I’m struggling to confirm the following (or believe its this difficult) and wondered if others had already been down this path.
I would like to develop an iPhone/iPad application using Bluetooth that communicates to a custom hardware device using the following Bluetooth module: http://www.rovingnetworks.com/products/RN_42_RN42_I_RM
I’ve read about the iAP's but they seem to be for developers who are developing: voice recorders, remote controls and headsets. Using iAP also seems to require using the security co-processor so I would need to integrate that IC on my hardware and join MFI development costs/registration. http://mfi.apple.com/faqs
However, I just want to send and receive data from aforementioned device thus I should be able to use the native protocols: RFCOMM, SPP or even just the L2CAP without the authentication IC (?) From reading posts on here, they are turned on and the only available protocol is iAP. Surely Apple hasn’t disabled all native Bluetooth protocols? Or are they enabled with the custom iAP protocols when the authentication IC succeeds?
If ALL Bluetooth activities on iPhones/iPads require the use of the security coprocessor and use of iAP, my other option is WIFI where all I need is a developers license ($99) and I can send and receive data to my hardware without MFI? I.e. there are no Apple based hurdles, assault courses or other such barriers to progress?
So assuming I’ve now got my App and I want to distribute it. iPhone app without AppStore
I presume the problem with the App store is in every case, Apple would want to see an MFI even for the WIFI app because its to communicate with custom hardware? As a developer distributing apps, I’m limited to 100 clients.
The other option I read is to use the gaming interface but presumably that would incur the wrath of the Apple gods, they wouldn’t let it in the App Store and again I would be stuck to 100 users per developer license. http://www.devx.com/wireless/Article/43502
They don’t make it easy.
