CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iosbluetoothbluetooth-lowenergy
huggie
huggie

Reputation: 18237

iOS Bluetooth background mode

I wish to keep scanning for Bluetooth Devices and I want app to be alive in the background. Is it possible? It seems like if I have a connected Bluetooth device, and if there is data transfer, then the app stays awake in the background. However, if I am just scanning in the background, it seems like even if I have Uses Bluetooth LE accessories checked(bluetooth-central in plist), the app ends up not running.

Is there a way to keep the app alive and continuous scan for devices when it is in the background?

Upvotes: 13

Views: 23968

Answers (2)

inigo333
inigo333

Reputation: 3396

From CBCentralManager:

/**
 *  @method scanForPeripheralsWithServices:options:
 *
 *  @param serviceUUIDs A list of <code>CBUUID</code> objects representing the service(s) to scan for.
 *  @param options      An optional dictionary specifying options for the scan.
 *
 *  @discussion         Starts scanning for peripherals that are advertising any of the services listed in <i>serviceUUIDs</i>. Although strongly discouraged,
 *                      if <i>serviceUUIDs</i> is <i>nil</i> all discovered peripherals will be returned. If the central is already scanning with different
 *                      <i>serviceUUIDs</i> or <i>options</i>, the provided parameters will replace them.
 *                      Applications that have specified the <code>bluetooth-central</code> background mode are allowed to scan while backgrounded, with two
 *                      caveats: the scan must specify one or more service types in <i>serviceUUIDs</i>, and the <code>CBCentralManagerScanOptionAllowDuplicatesKey</code>
 *                      scan option will be ignored.
 *
 *  @see                centralManager:didDiscoverPeripheral:advertisementData:RSSI:
 *  @seealso            CBCentralManagerScanOptionAllowDuplicatesKey
 *  @seealso            CBCentralManagerScanOptionSolicitedServiceUUIDsKey
 *
 */
open func scanForPeripherals(withServices serviceUUIDs: [CBUUID]?, options: [String : Any]? = nil)

The important bit here is Applications that have specified the bluetooth-central background mode are allowed to scan while backgrounded, with two caveats (...)

@huggie, did you achieve anything?

Upvotes: 1

Dhruv Narayan Singh
Dhruv Narayan Singh

Reputation: 655

As per apple developer documentation technical Q&A.

Can I use an iOS device to issue iBeacon advertisements while my app is in the background? Answer: No. For an iOS device to issue iBeacon advertisements, the app requesting this functionality must be frontmost, with the screen turned on and the device unlocked.

Reference - https://developer.apple.com/ibeacon/Getting-Started-with-iBeacon.pdf

I found this article which provides some details to connect BLE in background for some specific case. https://medium.com/@cbartel/ios-scan-and-connect-to-a-ble-peripheral-in-the-background-731f960d520d

Upvotes: 1

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