Aim
I want to pass data from iOS device to a PC using Bluetooth. The data should look as a keyboard input to the desktop. I have been doing some background research about the same and thought of using any HID keyboard emulator dongle. One can pass the data over using the Bluetooth and the dongle will show it as keyboard input to the PC.
Outcome of some related research:
Initially I tried to pair an ios device with a windows PC directly. I was unsuccessful. After some research and reading many questions, it turns out that an ios device can only be paired with a MFI( Made for ipad/ipod/iphone) compliant device/accessory, i.e those which have signed NDA with Apple and have joined the MFI program. It can also ofcourse be paired with a Mac.
Question:
With the release of Bluetooth 4.0, it seems that this restriction
can be overcome and it can be paired with any device compliant with
BLE 4.0. Is it so?
If one can use a Bluetooth to HID keyboard emulator dongle using BLE 4.0, is it possible to pair an iOS device which support BLE 4.0 with it and how?
Has anyone tried any particular HID keyboard emulator dongle supporting
BLE 4.0? If yes then any preferences. I came across Bluegiga USB Dongle but not sure if it will solve the purpose.
I would be thankful for your input.
Even with a Bluetooth 4.0-compliant device, communication via standard ("high energy") Bluetooth with an iOS device is still only allowed with MFi-compliant devices. Bluetooth Low Energy communication with iOS devices is the part that's now completely open and unrestricted by Apple. If you wish to send data to another computing device (Windows, Mac, Android, etc.), Bluetooth LE is what you're going to need (short of someone reverse-engineering the Bonjour over Bluetooth PAN connections).
As of iOS 6.0, iOS devices can make themselves look like Bluetooth LE peripherals, so desktop computers set up as Bluetooth LE central devices can connect to them. You could put together your own profile for communication, since you'd control the iOS and Windows sides of things, or you could make your iOS device mimic a standard keyboard, heart rate sensor, etc.
As far as compatible dongles, the answers to this question list several Bluetooth LE dongles that are known to work with Core Bluetooth on the Mac. The CSR ones seem to be the most frequently cited there and among other people I've talked to. I can't speak for Windows support, but I'd assume there would be driver support there, and I hear Windows 8.1 expands support for Bluetooth LE.
I do have the BLED112 (the Bluegiga USB dongle), and that shows up as a comm port when its drivers are installed. You might talk to that in a slightly different way than you would one of these other Bluetooth LE dongles. I know Bluegiga uses it on the Windows side to capture a little more data than I think you'd normally get from one of these other dongles. The other dongles might present a more universal interface for interacting with Bluetooth LE on the Windows side.
Related
I've got an existing PCL Xamarin forms app which works great. New requirement is to connect a Biocontrol Hhr3000 scanner via Bluetooth to the .ios version of my project. Workflow is, i first connect and pair the scanner to my iPhone over Bluetooth. I need a non LE (low energy) Bluetooth library which i can use to work with this. All i can find on the internet is all examples of LE Bluetooth so as it stands i cant get the iPhone to pick up the scanner via normal Bluetooth pairing.
Please point me in the right direction. I'm looking for an ios implementation thats simple like this one for android: https://acaliaro.wordpress.com/2017/02/07/connect-a-barcode-reader-to-a-xamarin-forms-app-via-bluetooth/
If the device is Mfi Certified by Apple, then you can use the External Accessory Framework to interact with the bluetooth device. If you can pair it, I have to assume it is Mfi Certified.
I have a idea that requires connecting an ios device to a Raspberry Pi without the end user having to do anything special. The device will not be connected to an existing wifi network so BT or wifi hotspot seem to be my only options, BT preferred.
I'm aware that Apple does require some sort of BT hardware approval which I wont have I'll be using generic BT hardware. Once a connection is established I then want to be able to request data or call API's running on the Raspberry PI.
Does any of this sound achievable and are there any links that may help.
There are two flavours of Bluetooth: the so-called Bluetooth Classic, and the newer Bluetooth Low Energy (also called Smart Bluetooth or Bluetooth 4.0, though this is actually incorrect as BT 4.0 includes both Classic and Low Energy).
On iOS, Bluetooth Classic devices do indeed need to go through specific processes (MFi), or use an existing BT protocol supported by iOS to be used.
However, you can connect to any Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device, without any need for MFi, approval, or support by iOS. This is done though the Core Bluetooth framework.
As long as Bluetooth is enable in the iDevice, you can connect to a BLE device without any user interaction (though UX usually dictates doing so, so a user can actually select a specific device if there are many "matching" devices in range).
Environment
Windows Desktop
iOS8.* USB Connected to the Desktop machine
libmibiledevice
C++
Use-case
Desktop to programatically Simulate an iOS HID keyboard.
With Android this can be achieved using the AOA2 protocol, Does an equivalent exist for iOS? ( one that doesn't req HW implementation or re-packaging/hacking )
Your best bet is to not go down the USB path but rather use Bluetooth as iOS devices have support for pairing Bluetooth keyboards with them. Any "real" Bluetooth keyboard can be paired with an iOS device, so assuming you can get another system to simulate a Bluetooth keyboard, you should be able to get it to pair with your iOS device.
A quick search turned up this question which might be of interest to you:
Is it possible to make a computer behave as a bluetooth HID device?
I have a specific requirement to communicate an iOS device with a wifi/bluetooth enabled device. At this moment, I'm confused with some points and requires an expert advice.
Can I use adhoc wifi method for communicating? but in this case, can I connect to another network? On my research, I found no so I'm opting for Bluetooth.
If I go in bluetooth communication,
Do the device need MFI licensing or can we use classic bluetooth?
From few blogs I found out that Bluetooth low enrgy devices with 4.0 can be used to communicate with ios without licensing. Will this work?
PS: My requirement is to send strings of data to and fro from the ios and other wifi/bluettoth enabled devices.
An iOS device can only be connected to a single Wi Fi network at a time, so an Ad-hoc network connection probably won't work for you.
If you join the MFi program you can use the Wireless Accessory Configuration (WAC) feature to simply the process of connecting your device to the user's existing network.
If you use Bluetooth Low Energy/Bluetooth Smart/Bluetooth 4.0 then you don't need to go through the MFi program, but you are limited to iPhone 4S and later and iPad 3 and later. If you use "classic Bluetooth" (Say Bluetooth 2.1 Serial Port Protocol) then it will work with all devices but you need to go through MFi.
Bluetooth Low Energy isn't great for high data volumes (say video streaming) but is fine for smaller amounts of data (you talk about "strings" so it will probably be suitable for you).
The other advantage of BLE is that it is independent of the iOS device's Internet connection so the user can cary the BLE device around and maintain communication regardless of their WiFi connection.
I'd really like to start testing my iOS apps Bluetooth capabilities, but have run into a few problems:
I have a device made with a RN-42 module, but it's not the Apple version and I don't have the Apple authentication module at the moment (I ordered it, but shipping from China can take a while). I know what the messages will look like, but can't send them to my iPhone!
I can use the module with my Macbook, but not in the iOS simulator! Apple has taken down all of the documentation related to getting the iOS < 7.0 to use a separate bluetooth dongle, and my efforts have left my 6.1 simulator endlessly spinning on the bluetooth screen.
I'm new to using Bluetooth, so this may be a dumb question...
Is there a way of getting a bluetooth client device (I have a Mac, another iPhone, and an Android tab) to act as a server module that can send (and receive) Bluetooth data to my iPhone?
Client/Server as per developer.bluetooth.org
Thanks!
Not 100% sure your meaning of "server module". But in CoreBluetooth, you can use CBPeripheralManager to broadcast data to other iOS or Mac apps.
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/CoreBluetooth/Reference/CBPeripheralManager_Class/Reference/CBPeripheralManager.html
If you're using standard Bluetooth (i.e. not Bluetooth LE or Bluetooth Smart or whatever you want to call it), you'll need to enroll in the MFI program or work with an MFI certified device (such as a Redpark cable) and use the External Accessories library provided by Apple. If you're using Bluetooth LE, you can use the Core Bluetooth library provided by Apple. If you fall into neither of those cases, sorry, you can't use Bluetooth on iOS.