Magic Battery 4+

Two earlier updates screwed it up, but it works perfectly now!

The problem described below in my earlier review was promptly remedied by the app developer, who was admirably communicative and responsive in addressing the problem. He fixed it within 24 hours and had the revised app up on the Apple site two days after I wrote to him about the problem. It works perfectly now. I highly recommend it and the app developer, Sascha Simon.

When first installed, it worked as advertised, perfectly, but, two updates ago, it stopped displaying the remaining battery power correctly on the top bar of the display, always reading “100%,” which is neither accuate nor useful. The correct reading can still be obtained by clicking on its little icon to activate the drop-down menu that contains a reading of remaining battery life that appears to be accurate. But that is now how it is supposed to work; it is supposed to show the accurate reading next to the little battery icon if you have selected the percentage reading option in the drop-down menu, as I have. The next update was installed today, but did not remedy this problem (its information stated that it was intended to remedy visibility in low-light display situations). So, I went from being intially very pleased to thinking it’s barely worth having if they do not fix this glitch. This review entered July 18, 2017.

Simple Utility: Does What It Says

I use iState Menus for detailed system information, but it only shows one BT accessory’s battery level at a time and you have to hover down to see others. This is a small, but annoying detail.

This simple app servies it’s purpose well. It can display a menubar icon with a dropdown for your Magic accesories, or it can display all three directly in the menubar. A quick glance away which is helpful on an iMac that uses all three. My only requestion would be able to view AirPod batteries when connected, but perhaps there is a limitation to this because other apps do not offer this either.

After the recent updates, it is always up-to-date and matches what iState Menus ($15) also reports.

Works, but not for all devices.

I have a pair of Anker SoundCore Space NC headphones (BlueTooth 4.2, which is, BLE at least in name). They properly register battery percentage when connected to my iPhone, but do not in the Bluetooth menu of my Mac nor with this app (they don't even show up as a Bluetooth device in this app, either when connected or not). I have "Show Bluetooth Low Energy Devices" checked in the Settings, yet this BLE device doesn't show up. They also do not show up in the "Audio Devices" section of the app (which is completely empty).

In addition, my Logitech mouse does not show up in the menu either. I am not sure which version of Bluetooth it is using, however.

That said, Airpods show up when connected, and the internal MacBook Pro battery also shows up. My phone shows up in the "BLE" section (labeled "Unknown" for some reason though), although i have to reconnect on startup by going through the app every time.

Developer Response ,

Hello,

thank your for your detailed review. The reason why some battery levels are shown on iOS and not macOS is because macOS uses an entirely different Bluetooth implementation. Even macOS only shows the battery level of the Apple devices in the Bluetooth menu - thats because not even macOS is able to read the values. I get a lot of emails that suggest that the app should support more devices - trust me, when I say that I have tried - it's just not possible. I would like you to send me an email (support@sascha-simon.com) so I can get into a little bit more detail and answer your other questions.

Regards,
Sascha