Please read carefully
This explanation is longer than a normal FAQ, but it’s important.
It covers everything you need to know to make sure your Bliss® Smart Blinds using sun-based timers run reliably, automatically, and without interruptions.
Introduction
Sun-based timers automatically adjust your blinds to match local sunrise and sunset times.
To stay accurate, your blinds need to sync their internal clocks every day through the app using a Bluetooth® connection.
This background sync feature is designed to reduce manual work. It keeps your blinds automatically adjusted to the daily sunrise and sunset times, without needing to open the app or to sync each room manually.
This happens automatically in the background, but only when certain conditions are met.
Why is synchronisation needed?
Sunrise and sunset times change slightly every day, especially further north where it can shift by four to six minutes daily.
Daily synchronisation ensures your blinds keep following to the correct time schedule.
Bliss doesn’t use a dedicated hub, but instead your phone or tablet will act as a “hub” when the app is running in the background, updating your blinds with sun-based timers each day.
How the synchronisation works
The synchronisation happens at room level. Each room can include up to five blinds.
When a room syncs successfully, all blinds in that room (that have one or more sun-based timers) are updated at the same time.
You’ll see the latest sync time shown next to each room in the Timer sync page (under Settings). From this page, you can also perform a manual sync if needed.
About background updates
The app runs several sync attempts per day until it has tried to update all rooms containing blinds with sun-based timers.
The timing of these syncs is random and depends on Apple and Google system rules. Because of this, it limits how long and how often the app can run in the background.
If your phone or tablet is away from home during those times, the sync will fail because it’s out of Bluetooth range. For best reliability, we recommend using one or more phones or tablets that always stay in your home running the Bliss app in the background. This ensures a stable Bluetooth connection whenever the automatic background sync runs.
You won’t notice these updates — they run quietly in the background, without LED flashes, motor movement or beeps. This silent behaviour is supported by the latest firmware. Keeping your blinds up to date will avoid unnecessary feedback or interruptions.
Battery usage and background sync
Running the Bliss app in the background uses a small amount of power, but the effect is typically minimal:
- Bluetooth Low Energy uses very little power when idle.
- Syncs are short and happen only a few times per day.
- Battery drain is far lower than GPS, screen use or streaming.
Using an iPhone, each background session is short (often less than a minute). Android devices behave in a similar way, depending on system settings.
If you ever notice higher battery use, check Settings → Battery → Usage to see if the app is running unusually often.
Keep the app running
Do not force close the app. When the app stays active in the background, it can handle these syncs automatically.
Use a dedicated device and place centrally
The app will only update blinds within Bluetooth range.
- Keep your phone or tablet located centrally to all of your blinds.
- For best reliability, use one or more devices running the app in the background.
- Place them centrally in your home so they can connect with all your blinds.
Check your phone settings
Make sure the following are all turned on:
- Bluetooth – Needed for communication between the app and your blinds.
- Background App Refresh (or “Allow background activity”) – Allows the app to run brief sync sessions automatically.
- Location – Only required the first time you create a sun-based timer. It’s used to detect your time zone and daylight-saving schedule, so sunrise and sunset times are calculated correctly.
- Power saving mode - Avoid power-saving modes that could block the app from running in the background.
Manual syncing
You can sync a room manually at any time, even if it’s not needed. However, it’s best to use the manual sync option, only if the automatic background process keeps failing.
To do this, go to the Timer sync page, move within Bluetooth range, and press Sync for the room that failed.
Notifications for missed syncs
If a room hasn’t been synced for a while, you’ll receive a push notification. You can choose to be notified after 1 Day, 3 Days (default) or 1 Week.
Go to Profile > Notifications in the app to change this.
If a blind keeps failing to sync
If one or more blinds do not sync for several days, check the following:
- Bluetooth range – the blind might be too far from your device. Try moving the device closer or placing it more centrally.
- Battery level – low battery level in the motor can reduce Bluetooth range and cause failed updates.
- Permissions – make sure Bluetooth, Location, and Background App Refresh are still enabled.
- App status – do not swipe the app away from your recent apps list. Keep it open in the background.