The app and your sharpener

An iPhone and a built sharpener

An iPhone with iOS 17 or later, and an AutoSharpener running firmware with Phone in its menu. The app controls a sharpener; it does nothing on its own. To build one, start at Build Your Own.

Scan the code on the display

1. On the sharpener, open Phone in the menu. It shows a QR code.
2. In the app, tap Scan Link Code and point the camera at it. The iPhone Camera app works too.
3. Allow Bluetooth when the app asks. The sharpener's display returns to the menu once linked.

Each sharpener has one linked phone

Linking a phone unlinks the one before it. To hand the sharpener to someone else, they link their phone the same way. Forget This Sharpener in the app's Settings removes the link from your phone; Unlink on the sharpener's Phone screen removes it from the sharpener.

The panel always wins

Everything the app does shows on the sharpener's display, and the knob still pauses and stops a run. If the phone loses the connection, a run carries on; stop it at the sharpener. Before homing, the app asks you to take chisels, blades and jigs out, as the panel does.

“Looking for the sharpener…” does not end

Check that the sharpener is switched on and that Bluetooth is on in Control Center. Bluetooth from the sharpener is short-range: stand within a few metres, with nothing metal between the phone and the machine.

“Open Phone in the machine's menu”

The sharpener no longer knows this phone: another phone was linked, or it was unlinked on the sharpener. Open Phone on the sharpener and scan its code again.

Bluetooth or the camera was refused

Open the iPhone's Settings › Apps › AutoSharpener and turn on Bluetooth or Camera. The app asks for them only to connect and to scan the link code; see Privacy.

The sharpener does not show in iPhone Settings

That is expected. The sharpener uses Bluetooth Low Energy, which the iPhone's Bluetooth settings do not list. Link it from the app.