i'm participating in the iPhone Developer Program and i have access to the iPhone 3.0 firmware and SDK.
one of the new features of the iPhone 3.0 -- is ability to use Bluetooth, but i can't find any documentation about it.
can someone point me please -- where is it?
The only way of using bluetooth directly is if you join the Made for iPod / Works With iPhone program and integrate the Apple authentication chip into your custom device. Once you've done that, you can use the ExternalAccessory framework which exposes a low-level IO stream API to the device.
Frameworks like Core Audio will let you play and record music via bluetooth headsets and the Gamekit framework will let you discover and talk to other devices via bluetooth, but the fact that it's bluetooth is not exposed to the developer at all.
Look at the GameKit API - it provides simple high level access to BlueTooth connections between devices (built on Apple's Bonjour discovery service).
If I recall correctly, you aren't allowed direct access to the Bluetooth, but rather, you are able to use certain API calls that will search for nearby devices. However, I'm not a developer currently, so I can't point you at any documentation. Perhaps someone else can back me up with a bit more information.
My iphone 3G & 4 will connect to my Sony BT1500 car head unit which was made well before iPhone existed (i.e it's not iPod signed).
Related
I want to detect the device without using GameKit framework, EAaccessory framework & core Bluetooth framework. Since the device which i want to discover doesn't have BLE.
Can it possible in iOS ?
You will need to be in control of your device, otherwise there is no way.
If you're controlling your other device, you can setup Bonjour on it. Beware this is not an easy walk - neither on the device's side nor on the iOS side.
The Apple docs (https://developer.apple.com/bonjour) don't help too much, but https://github.com/tolo/HHServices might help you get started with the iOS side. (It's designed for iOS to iOS over Bluetooth, but the code should also work with WiFi with minor modifications. It will not work with Non-MFI Bluetooth devices.) For the device side, you might want to have a look at http://jmdns.sourceforge.net.
I'm trying to determine what functionality I can add to a BT accessory by paying for the MFI authentication coprocessor. For example, could I...
A. Pass location data to the accessory?
B. Push incoming SMS messages to the accessory?
C. Launch my app on the phone from the accessory?
As Dennis mentioned, all information regarding the MFi program is covered under a VERY water tight NDA. However, what can be said is that all devices that connect to the iPad through Bluetooth or the docking connector port are accessed through the External Accessory framework. Documentation on the External Accessory framework is easily accessibly from Apple's documentation pages and can also be easily googled.
Communication with devices through the External Accessory framework is fairly simple once you've established a connection with a device. In short, the process is to find the desired connected accessory from an array of devices, establish a connection session and the session object contains a input and output stream. Data by creating a delegate that with the device and finally, monitor the associated input and output streams which you use to communicate with the device.
Again, the majority of the information associated with MFi is tightly sealed. However, as far as connecting to devices (that you have the right to connect to) is simple, well documented and is easily searchable since the framework is part of the standard, iOS library.
One other note on Bluetooth. There is also a Core Bluetooth framework that is available with iOS 5.0 and up. This is a much simpler framework that you can use to discover and auto pair with Bluetooth Low-Energy devices (which are part of the new Bluetooth 4.0 spec.)
If you are planning on making an iPad application or desire to have a fairly high level of backwards compatibility with earlier iOS devices, I wouldn't recommend using the new CoreBluetooth framework. The reason is because only the iPhone 4S and the soon to be released "New iPad" have the necessary Bluetooth chipset to connect with Bluetooth LE devices.
All Mfi information is under NDA.
It dosent cost anything to sign up and get access to the information , you can do it here.
https://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi/
I'm trying to figure out if an iPhone can connect to another non-iPhone device over wireless or Bluetooth and have seen conflicting information. Much of what I've found was before version 3.0 of the SDK came out, when it certainly wasn't possible. Looking at Stack Overflow questions, like Can the iPhone 3.0 SDK provide full access to Bluetooth devices (headsets)? mention you can't connect to an arbitrary device unless if it's part of the "Works for iPhone" device. Do I need hardware that is part of this program?
Looking through the Apple documentation, Peer-to-Peer Connectivity, it mentions connecting two iPhones, not an iPhone to another Bluetooth device. Then there are articles like iPhone SDK focus: Bluetooth enhancements that includes this quote
...and with the newly-announced "standard support" should allow file transfer between the iPhone and a computer, as well as between nearby iPhones
Another Stack Overflow question, GameKit in iPhone SDK 3.0, mentions Bonjour, and the Apple documentation for Bonjour talks about connecting to Bonjour devices, but can an iPhone connect to any Bonjour device? Does it have to have a Wi-Fi connection, or can it use Bluetooth?
Even if I could use Bluetooth to connect to another device, it won't be available on first generation iPhones and iTouches, I believe. Is that correct? I'm thinking of an iPhone application that would need to communicate with other non-iPhone devices in the area, probably using Bluetooth, but possibly a direct wireless connection. What are the possibilities and limitations of this approach? Is it not possible to have an iPhone connect to an arbitrary Bluetooth device? Does the other device have to be on a wireless Bonjour network that? I'm trying to figure out if it's even possible for this to work or if it's not worth the effort.
The only way to communicate with other Bluetooth devices via the External Accessory framework in iPhone OS 3.0 is if they are in the Made for iPod accessory program. Even though they communicate through standard Bluetooth connections, accessories need special hardware in order to process the data stream coming from the iPhone / iPod touch. Unfortunately, this means that your idea of communicating with generic Bluetooth devices won't work on iPhone OS 3.0.
If the devices you want to talk to are Bonjour-discoverable via Wi-Fi, they don't need to be part of the Made for iPod program. However, that doesn't sound like your case.
Third-party developers in the near future may produce dongles that connect through the 30-pin dock port and give access to existing Bluetooth devices. If these developers opened up their communication protocol, that might enable your goal of communicating with these devices.
You can use NSStream for opening IPv4/IPv6 sockets on the iPhone. The devices to which you're connecting do not have to be iPhones or use Wi-Fi necessarily. Because of how network communication protocols are laid out, you simply don't have to care what kind of device your iPhone is communicating with.
Bonjour, on the other hand, uses NSStream internally. It's basically a nifty little wrapper which allows for auto-discovery. You need the Bonjour protocol installed on all devices which you want to participate in the auto-discovery process. There is even an implementation for Windows.
As part of the iPhone OS 3.0 SDK, Apple announced the ability to control hardware accessories through either Bluetooth or the dock connector. The dock connector supports standard protocols (that is, play, pause, etc.) as well as any custom protocols the developer wants to implement.
As far as connecting via Bluetooth, you can talk to other iPhones or other devices. For example, you can use stereo Bluetooth to connect compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones, car kits, or other accessories.
As far as what devices support Bluetooth communication, everything except the first generation iPod Touch should be okay.
See also Apple's page on iPhone OS accessories.
we can connect by bluetooth only iPodtouch or iPhone using GKSession and GKPeerPickerController right ? , or can we connect other bluetooth device ?
Bluetooth communication using GameKit (GKPeerPickerController and GKSession) is limited to iPhoneOS devices.
You can also use the internet instead of bluetooth, but once again, you are still limited to iPhoneOS devices.
If you are interested in using External Accessories, I suggest you check out Apple's Documentation on the matter. Their documentation states that:
Accessories can be physically connected to the device through the 30-pin dock connector or wirelessly using Bluetooth.
This still will not enable you to play games between devices that aren't iPhoneOS, as you need the iPhoneOS, and it's GameKit framework on both ends. If you are interested in setting such a thing up, you will have to look into managing it manually.
I would strongly advise against using bluetooth, as it's buggy, slow, and has a short range. Peer to peer Wifi or LAN play will be your best bets. I suggest looking into using Bonjour of you're using LAN play. Here are two tutorials (one, two) on using Bonjour. Happy gaming!
the last i heard, bluetooth is 'crippled' on the iphone meaning you can only transfer data via bluetooth to another device with an Apple approved bluetooth chip in it. check out the apple docs for developing 'accessories'.
I'm new to developing applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. Is it possible to communicate directly between 2 devices in the same room by using WiFi or perhaps even BlueTooth on the iPhone?
I've seen a demo of a fire application where one iPhone "lights" other iPhone when they get close to each other. How is this accomplished?
The point of all this is that I am exploring the option of developing a game that you can play with another person in the same room.
The iPhone supports Bonjour based service discovery and several applications take advantage of this to do things like syncing with a PC on the same network. Explore the samples and guides in the iPhone SDK. WiTap and BonjourWeb are good examples to start with. NSNetServices and CFNetServices are the APIs you'll be dealing with for Bonjour
iPhone - iPhone communication can also be accomplished over bluetooth using GameKit.