I am trying to develop a Bluetooth Fitness Watch (Bluetooth LE only) as a project of mine. I have created an application (for now we can call it FitX) that allows the user to connect to the watch, similar to the the Pebble Watch, and the object within this app is called fitXWatch (handles the connection and all of that).
However, I now wish to be able to reference this fitXWatch object in another test app so users would be able to integrate my watch into there respective apps. This is the same principal again as Pebble.
I know iOS in general is very sandboxed, but based on Pebble, it gives me hope it can be done.
So my question is this, How can I pass an object from one app to another app similar to Pebble?
Thanks!
According to Apple's Technical Q&A QA1657:
Q: I understand that the External Accessory framework in iOS 3.0 and later will allow my application to communicate with Bluetooth devices. So why doesn't my application see the Bluetooth accessory sitting next to my iPhone?
A: The External Accessory framework is designed to allow iOS applications to communicate only with hardware accessories that are developed under Apple's MFi licensee program. MFi compliant accessories can be implemented as wired devices, meaning they plug in to the Apple device's 30-pin or Lightning connector, or as wireless devices, whereby they use Bluetooth as the communication channel. Either way, an application that uses the External Accessory framework will not be notified of an accessory's presence unless the accessory identifies itself as being MFi compliant, i.e., it was specifically designed to interface with an iOS application.
First of all, are you sure you can't combine the two apps into one single app? Or, maybe convert APP A into a framework and include that framework in APP B?
There is no way to do what you ask locally. You will have to save your object to a file and then upload that file to a remote server. When APP B is opened, it should contact that server and download the file.
Related
I'm trying to set up a hobby project and I'm wondering - if my device uses Bluetooth Low Energy module, will this device show under the list of Bluetooth Devices under Settings for iOS? Or will my app have to search for this device specifically before connecting? If it doesn't show in the Settings, what type of Bluetooth module would I need for that?
No, you will not see your LE devices under Settings for iOS.
See LE best practices - your app should search for the LE device.
You only see the BT classic devices in that settings. However, only few protocols could be used without a required MFi chip, which is out of your scope for your Hobby project.
Use The CoreBluetooth on the iOS side for your app.
UPDATE per #Brejuro request in the comment below:
MFi coprocessor is required to be in your custom HW, which wants to communicate using the majority of profiles/protocols defined for Bluetooth Classic (not LE), e.g the pure RFCOMM. Coprocessor is used for the initial authentication - then, iOS knows that your custom HW is certified and allows to use it.
However, Apple will ask you for big money and your device needs to pass through Apple certification - that's why I told that this is out of the scope for any hobby project. You will also need to sign very restrictive NDA. However, you will get very very good documentation describing many details.
Built-in Bluetooth panel in iOS Settings app is actually a merge of two different things:
a list of known (paired) devices whatever the profile they use (so that you have a central place to unpair them),
a tool for discovering nearby devices to pair to.
Unpaired devices will only show in discovery list if they actually implement at least one profile that is recognized by core bluetooth services of iOS. Other devices are masked (user would not be able to do anything useful with them anyway).
If you hobby project is to do something related to built-in supported devices, like HID (keyboard, mouse, remote control, etc.), you will actually see them during discovery from Settings app.
If you create a device with a custom service, with your own Service Type UUID, it will not show in built-in panel, and your app will have to look for it for pairing. Once paired, device will show in settings.
Out of core services, you can also make compatible devices without being MFi. For instance, MIDI over BLE profile is such thing that gets recognized transparently by garageband and other music apps.
Using BLE and not BR/EDR, Authentication chip is only required for very specific profiles, like HomeKit.
I'm currently digging my through the nest of using Bluetooth in my iOS application and I find it quite hard to find the information I'm looking for.
Can I turn on Bluetooth from within my app or does the user have to do it manually?
Can I use the basic Bluetooth fetaures (such as Discovery, connecting and Sending Data) with other devices running Bluetooth < 4.0 (classic)
AFAIK CoreBluetooth Framework can only be used to communicate with devices running Bluetooth 4.0+. Which framework is used to communicate with Bluetooth < 4.0 devices?
Is it possible to use Bluetooth in such a way that Apple will reject my App on App Store? And which ways would that be?
Is there a difference between paired and unparied communication? Can one communicate with another device without being paried? Can pairing be initated from an app?
To give some Context to my question: I'm currently developing a part of a Home Automation Application where the App needs to communicate with an embedded device which does not yet have Wifi. It has not been decided which Bluetooth version will run on the embedded device. The same functionality will be implemented in an Android application.
Thankful for some input from some with Bluetooth experience for iOS.
you cannot turn on Bluetooth from your app. The user must do it using settings or the control center.
unless you device is MFi certified you can only communicate with Bluetooth Low Energy devices
the external accessory framework is used to communicate with MFi devices that use "classic" Bluetooth
I am not aware of any use of Core Bluetooth that will lead to app rejection. If your app supports an MFi accessory that isn't associated with your company then your app will be rejected.
you can initiate bonding (commonly known as pairing but it is actually different) by requiring encryption for an attribute. Once the bonding is complete there is no difference in how you transfer data, but the data will be encrypted over the air.
In reference to Dennis Mathews answer how do you specify Bluetooth Classic instead of LE on iOS? Is there a different api from Core Bluetooth Framework?
Joels there is a very clear way to use Bluetooth classic on iOS. It is with the External Accessory framework (it also includes direct hardware connections in addition to Bluetooth classic however).
You need to add the ExternalAccessory.framework and specify "App communicates with an accessory" in the required background modes inside your plist to get started. It should be noted however that with Bluetooth classic, the user must add your Bluetooth device from the System Bluetooth settings. It is only with Bluetooth LE that we are able to add devices from the app side.
Check out the docs on the External Accessory Framework
In response to your question regarding the MFi program, this should clarify:
I want to develop an iOS app that communicates with an MFi accessory. Do I need to join the MFi Program?
No. iOS app developers do not need to join the MFi Program. Everything app developers need is in the External Accessory Framework,
which is provided in the iOS SDK. To access the iOS SDK, please join
the iOS Developer Program: https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/.
If you'd like to learn more, consult the MFi FAQ
If your external accessory doesn't need high bandwidth in the connection to iOS, and you wish to use (or must use) 2.x/classic BT, (instead of 4.x/LE/Smart, which is very low bandwidth but requires no MFi dancing) you may be able to communicate by emulating a BT HID keyboard in your accessory.
It's hardly optimal, especially since the HID reverse channel is pretty limited (I think to things like lighting the caps lock key in the basic keyboard configuration (HID page 7 mapping, if I recall correctly.) OTOH, if your primary task is to push data to the iOS device, sending the data as keystrokes would not be too awful. (and might even be seen as virtue during testing :)
HID devices can declare additional capabilities in table defined keymaps, but I'm not sure if an iOS app can get at those alternate mappings with sanctioned APIs.
I'm trying to create some application that connects to blue tooth devices. A simple thing like a bluetooth barcode scanner that scans and sends a number to my app. I want to know which framework or something to be used in my app that can integrate the barcode scanner with my app. Is there any API or examples or tutorials etc that can help me implement such things?
Apple provides an API called the External Accessory framework, which can be used to interact with paired Bluetooth devices or devices connected through wired, Apple Connector at the base of the device.
However, to be able to use a paired device from within your application as you desire, you will have to a device that is designed to be compatible with iOS devices (meaning, the manufacturer must be a member of the Apple MFi program) and the device manufacturer must provide a protocol that you must add to your applications info.plist file.
If you have bought an off-the-shelf, Bluetooth barcode reader, there is a fair chance that you can not do what you are trying to do. If the device states that it can be integrated into custom iOS applications, consult the device manufacturer for further support regarding setting up your application to interact with their hardware.
I was wondering, if there is a way to use IPhone as an HID device, with some other device like PS3. I checked out the Bluetooth specification and IOS Devices do support HID Profile. So I thought it would be easy to pair my iPhone using passkey mechanism and should be able to start using my iPhone as keyboard or mouse without much hassle. But I found very soon that this assumption is naive and I need to develop custom solution.
I was initially thinking about using GameKit framework, but I think it only works between two compatible IOS Devices. If I want to extend this capability, then I have to use iPhone External Accessory API .In my analysis, I also found that iPhone will only communicate and pair with devices that are licensed by Apple. (Made for iPhone\iPod program). Does it mean that, if I want to use iPhone with another device, I need to get that device approved by Apple. ( Which will not surprise me one bit). Also if someone could point me to more detailed documentation on this, that will also be helpful.( What is an MFI developer board ??)
I do not want a solution that needs me to jailbreak an iPhone. (or any solution that will disqualify my app by Apple).
So to summarize:
1- Please validate my findings, correct them if they are wrong?
2a- How does External Accessory API Work?
b- Can I use this to connect to third party accessories ? (or is this only for accessory developers).
3- Or is there a better solution without using External Accessory API?
Please provide supportive documentation or link if you can. Thank You.
You are unlikely to get on the External accessory program from apple unless you are a big company ( you can try, but I have read this a number of places) . iPhones use a proprietary Bluetooth interface that and hardware must also implement this interface, so not much chance of getting it to connect to any other hardware directly.
Most apps like this (Remote Mouse) for example, connect to your wifi network, and have another application installed on your computer. The iphone can then talk to this application over the wi-fi network, but not bluetooth. I would suggest that the only way I can see this would be possible to to create the server app that you install on a computer on the wi-fi network that then in turn controls the 3rd party device if there is an API that you can use from the desktop app to control the 3rd party device.
This is just what I have found when I researched about this for making an app for iPhone to control a bluetooth watch. I had to jailbreak in the end to replace the bluetooth stack on the iPhone with one that could connect to any hardware device. Not limited by apple.