Is there anyway to disable the pairing message in iOS for a bluetooth device? The device I'm connecting to does not require any security and there is no pairing mechanism in place so having the message pop up is not needed. Any suggestions?
To confirm Paulw11's comment above a Pairing prompt will be displayed in iOS when a device is connected and any type of encryption is requested during the connection or encryption is required when writing to a characteristic.
If the user clicks "Cancel" the encryption will not be enabled for the connection, but the connection will not be terminated. If you click "Pair" encryption will be enabled and the connection will also persist.
There is no way to listen or interact with the pairing prompt via the base iOS configuration through the CoreBluetooth Framework. I've talked with Apple about this and done lots of digging. There may be a way to do this through the MFI program, but obviously we can't talk about that.
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I have written an apple watch app to try to communicate with a bluetooth peripheral which has implemented some custom encryption and pairing process I already managed to implement correctly.
The device seems not to conform to standards and as such does not indicate that it needs encryption through its chatacteristic properties. After going through the pairing I can write values to it and recieve notifications.
The problem is that when I disconnect and connect again I have to go through the pairing process again. Also I have noticed that after pairing via other apps the device does a long beep sound which seems missing when I pair it through my app.
Is there any way to force pairing/binding in CoreBluetooth?
I'm using Core Bluetooth framework in my iOS app to communicate securely with BT devices. In my product, server sends a pairing code that user has to enter in the text box in peripheral device’s alert to complete the pairing process. It's working good.
As server sends the code, without showing the pairing alert, can I by-pass the alert and handle the code that pairs the device without user's intervention.
No, if you are using encryption on any of your characteristics an attempt to read or write that characteristic will trigger the iOS pairing dialog.
Your app has no direct access to the pairing process as it happens outside of your app.
In my BLE app, the user story is like, bluetooth pairing should happen without the passcode confirmation step. As far as i have researched so far, it is possible in Android (like Android Bluetooth Pairing without User Enter Pin and Confirmation Using Android API)
Is it possible in iPhone?
Sadly, on iOS it is not possible to skip the pairing dialog. It is directly sent from the OS. It is a strict convention from apple that apps are not able to skip security processes.
Some additional information:
Dependent on the IOCapabilityResponse from the peripheral device on bluetooth level iOS will show you a dialog asking to pair or to confirm a pass code. If iOS will show you the dialog at all depends if the bondable flag is set in the IOCapabilityResponse from the peripheral.
There are three types of connection in BLE:
connection: pin not required, connection not secure
pair: pin could be requested or not, connection secured with short term key, a popup will be displayed
bond: pin could be requested or not, connection secured with long term
key, a popup will be displayed
All of these method are managed by BLE peripheral firmware, iOS only adapts its connection based on how the peripheral is configured
According to this document and this whitepaper, there are security measures designed to prevent passive eavesdropping a Bluetooth BLE connection. Is there a way to implement the secure connection between an iOS central manager and a peripheral device?
Specifically, I'm looking to implement "Just works association model". I want to know if it is possible with an iPhone.
For BLE connections, iOS supports "Just Works" and also "PIN" based pairing.
For Out-of-band (OOB) pairing, there is no public iOS API (albeit a private one that Apple uses itself for Handoff amongst other things, to seamlessly pair two Apple devices without user interaction.)
Note that both "Just Works" and "PIN" pairing is somewhat broken. If an eavesdropper were to listen in on the initial pairing process, it could brute force the exchanged keys easily.
iOS 8.2 added support for BT 4.2, which includes various improvements for BLE pairing and security in general. I haven't looked what parts iOS 8.2 supports though.
To kick off pairing:
an app that is using the peripheral needs to be in the foreground (this can be iOS' Settings)
after connecting,
send the "Slave Security Request" command from peripheral side (see the Bluetooth Specification),
or,
access a "protected" characteristic on a service implemented either by the peripheral or by the app -- this will make iOS automagically initiate the pairing process if the device was not yet bonded. This is what Apple recommends.
EDITED:
According to the table under Step 4 in this link, because your Central (smartphone) has both Keyboard and Display, the only way to perform Just Works pairing is if the sensor has no input and no output capabilities.
So, to do that, you must configure the sensor to send a Pairing Response with the IO Capabilities set to NoInputNoOutput.
That will force the Central (your iOS device) to perform Just Works pairing.
I am making an BLE based application.
As I know Bluetooth Pairing is handling ios internally.
Is there any possiblity to get access over bluetooth pairing request in ios . I am getting pairing request from external BLE Device but i am not able to know whether user is paired or cancelled.
Apps like TI SensorTag and Multitool apps are handling the pairing request when user clicks cancel then these apps disconnects the peripheral.
I am not getting any clue how they are handling the pairing.
Please help me in getting this solved.
Thanks
The BLE devices are more then likely handling the cancel on their side. When you click cancel through iOS it does not pair and does not enable encryption. At this point the BLE devices are probably issuing a disconnect because encryption has not been started.
The only time you will see that pairing message is when encryption is being requested.