Is it possible to build an iOS App that can run in the background, with minimal battery consumption, and collect BLE advertisements payloads of specific devices? Does iOS prevent such apps to work in the background even when the user has given consent?
Yes it is possible to build such an app that can continuously scan in the background. Check Apple's Documentation on the subject:-
CoreBluetooth background processing for iOS apps
Also check the following links with more details on the subject:-
BLE device keep connect with iPhone when app terminates
Leveraging background Bluetooth for a great user experience
iOS background Bluetooth: BLE scanning when phone is locked
However, there are limitations to the speed of the scan and the data retrieved from the scan. See the links below for more info:-
Scan peripheral in background
iOS: scan and connect to a BLE peripheral in the background
Overcoming the iOS background Bluetooth limitations
Related
There is any API OR third party for BLE communication in iOS app background state ..?I tried “Uses Bluetooth LE accessories” ,”Background Processing”,”Background fetch” with these capabilities BL Scanning is working but Advertisement data packet decrease .In app foreground state advertisement data packet increase ..how can I get maximum quantity of advertisement data packets.? I am using service UUID for Scanning.
As Rob Napier said, scanning in the background state as aggressively as in the foreground state is impossible by design because the system has lower resources and is attempting to save power. This is detailed in Apple's Core Bluetooth Programming Guide:-
For iOS apps, it is crucial to know whether your app is running in the
foreground or the background. An app must behave differently in the
background than in the foreground, because system resources are more
limited on iOS devices.
Although you can perform many Bluetooth-related tasks while your app
is in the background, keep in mind that scanning for peripherals while
your app is in the background operates differently than when your app
is in the foreground. In particular, when your app is scanning for
device while in the background:
The CBCentralManagerScanOptionAllowDuplicatesKey scan option key is ignored, and multiple discoveries of an advertising peripheral are
coalesced into a single discovery event.
If all apps that are scanning for peripherals are in the background, the interval at which your central device scans for advertising
packets increases. As a result, it may take longer to discover an
advertising peripheral.
These changes help minimize radio usage and improve the battery life
on your iOS device.
You can find more information here:-
CoreBluetooth background processing for iOS apps
iOS BLE scan in background
iOS - Scan and connect to a BLE peripheral in the background
I trying to connect peripheral using UUID in the background, It's working only when i interact with advertising beacon first time at foreground then my app went background its working background and lock mode also if First time my app is away from advertising beacon i put my app at background then will come near to advertising beacon it's not working. in console, they came last peripheral not found as that error will come, my question is :
is this possible to scan or connect Bluetooth using UUID for the first time without the app opening?
i already tried that solutions also :
iOS BLE device paired while app is in background or killed or suspend
iOS: didDiscoverPeripheral not called in Background mode
didDiscoverPeripheral: not working sometimes on background
Not able to search my BLE Device which is providing service ID in scan Response iOS
Source file : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uVR_kA3NsQUpM-LLgrGgXCeZK6PBO-A7/view?usp=sharing
Found this question a bit interesting, so went about studying CoreBluetooth.
As per the Core bluetooth programming guide
Although you can perform many Bluetooth-related tasks while your app is in the background, keep in mind that scanning for peripherals while your app is in the background operates differently than when your app is in the foreground. In particular, when your app is scanning for device while in the background:
The CBCentralManagerScanOptionAllowDuplicatesKey scan option key is ignored, and multiple discoveries of an advertising peripheral are coalesced into a single discovery event.
If all apps that are scanning for peripherals are in the background, the interval at which your central device scans for advertising packets increases. As a result, it may take longer to discover an advertising peripheral.
Now in your provided sample the background modes are correctly provided.
iOS looks for advertising packets only in background [Passive] mode and not the response packets
Searching further bought me to this link
ios- Scan and connect to BLE peripheral in background
You can check and see if this too is the case with you
Is there any way to "wake-up" (relaunch) an iOS application (a background task actually, not to show the application) whenver a bluetooth device is connected?
For example, the iOS OS kills the application due to memory lack. Then a couple of hours later the user connects his bluetooth device. Can the iOS notify my application that the bluetooth device is connected and run a background task?
In Android I see that I can create a BroadcastReceiver that is registered for when a bluetooth device is connected. I need something equivalent to that for iOS.
If you have a pending connect for your BLE peripheral and you have specified BLE central background mode then yes, your app will be relaunched. You also need to implement state preservation and restoration as described in the Core Bluetooth programming guide in the event that your app is actually killed (not just in the background).
Note that in iOS a user cannot connect to a BLE peripheral directly - your app is responsible for identifying the target BLE peripheral and issuing the connect command. This is described in the programming guide.
I am trying to make an Application using iBeacon in which One device will work as beacon Broadcaster and another one as Receiver.I gone through the similar thing in Run iPhone as an iBeacon in the background but the solution that present there is not for API of iBeacon so i am asking this thing again.
I succeed in being notified on Detector Device(receiver) even the App is in Background or in Quit mode. but Whenever Broadcaster Device's App goes in Background it stops Broadcasting packets and become no more as beacon. When it comes back in Foreground it again works fine. So the issue is Broadcaster has to be always in Foreground to Act as Advertiser or Broadcaster.
Is there anyway to advertise/Broadcast packets of iBeacon's even when App is in background mode.
I have enabled capabilities "Location Update" and "Acts as a Bluetooth LE accessory" from xCode.
Unfortunately, it is simply not possible to advertise as an iBeacon in the background on iOS. For an explanation as to why, see here: Can we start iBeacon transmitter in background?
Apple doesn't authorize it, it would be a mean to track an user which is quite against Apple current policy to preserve users' privacy.
The capabilities "Acts as a Bluetooth LE accessory" is to enable your application to continue being used as a bluetooth device (with a connection) when the app go in background mode. Advertising isn't a connected usage of bluetooth and isn't concerned by this capabilities.
I would like do coding in ios with Bluetooth low energy(BLE). i wanting to show notification of new BLE device while app background. is possible do it? I bought BLE Device from sensor tag site.
Yes, it is possible both in central and peripheral mode. You should declare the necessary permissions in your Info.plist and then you can search for one specific service in the background with the standard method scanForPeripheralsWithServices:options: of CBCentralManager Start with reading the docs of Apple.