Hello,
I am planning to create an app that can transfer files to hardware devices via WiFi. With devices like GoPro, I believe the typical setup involves the GoPro creating a WiFi hotspot to which the iOS app connects, allowing file transfers. But this setup establishes a 1:1 connection between the app and the hardware.
To support multiple hardware devices simultaneously, I am considering reversing this setup: the iOS device would create a personal hotspot, and the hardware devices would connect to it. However, I have concerns about this approach:
Reliability: I have read that the personal hotspot feature on iOS devices can be unreliable, especially with non-Apple devices, which tend to disconnect frequently.
Manual Setup: There is no API to programmatically create the personal hotspot, so users would have to enable it manually in the Settings.
I can use isIdleTimerDisabled to prevent the iOS screen from going to sleep, which might help with disconnection issues. Aside from this, are there other things I can do to ensure a stable connection?
Given my limited experience with hardware connections, I am uncertain if having the iOS device act as the WiFi access point is a good design. Any advice or alternative solutions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance!
It's not within my control but I can provide some suggestions for the functionality.
OK, cool, that opens up more possibilities. For example:
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You could have one of your accessories act as the ‘lead accessory’ and have the other accessories, and your iOS device, join its network.
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If the accessories have Bluetooth LE you can use that to coordinate the Wi-Fi setup, even if it’s too slow for the actual data transfer.
I dunno if you’ve seen Extra-ordinary Networking but, if not, there’s a bunch of posts linked to from there that represent the distillation of my thoughts on this topic.
Share and Enjoy
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Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
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