Methods and systems for controlling a plurality of personal area network access devices are disclosed herein. In a personal area network device, a new connection is received from another personal area network device in a personal area network. The new connection is associated with a first application having a first role preference. It is determined whether the first role preference conflicts with a current role. It is determined whether the first role preference conflicts with a second role preference associated with a second application using the current role. The current role is switched to a role specified in the first role preference in response to determining that the first role preference conflicts with the current role and that the first role preference does not conflict with the second role preference.