on the old app I used to have the option of connecting a sensor via bluetooth or ANT+ as they appeared as separate devices. On the latest app I cant find a way of selecting between them.
I find ANT+ better in my environment (the dongle is on a long extension cable) how can I force it to connect over ANT+ as it seems to default to bluetooth ?
Both options should be visible in the Devices screen. Are you only seeing the BLE option in there?
the latest app combines both ant+ and bluetooth into one device - different from the old app. It defaults to bluetooth and you can’t select which you want…as far as I can tell.
I have noticed this as well. I would like it to connect via ANT+ by default and not bluetooth, and I can’t find a way to switch it
I haven’t upgraded yet, so not sure this would work, but try turning off the bluetooth and see if it defaults to ANT+. I’m interested in this as well. I haven’t upgraded to the new desktop app. My current set-up is similar with a long cord with an ANT+ dongle. This has been super solid for me and not looking to change it.
I too thought both options would be visible 
Perhaps remove/forget all devices. Then disable Bluetooth and connect everything via ANT+.
If you still need Bluetooth for audio or whatnot, enable it. It should not affect TR.
Just checked with support - this option has gone. It will connect Bluetooth if it sees it and will only fall back to ANT+ if it has problems (whatever that might be)
Obviously they want to simplify the pairing process …but at the expense of usability IMO
I though it would have been straightforward enough to add a preference somewhere.
if you disable bluetooth then obviously it will connect on ant+ but as soon as you switch it back on (to use the keyboard and mouse !) then it will reconnect
on PC you could just unplug the bluetooth dongle - not so straightforward on a mac
I run TR on a Mac… I wish I could select ANT+ vs Bluetooth as well. My current workaround is to shut BT off from the menu bar (I have the Bluetooth icon shown up there), but that only works when I remember.
and doesn’t work if you have bluetooth kb/mouse 
Mine are dual bluetooth/logitech dongle, so I just have 'em set to use the dongle. But yeah, if it’s straight bluetooth, it won’t work 
I may be way off here but can you connect the Bluetooth channel of the trainer to something else (a phone or Garmin) first so only ant is free.
That would probably work as well, though it’s a lot of workaround to deal with a situation where we used to just be able to select the “right” option directly in the app 
Agreed plus if the 2nd connection drops then TR is gonna grab the connection back.
Also won’t work for those devices (and there are a couple) that are able to pair over 2 BLE channels
Basically TR has decided it is going to decide what it thinks is best and use that - support tells me that it will even stitch mid ride if it decides to.
I’m guessing some people do TR at the same time as Zwift. For those on AppleTV this is potentially going to add another layer of complication if you boot up in the incorrect order.
Oh well, that’s progress
If I can’t select ANT+ I’m not going to upgrade. When I open on TR on my Mac the bluetooth Kickr selection is there, but it drops in and out quite frequently, so the solution per TR support was to connect using ANT+. Once I did and ran a USB cord close to the base of the Kickr I haven’t had any issues.
If you want to download a version of the app that will not ask you to update to the new verision, you can download our Legacy App using this link:
https://trainerroadcdn1.blob.core.windows.net/mac/releases/legacy/TrainerRoad_Legacy.pkg
That will allow you to stay on the previous version of the app indefinitely 
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Right now, only certain Wahoo devices that support ‘dual-band’ wireless protocols are subject to the Bluetooth prioritization. We made this decision because typically (by ‘typically’ I really mean ‘significantly’ - as far as the data show) Bluetooth is much more reliable when it comes to interference/dropouts.
That said, there are obviously cases where ANT+ may be more reliable (like the one described in the OP).
It’s got a little bit of weirdness as it is right now. If you pair via ANT+ then Bluetooth becomes available, a KICKR will swap to Bluetooth. It won’t swap back to ANT+ from Bluetooth, though. Right now this is “by design” because of some development roadblocks. Swapping device profiles isn’t as simple as it sounds, it seems.
This is going to go through some internal discussion. I can’t guarantee anything as of right now.
Note that dual-band is currently only on Mac and mobile apps. If you’re on Windows, the dual-band merging isn’t implemented. So you should still see both separate profiles with a Windows computer.
Thanks for the insight into the process. Put me down as a +1 for allowing manual selection, as I’m one for whom ANT+ is much more reliable.
Put me down as +1 obviously
Plus the new app also has the (acknowledged) bug that it doesn’t keep the pairing to wahoo (?) dual band devices on app restart so this decision has possibly caused as many problems as it has solved (although I’m not totally clear exactly what it has solved ?)
Anybody with a Mac who has bought an ANT+ dongle probably expects to be given the option. I understand you are looking to limit your support overhead but you can still give more tech savvy users the option.
Never had drops with ANT+ but now have to re-pair my cadence sensor everytime