iOS to FTDI Chip Communication - ios

I want to develop an iOS application which can send serial data from iPhone to FTDI chip-FT231X(vid: '0403', pid: '6015'). I have been looking for this solution for a while but couldn't find anything related to my problem. I am allowed to communicate to FTDI chip using USB or bluetooth. Also please let me know if there is any available device which I can buy to solve my problem.

The nearest solution I found so far is at here: https://www.raywenderlich.com/2295-arduino-tutorial-integrating-bluetooth-le-and-ios

Related

How to broadcast to multiple iOS devices via BLE from a non-iOS device?

I am currently trying to broadcast a message to multiple iOS/Android devices from an Arduino Mega (with HM10 module) or alternatively from a Raspberry Pi Zero W.
What I've learned so far:
BLE only supports one connection at a time
iOS does not support classic Bluetooth unless MFI certified (not an option)
iOS does not support Wi-Fi direct (would solve the multi-connect problem)
Using BLE advertisements would be an option but HM10 apparently does not support advertisements over 1 byte long (need approx. 20)
Also looked into creating a WPAN from the Pi (host) because apparently there is a way (which I have not yet found) to get this to work with iOS devices
There is a straightforward library for ESP32 (GitHub Repo), does anyone have experience with that?
So, in short: BLE only connects to one device, except for advertisements which are limited on HM10 and insanely complicated on the Raspberry Pi; Wi-Fi direct is not supported by iOS
The question: Has anyone solved this problem so far? If no, are there any suggestions on what could help?
Edit: #Emil's comment got me thinking about turning the Arduino/Pi into the client and thr phonrs into slaves. This would mean that multiple phones could connect. The only problem: how do phones 'actively' connect when they are in the peripheral role?
Thanks for your help in advance.

iOS certified or complaint Bluetooth (BLE) USB smart dongle

I'm looking for any apple/iOS certified USB BT smart dongle available in the market.
I was searching google for past few days but unsuccessful in finding the same
Can anybody let me know if anybody having any idea on the same?
I'm posting my own answer here, we have not found an iOS certified USB dongle.
But TI CC254XX series of BT dongles shall work for BLE and support the profiles.
HID is also supported, they have some examples in their package which shall make your life easy when developing any app
Hope this helps.

iOS - Bluetooth to serial device - Will it work?

I've been playing around with a bluetooth to serial device for a while now trying to get it to work with Android. I've got it communicating properly with Android and every thing seems to be working fine there.
Now I need to get it to work with iOS. It seems Apple is being all Apple like as always and only supporting certain interfaces. According to this document, only UART, USB, SPI, PCM, SPDIF, and SPP are supported with the device that I'm using. More information on the device can be found here.
I'm not really sure what any of those are other than USB and SPP, but I believe SPP doesn't work with iOS.
So my question is will this device work with iOS for bluetooth to serial communication?
Also, if this device won't work (which I'm assuming it won't), what are some good bluetooth to serial options? According to some of my research, I need an MFi certified device?
Upon further research it looks like Bluetooth LE is an option using devices like these with connectBlue Low Energy Serial Port Service:
http://www.u-blox.com/en/bluetooth-wifi-multiradio-modules/bluetooth-low-energy/ols425-olp425-modules.html
http://www.spezial.cz/pdf/RBS421-Product-Brief.pdf
I was able to get Bluetooth to serial working on iOS by using a Bluetooth Low Energy to serial device which uses the TruConnect service. I followed this guide to get everything working:
https://truconnect.ack.me/1.5/apps/communicating_via_ble#reading_from_a_truconnect_device_serial_interface
This is the device I ended up using:
https://serialio.com/product/bluetooth-serial-adapter/bluesnap-smart-bluetooth-40-rs232-adapter
We have been following this issue for some time and you are correct: the only way to get serial data from a device to your application is via an MFi certified device.
Previously answered here.

Does iOS 8.3 now support Wifi debugging?

I updated iOS on my phone to 8.3 and I saw this message popup on first boot, but I have not seen it since:
I have been searching all day for information and I can't find a single reference to this message or to Xcode supporting wifi debug.
I am using a macbook pro 2009 model, and I have read that this is not compatible with the new continuity features (as well as airdrop etc). I am wondering if this is part of the wifi debug (and also if BTLE is involved at all). Of course it is all speculation since I cannot find any documentation about this.
Has anybody used wifi debug, or can point me to any documentation?
No, the feature was disabled as it causes serious security flows, for example when debugging you can fake location for any app, access confidential data like your number, udid etc. WiFi can be used now only to sync using iTunes.
It's restricted to USB only. You would need to write a bridge between USB and WiFi. You could in theory connect iPhone to Raspberry Pi, use open source crossplatform libMobileDevice. And mirror all USB requests from your XCode to this device USB.

Serial or HID (usb) Communication in iOS (iPhone/iPad)

I want to get data from glucose meter devices by connecting into iPhone or iPad devices. I have different vendors glucose meters some uses simple HID interface for communicate and other uses serial communication.
These are the two possible ways of communication:
USB to 30-Pin connector.
3.5 jack to 30-Pin Connector.
USB or 3.5 jack will be connected to glucose meter and 30 pin connector will be attached with iDevice.
After having hours of research I did not find much help on internet for iOS specific.
I do find ORSSerialPort but I think it is for OS X apps only.
There is RedPark serial Cable but that is for RS232 to 30-Pin communication and secondly that can be only used in internal projects. I want to sell my application on Apple Store.
Someone also was discussing about using IOKit framework. We can communicate with iDevie but that is private framework.
Someone help me with this issue or let me know if that is even possible in iOS application.
Do Apple have any consideration on this type of working?
An iOS device can talk to external devices by following means of communications only:
Wifi
Bluetooth
GPRS &
GSM
USB (Don't exactly know what it is called)
There is no possible way to have RS232 serial port communication with iOS device.
Now What are the options left then?
Get a communication convertor in between your external device & iOS device. It can be
Serial to ethernet adapter
serial to USB adapter etc.
Embedd a wifi/bluetooth module in the external device (If it is being manufactured by you/your firm)
Have something with USB cable & mfi .(Never worked on this, but have seen stuff working with this). By something I meant, register your external device under MFI license & implement USB between devices (Again lack of clarity about USB stuff). Menwhile, I would appreciate edits on my answer by people who might improve it with USB stuff.
Update:
I visited the site of your vendor "glooko". I could not find any clue about them having any libraries for developers. So according to my opinion, they have kept their library private. They don't want you to develop apps based on their communication protocol. If you still need to develop apps for them, contact them here & let them know about your zeal.. M sure they will give you their private code. Anyhow, you don't need to register for any MFI or anything now. What you need is just the code they are using for communication & about that, nobody other than them can help you. So, all the best .. :)
Update 2:
What I understood from your updated question is, you want to create an iOS application that works with various Glucose meters, from different vendors. In a way you can call it as "universal Glucose meter app"
The short and straight answer for this is .."You Can't" . But wait, apple is not responsible for this. Neither it is impossible.
Let me tell you why. When you want your application to talk with a hardware device, there must be a communication channel between you too. You are well aware of those two options available. now, if your app must run on iDevices, the communication channel cables must be registered for mfi. Here that is also not the issue.
What is the issue then?
Different vendons don't generally follow the same communication protocols between their hardware & softwares. What happens if a german commander commands to indian soldier. Obviously, nobody will understand.
So, to achieve your objective, the only way is, you have to include SDK provided by each supported vendors in your app. Let me know if you are not yet clear..:)
There is a device called Lightning Serial Cable, the link is following.Take a look at their SDK.
http://redpark.com/lightning-serial-cable-l2-db9v/
It seems work with your application. I'm also looking for the solution that iOS device can talk to another device via serial port. In PC world, all PC has USB ports, so there is large amount of USB to serial port devices and vendors, such as FTDI and Prolific. I don't know if similar situation happens in iOS world.
Unless you join the Made For iPhone program you can not directly connect anything to an iOS device unless you use Bluetooth or TCP/IP.

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