How to app connect IoT Wi-Fi hotspot

Question

Created Jul ’17

Replies 4

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Participants 3

Hi,

Our solution is based on an external device that provide API through BLE and WI-FI. BLE is used to send command to configure and request device state, while Wi-Fi is used to upload/download large chunk of data that would take too much time using BLE due to bandwidth.

As of today the user process is to scan nearby IoT devices, connect to device, request if any available data, select data to download, switch from BLE to Wi-Fi for the device to act as a hotspot exposing it's SSID and wait for user phone to connect to the exposed SSID. Of course the mobile application knows the SSID / password to connect to the device so there is no need to scan nearby SSIDs.

There is no programmatic solution to connect to the device's hotspot SSID through public API like other mobile phone operating system.

Do you see any specific request we could do to obtain apple agreement for us to support this specific process ? Does the https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/documentation/NetworkExtension/Reference/NEHotspotHelperClassRef/index.html could help to achieve the described needs ?

Best regards,

Boost

Answer 1

Slide-R OP

Jul ’17

Any Apple engineer maybe ?

0

Answer 2

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

Jul ’17

First up, NEHotspotHelper is not designed for dealing with accessories.

Secondly, for some general background on the options available to you for currently shipping systems, see QA1942 iOS Wi-Fi Management APIs.

Finally, iOS 11 is expected to contain APIs to help with this. Check out the discussion of NEHotspotConfiguration in WWDC 2017 Session 707 Advances in Networking, Part 1. You should definitely give this a try on the current iOS 11 beta seed and file bugs about any roadblocks you encounter.

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Quinn “The Eskimo!”
Apple Developer Relations, Developer Technical Support, Core OS/Hardware

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Answer 3

arc-13-dev OP

Jan ’18

So after reading serveral different posts, forums and articles need a direct answer from Apple.

We are working on an IoT device for resturants. We would like to write a mobile app that scans for the IoT device thats not configured, would scan for SSID's and filter based off a naming convention. Connect to the Wifi of the device and send some configuration data, including a name and the wireless network settings it needs to connect to the network inside the location.

With that in mind, what approach should we use for the best user experience:

1. NEHotspotConfigurationManager

2. MiFi

3. Wireless Accessory Configuration (WAC)

4. HomeKit

If we went the approach with MiFi/HomeKit/WAC, what is the app approval process? Do we need to provide a physcial device to Apple?

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Answer 4

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

Jan ’18

With that in mind, what approach should we use for the best user experience:

That depends on your specific requirements. WAC is the best option IMO but it presupposed a specific usage model, namely that the iOS device is already connected to the infrastructure network that you want your accessory to connect to. Is that the case with your product?

If we went the approach with MiFi/HomeKit/WAC, what is the app approval process? Do we need to provide a physcial device to Apple?

There’s actually two approval processes here, one for the accessory and one for the app. I can’t speak to either. For the accessory side, you’ll need to talk to the MFi folks. For the app side, you’ll need to talk App Review.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!”
Apple Developer Relations, Developer Technical Support, Core OS/Hardware

let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@apple.com"

0