Wi-Fi Aware between iOS 26 and Android device

Question

Created Jun ’25

Replies 18

Boosts 0

Participants 5

Eager to see the Wi-Fi Aware communication between iPhone (iOS 26) and an Android device, I tried iOS 26 beta on my iPhone16. and tried below code snippet from provided example at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/wifiaware/building-peer-to-peer-apps. Idea is to first verify discovery of Android WiFiAware service on iOS.



extension WAPublishableService {
    public static var simulationService: WAPublishableService {
        allServices[simulationServiceName]!
    }
}


extension WASubscribableService {
    public static var simulationService: WASubscribableService {
        allServices[simulationServiceName]!
    }
}

struct ContentView: View {
    @State private var showingDevicePicker = false
    @State private var pairedDevices: [WAPairedDevice] = [] // To hold discovered/paired devices

    var body: some View {
        VStack {
            Button("Discover Devices") {
                showingDevicePicker = true // Trigger the device picker presentation
            }
            .sheet(isPresented: $showingDevicePicker) {
                DevicePicker(.wifiAware(.connecting(to: .selected([]), from: .simulationService))) { endpoint in
                    print("Paired Endpoint: \(endpoint)")
                } label: {
                    Image(systemName: "plus")
                    Text("Add Device")
                } fallback: {
                    Image(systemName: "xmark.circle")
                    Text("Unavailable")
                }
            }

            List(pairedDevices) { device in
                Text(device.name ?? "Unknown Device")
            }
        }
    }
}

With suggested entitlement of WiFiAware and info.plist of service info.

Then I had Android device with WIFiAware service publishing service (service name set '_sat-simulation._udp') from this app https://github.com/anagramrice/NAN.

But above iOS app is unable to find the service published from android device.

Am I missing something?

Note: the above Android-NAN app seems to be working fine between Android to Another Android.

Answered by DTS Engineer in 846374022

Please go to Developer > Accessories and download Accessory Design Guidelines for Apple Devices. It was updated during WWDC to include a Wi-Fi Aware chapter. Wi-Fi Aware is a complex and rapidly evolving standard, and that chapter has detailed info on the aspects of the standard that ensure compatibility.

Now, I’m not an expert on the Wi-Fi Aware (NAN) protocol, and I’m certainly not up to speed with the latest news on Android devices, but my understanding is that it’s rare to find hardware and software combinations that follow all of those guidelines. If you’re having problems with this, I recommend that you discuss these guidelines with your hardware and platform vendors.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

Boost

Answer 1

sengui OP

3w

@DTS Engineer @Bojie_Lv @liyang123 @pandarisearch After Apple-to-Apple pairing is completed, the paired device will be recorded in “Settings → Privacy & Security → Paired Devices”.

However, after Android-to-Apple pairing is completed, the device is not saved to this list.

Android device can be normally displayed on the Apple official Wi-Fi Aware Sample. However, the indicator is not green. During pairing, the Apple log shows: state: authenticated, and the Android side triggers the callback onPairingSetupSucceeded. During pairing verification, the Apple log shows: state: authenticated, and the Android side triggers the callback onPairingVerificationSucceed.

My iPhone is iPhone 13， iOS 26.0 （23A5287g）

0

Answer 2

sengui OP

2w

During the process of establishing a NAN data path between Android and Apple, why doesn’t Apple respond to the NDP response?

Our goal is to establish a Wi‑Fi Aware data path (NDP) between Apple and Android devices.

Apple will act as the Publisher, and Android will act as the Subscriber.

Apple-to-Android pairing has already been completed.

The Android device can be normally displayed on the Apple official Wi-Fi Aware Sample. However, the indicator is not green.

During pairing, the Apple log shows: state: authenticated, and the Android side triggers the callback onPairingSetupSucceeded.

During pairing verification, the Apple log shows: state: authenticated, and the Android side triggers the callback onPairingVerificationSucceed.

The Android side sends an NDP request to Apple (as shown in the figure 1), but Apple does not reply.

Figure 1.jpg

Note: Qualcomm’s NDI and NMI are different.

In addition, after Apple-to-Apple pairing is completed, the paired device will be recorded in “Settings → Privacy & Security → Paired Devices”.

However, after Android-to-Apple pairing is completed, the device is not saved to this list.

My iPhone model: iPhone 13, iOS 26.0 (23A5287g).

FB19683706

0

Answer 3

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

2w

For those following at home, sengui has their own thread with detailed info about the issue they’re seeing. If you’re curious about the state of their investigation, I recommend that you follow that thread.

sengui, There’s not much point posting your results to both this thread and your thread. I recommend that you pick one thread and focus your efforts there.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

0