, top view, power button glowing white, highlighted. Speaker powered ON.

6. Put your JBL Bluetooth Speaker into Discovery Mode

Now, to see your JBL Flip 3 speaker on your iOS device, place the speaker into Bluetooth discovery mode. To do that, press and release the Bluetooth button, as shown in the next picture.

The Bluetooth pairing 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 white glow to flashing blue. See this next.

JBL Flip 3 battery powered Bluetooth speaker, showing its power button glowing blue.

7. Find your JBL Flip 3 on your iOS Device to Continue with Pairing JBL Flip 3 with iPhone

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

iOS tablet screenshot, showing its Bluetooth Settings screen, with the JBL Flip 3 speaker discovered and highlighted. Not connected.

8. Pair with your JBL Flip 3 Portable Speaker

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

Your iOS device then pairs with the Flip 3 (“Tom’s Flip 3” in this demo). The iOS device’s Bluetooth Settings screen then changes to look something like the following.

iOS tablet, showing its Bluetooth Settings screen, with the JBL Flip 3 speaker connected and highlighted.

9. Done with Pairing JBL Flip 3 with iPhone !

Finally, we have now successfully paired our JBL Flip 3 portable speaker with our iPad iOS device. Similar routines work with pairing iPod Touch players, iPad Pros, and any iPhones as well so long as they support Bluetooth.