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iosbluetoothbluetooth-lowenergyios-bluetooth
Brejuro
Brejuro

Reputation: 3541

Does Bluetooth Low Energy devices still not show under iOS Bluetooth settings (My Devices)?

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?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 5502

Answers (2)

Nipo
Nipo

Reputation: 2927

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.

Upvotes: 1

vookimedlo
vookimedlo

Reputation: 1378

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.

Upvotes: 4

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