Hi, i programmed an app the uses MultipeerConnectivity to connect iOS-Devices to exchange Video-Files from the camera (https://pellepepper.my.canva.site/jumpcontrol). In general the solution works fine but I have some challenges:
- The connection is pretty stable when there are only few other devices around. It seems to become more fragile when there are more other iOS-Devices in the area
- Testing of the App worked with several meters of distance (up to 10). In real environments of athletics venues the solution is only stable in a region of about 2 meters
- It seems that newer iOS-Releases make the connection more unstable. Last weekend we used it with iOS 18-Devices on older hardware, what worked fine. Integrating an iOS 26 device made trouble. Working on iPhone 13 with iOS 26 is hardly not usable.
What can I do to improve stability of the connection and therefore the App. What are the metrics to look for? Is there something I can do on the code base to make to connection more stable?
Many thx Rainer
My general advice is that you avoid Multipeer Connectivity. I explain why, and a lot more besides, in Moving from Multipeer Connectivity to Network Framework.
In real environments of athletics venues the solution is only stable in a region of about 2 meters
It sounds like you’re using it to access peer-to-peer Wi-Fi. I have three important notes on that front:
- Multipeer Connectivity is not the only way to access peer-to-peer Wi-Fi. I talk more about that in TN3151 Choosing the right networking API.
- If you just switch to Network framework, it might not actually help, because they use the same underlying Apple peer-to-peer Wi-Fi mechanism. OTOH, it might actually help because Network framework gives you great visibility into what’s happening on the ‘wire’ versus Multipeer Connectivity.
- We also have Wi-Fi Aware, which is a different peer-to-peer Wi-Fi mechanism. Note that Wi-Fi Aware is just there to set up the pairing, and you do the actual networking with Network framework.
So, I encourage you to explore these options. Specifically, construct some minimal prototypes and test them in real world conditions. That’ll let you verify that the change is beneficial before you invest a significant amount of work in a new networking layer.
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Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
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