How to run ios app continuously in background with user's permission - ios

I'm developing one iOS application which is related with OBD2. The app provides feature like connecting with obd2 device and read out data.
With user's permission, I want to implement below feature even if app is not running at all :
Now I want to do When user enters car, connection to obd2 device is to be done automatically and check for some params if i gets failure on those data then i need to send data to cloud for analysis.
How can i know about user enter car ? I'm thinking one way like continuously checking the Wifi Availability to OBD2 device and if i get wifi available then i can say "user is nearer to car or in the car".
But again problem is that if app is not running in the background then how can trigger this kind of event.My app is not supporting any background mode like voip, audio, location, newstand etc..
Is there any other way like local notification or any other way by which i can trigger event that user has entered in car even if app is not running at all ?
Can Background mode like Receive updates from External Accessory mode or External Accessory framework support me in this feature implementation ?
Can i develop this feature in such way that Apple approves this feature ?
Any other feedback or suggestion will be appreciated !

Related

Know when entering and leaving car - IOS/ReactNative - Background task -

He We are doing an app that helps people people paying for there parking.
We need to know when they enter or leave the car.
Our Idea was : When you enter the car you connects to the bluetooth in the car and when you leave you disconnect - Is it possibly to get an event when the connect and disconnect happens - Even if app is not in front ?
Any one that has done this before?
This could be possible on cars that supports BLE together with iOS' Native Core Bluetooth Background Execution Modes. You'll be able to listen to connect and disconnect events even on background.
Note that enabling the background modes require App Review Approval before it get to the AppStore.

Syncing data over BLE via iOS without App Open (or in the background)

I'm working on a device that keeps count when a door is closed. What I'd like to do is when I walk through the door, my iPhone automatically syncs the data on the device and sends that count to the server (via iPhone) without me opening the app or having it in the background. Is this possible, if so how?
Here's a diagram of what I'm thinking:
Door closes -> BLE notifies iPhone -> BLE sends count to iPhone ->
iPhone sends that value to server
All without the user (me) touching my device or opening the installed iOS application.
Your app has to be running in the background to do something, but that is OK, because Core Bluetooth background mode will take care of that for you.
First, you need to select "Uses Bluetooth accessories" background mode in your project.
Now, your program flow will be something like this:
Your user runs your app which scans for available doors and displays them to the user
Your user selects a door that they want to connect to
You save the identifier of the selected peripheral somewhere like NSUserDefaults
You connect to the peripheral
Once you get a call to the didConnectPeripheral delegate method you can read the count and update your server once you get the value
The user can now suspend your app and do something else
Eventually the peripheral will go out of range and you will get a call to didDisconnectPeripheral. In this method you immediately re-issue the connect to the peripheral.
Since you have Core Bluetooth background mode, when the peripheral is eventually seen again you will get another call to didConnectPeripheral in the background, and you can proceed as per step 5 (In this case your app is already in the background so it will just go back to suspended state after you have read the data without the user doing anything).
You update the server in step 5. This step executes regardless of whether the app is in the foreground or background. The user doesn't need to open your app.
Now eventually iOS may remove your app from the suspended state, say due to memory pressure. In order to still be able to connect to the peripheral when it is seen you need to opt in to state restoration as described in the Core Bluetooth Programming Guide
If you are up for building your own circuit board and Bluetooth LE firmware, this is pretty straightforward:
Add a contact switch that sends a voltage level change to the circuit board whenever the door opens.
Increment a counter on the microcontroller when the level changes.
Write firmware that advertises an iBeacon packet with the counter as the least significant part of the iBeacon identifier (32 bit major and minor).
A phone can then pick up this counter by using CoreLocation APIs to both monitor for the beacon (for fast background wakeups) and range for it (to read the specific identifier), then sending the counter value to the server based on the identifier read.
The advantage of using CoreLocation instead of CoreBluetooth as #paulw11 suggests in his very good answer is faster background wakeups of the app, allowing an app to reliably read the counter in the background. With CoreBluetooth, this background wakeup can be much slower, and door open events are more likely to be missed.

iOS: communicating GPS position change to remote web service when app is running in background

I would like to implement a geofence based domotic activation system.
There are different ways to define a geofence (e.g.). What I am concerned about is how this will all come together (service activation).
I am thinking of the use case where the geofence is set up by the user via phone (say via the App I am developing). Once this is done then the data will be stored in a remote webservice. iOS app development guidelines says that you cannot have an app running in the background and here my doubts start..
The point of defining the geofence is to activate some domestic/domotic service once the user enters the geofence that he defined as house. However if the App is running on background how can I get the app to communicate the position to the web service?
I have found this tutorial on remote background data fetching.
Apple developer documentation mentions that you can get background location change updates and hence I assume I can have some code to perform certain actions within the app when I receive a location change call back (from the location manager service). If this is correct I am then wondering whether combining this step plus using remote posting of data may be a valid solution (this has to happen when the app is in background mode).
If not would you be able to suggest an alternative approach?
I believe that if you request notifications within a geo fence you app will be woken up to get the notification, you can use this notification to then request a background session, which can then be used to update your web service.

Opening an App (iPhone) via bluetooth low energy

Hello I do hope someone can help me with this question as i thought it would be easy at first!
I'm a studying EE student who is not that good with code but trying!
Let me tell you my goal at the end of this.....
I would like to be able to open an app on the iPhone and then execute a bit of code to send a message, all via Bluetooth.
I would like to be able to pair this small Bluetooth device to the iPhone only once and be able for it to be in sleep mode (500 nano amps :D awesome) and when I turn it on (via a small switch) it will open an app and send that message. (the app is already done, you just have to press a button on the app in order to send the message, that's why I would like to use a Bluetooth device so you don't have to have the app open at all times!)
Sorry for the long paragraph but I need help! I have the Bluegiga BLE113 dev kit and im overwhelmed with all the information they give you! But I don't see anywhere where I connect to the iPhone and do what I want to do.
Has anyone done this before, can you steer me in the right direction?
As long as the person downloading the app has previously opened the app and they've agreed to backgrounding capabilities, then yes you can send the message in the background (if already connected). However, you cannot force your app into the foreground on a non-jailbroken iOS device.
Check out the BLE Transfer App sample code to get you started.
I guess what you need is:
the periperal implements the peripheral role
the app implements the central role
the app is trying to connect to the peripheral continuously (connectPeripheral:options:)
the peripheral wakes up on trigger and the phone connection request completes
the peripheral signals to the central using a characteristic change notification
the app receives the notification and executes the business functionality of your desire
the peripheral goes to sleep again
the app receives the disconnect event and starts a connectPeripheral:options: immediately
the app should utilize the new restoration feature of Core Bluetooth (watch the WWDC 2013 session 703 video)
This is just an outline and you need to know lots of small things to get it right. I suggest you try to go ahead and implement piece by piece and if you get stuck, ask a new questions. As #tdevoy suggested, the BTLE Transfer App is a good starting point. The Heart Rate Monitor is also a good source of info (OSX API is the same as the iOS).

Launch my app from bluetooth iBeacon connection (Private API)

I am creating a private distribution app and I am wondering if it is possible, using any methods or private API's, to open my app when a bluetooth connection has been made.
What I have discovered so far is that with iOS 7 and the ability to use iBeacons you can enter into bluetooth proximity and you can have your app send a notification to allow the user to then open the app.
What I am hoping to do then is have the app running in the background and listen for an iBeacon connection and, if one has been made, actually launch the app without the users control instead of just sending a notification.
I realize this would never be allowed publically, however is there anything private I can look at to achieve this without jailbreaking? I know to launch some apps you can do [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:url]]; however I want my app to listen for an iBeacon and then open itself up.
Is there any way or work around to achieve this?
Moving app from background to foreground without user interaction is pain in the ass. Sorry, don't have a solution, just want to share some information:
I asked the same question here and posted a bounty on it and got no good response:
Show some UI from background in audio player or VOIP app on iOS
At some moment I found a solution with the help of another person. It was based on usage of GSEvent (sending clicks to UI). You can look following questions. However, as I know, in iOS 7 these API became protected by entitlement. So, this method is dead (most likely).
Using GraphicsServices.h/GSEvent as well as compiling CLI iPhone tools with Xcode
Use GSEvent to send touch event,but it's invalid.
Simulating System Wide Touch Events on iOS
iPhone, how to fire a button event in programmatically
Apps can use region monitoring to be notified when the user crosses geographic boundaries or when the user enters or exits the vicinity of a beacon. While a beacon is in range of the user’s device, apps can also monitor for the relative distance to the beacon.
In iOS, regions associated with your app are tracked at all times, including when your app is not running. If a region boundary is crossed while an app is not running, that app is relaunched into the background to handle the event. Similarly, if the app is suspended when the event occurs, it is woken up and given a short amount of time (around 10 seconds) to handle the event. When necessary, an app can request more background execution time.
For detailed info:
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/LocationAwarenessPG/RegionMonitoring/RegionMonitoring.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40009497-CH9-SW1
There are two scenarios: you either want users to be able to do something with your device other then use your app, or you want them to always be locked into your app.
In the former case you should trust user. Just show the push, timer or location notification and let them decide to launch the app or not.
In the latter case just lock the device using guided access mode.

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