Estimote Beacons PhoneGap plugin
- Just a wrapper around Estimote iOS SKD ( https://github.com/Estimote/iOS-SDK )
- NOTE This is work in progress, it's not even a beta version yet. Everything may change!
- NOTE It's my first encounter with Objective-C and PhoneGap plugins. Therefore, code may be rubbish, however ATM it's just a proof of concept.
- Please do ask questions and give feedback. I will appreciate all input.
Proof of concept app
I was able to build an app on the top of this plugin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cgvEY4ywM8
Build process
What I'm doing now to build my app is:
- Call
phonegap build ios
- Install this plugin by calling
phonegap local plugin add https://github.com/kdzwinel/phonegap-estimotebeacons
- Run the app from the Xcode
Basic usage
// start looking for beacons
window.EstimoteBeacons.startRangingBeaconsInRegion(function () {
//every now and then get the list of beacons in range
setInterval(function () {
window.EstimoteBeacons.getBeacons(function (data) {
//do something cool with the list of beacons
});
}, 1000);
});
See /examples directory for sample PhoneGap application(s).
Available methods
Not all methods are listed below, see EstimoteBeacons.js for a full list.
startRangingBeaconsInRegion
EstimoteBeacons.startRangingBeaconsInRegion(successCallback) ...
Starts looking for beacons.
stopRangingBeaconsInRegion
EstimoteBeacons.stopRangingBeaconsInRegion(successCallback) ...
Stops looking for beacons.
getBeacons
EstimoteBeacons.getBeacons(successCallback) ...
Returns latest list of beacons found by startRangingBeaconsInRegion
or startEstimoteBeaconsDiscoveryForRegion
. You have to call this method periodically to be up to date with latest results.
connectToBeacon
EstimoteBeacons.connectToBeacon(major, minor, callback, errorCallback) ...
Allows you to connect to the beacon by providing major/minor of the beacon.
- NOTE Connected beacon stops broadcasting and goes 'invisible' until it's disconnected again.
- NOTE You can be connected only to the one beacon at the time.
- NOTE You need to connect to the beacon to get some of its details (frequency, power, software version, etc.) and do any write opperatons (update software, change frequency etc.).
connectToBeaconByMacAddress
EstimoteBeacons.connectToBeaconByMacAddress(macAddress, callback, errorCallback) ...
Allows you to connect to the beacon by providing its MAC Address. I used that to connect to the beacons with old software ( < v1.6 ).
- NOTE You have to use
startEstimoteBeaconsDiscoveryForRegion
to connect to the beacons with old software.
getConnectedBeacon
EstimoteBeacons.getConnectedBeacon(successCallback, errorCallback) ...
Returns information about connected beacon. Data will contain beacon details such as: frequency, battery level, software version etc. These kind of details are not available via getBeacons
.
disconnectFromBeacon
EstimoteBeacons.disconnectFromBeacon(callback, errorCallback)...
Disconnects you from the connected beacon. Since there can be only one, you don't have to provide major/minor or MAC.
setAdvIntervalOfConnectedBeacon
EstimoteBeacons.setAdvIntervalOfConnectedBeacon(advInterval, callback, errorCallback)...
Sets the advertising interval (frequency) of the connected beacon. You can set anything between 80 and 3200.
setPowerOfConnectedBeacon
EstimoteBeacons.setPowerOfConnectedBeacon(power, callback, errorCallback) ...
Sets the power of the connected beacon. You can choose from -40, -20, -16, -12, -8, -4, 0, 4.
updateFirmwareOfConnectedBeacon
EstimoteBeacons.updateFirmwareOfConnectedBeacon(progressCallback, successCallback, errorCallback) ..
Updates the softwere of connected beacon (if needed).
- NOTE I was able to succesfully upgrade 3 devices with that method so it's tested, but still - use it with caution! Make sure that beacon is near the phone and that your phone has stable Internet connection.
startVirtualBeacon
EstimoteBeacons.startVirtualBeacon(major, minor, id, successCallback) ...
Device starts advertising as a beacon with given major/minor and id.
- NOTE You can't conect to the virtual beacon.
- NOTE Device that acts as a virtual beacon can still see other beacons, but won't see itself.
stopVirtualBeacon
EstimoteBeacons.stopVirtualBeacon(successCallback) ...
Device stops advertising as a beacon.