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I want to get data from glucose meter devices by connecting into iPhone or iPad devices. I have different vendors glucose meters some uses simple HID interface for communicate and other uses serial communication.

These are the two possible ways of communication:

  • USB to 30-Pin connector.
  • 3.5 jack to 30-Pin Connector.

USB or 3.5 jack will be connected to glucose meter and 30 pin connector will be attached with iDevice.

After having hours of research I did not find much help on internet for iOS specific.

I do find ORSSerialPort but I think it is for OS X apps only.

There is RedPark serial Cable but that is for RS232 to 30-Pin communication and secondly that can be only used in internal projects. I want to sell my application on Apple Store.

Someone also was discussing about using IOKit framework. We can communicate with iDevie but that is private framework.

Someone help me with this issue or let me know if that is even possible in iOS application.

Do Apple have any consideration on this type of working?

Usman Awan
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3 Answers3

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An iOS device can talk to external devices by following means of communications only:

  1. Wifi
  2. Bluetooth
  3. GPRS &
  4. GSM
  5. USB (Don't exactly know what it is called)

There is no possible way to have RS232 serial port communication with iOS device.

Now What are the options left then?

  1. Get a communication convertor in between your external device & iOS device. It can be

    • Serial to ethernet adapter
    • serial to USB adapter etc.

  2. Embedd a wifi/bluetooth module in the external device (If it is being manufactured by you/your firm)

  3. Have something with USB cable & mfi .(Never worked on this, but have seen stuff working with this). By something I meant, register your external device under MFI license & implement USB between devices (Again lack of clarity about USB stuff). Menwhile, I would appreciate edits on my answer by people who might improve it with USB stuff.

Update:

I visited the site of your vendor "glooko". I could not find any clue about them having any libraries for developers. So according to my opinion, they have kept their library private. They don't want you to develop apps based on their communication protocol. If you still need to develop apps for them, contact them here & let them know about your zeal.. M sure they will give you their private code. Anyhow, you don't need to register for any MFI or anything now. What you need is just the code they are using for communication & about that, nobody other than them can help you. So, all the best .. :)

Update 2:

What I understood from your updated question is, you want to create an iOS application that works with various Glucose meters, from different vendors. In a way you can call it as "universal Glucose meter app"

The short and straight answer for this is .."You Can't" . But wait, apple is not responsible for this. Neither it is impossible.

Let me tell you why. When you want your application to talk with a hardware device, there must be a communication channel between you too. You are well aware of those two options available. now, if your app must run on iDevices, the communication channel cables must be registered for mfi. Here that is also not the issue.

What is the issue then? Different vendons don't generally follow the same communication protocols between their hardware & softwares. What happens if a german commander commands to indian soldier. Obviously, nobody will understand.

So, to achieve your objective, the only way is, you have to include SDK provided by each supported vendors in your app. Let me know if you are not yet clear..:)

Prince Agrawal
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  • Thank your answers. I do have interface (USB 2.0) cable provided by the glucose meter vendor. I have attached the meter with my iDevice. Now the problem what I am facing that i am unable to find library to communicate directly with glucose meter from iOS device. You have mention MFi license enrollment and I have done some research also 'Glooko' have made their on interface cable for communication called MeterSync Cable. So I am afraid that if I am able to get success with third party cables or not? – Usman Awan Jan 23 '14 at 06:49
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    As you are saying, 'Glooko' have made their cable for communication, they might have registered themselves for MFI. In that case, they must have provided some libraries for communication. Better to contact their tech support. About third party cables, I don't think you can use them with your 'Glucose Meter' as they might not support 'Meter Sync Cable' communication protocols. – Prince Agrawal Jan 23 '14 at 07:10
  • @UsmanAwan updated answer, check n let me know if it's not clear – Prince Agrawal Jan 23 '14 at 07:18
  • Thanks for support, In short One must have MFi licence and then you have your own communication protocol for syncing device with iDevice. I will let you guys know if find anything interesting :) – Usman Awan Jan 23 '14 at 07:36
  • MFI is required only for vendors, not for app developers.. In your case, Glooko needs it, not you .. :) – Prince Agrawal Jan 23 '14 at 08:15
  • "There is no possible way to have RS232 serial port communication with iOS device" is simply untrue. In order to sell apps on the app store that use an iOS device's serial port, you must join the Made for iPhone program. However, if writing an app for your own personal use, you can use Redpark's serial cable and their SDK. This is sort of implied by the discussion here in the comments, I just wanted to make it clear for people stumbling on this answer in the future. – Andrew Madsen Jan 25 '14 at 00:21
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    @AndrewMadsen.. "There is no possible way to have RS232 serial port communication with iOS device".. "Get a communication convertor in between your external device & iOS device.".. Please read answer carefully before leaving any comment.. Tell me if still you are not clear.. : – Prince Agrawal Jan 25 '14 at 04:03
  • @AndrewMadsen ..and about REDpark.. this is from there website.The C2-DB9 uses the UART pins to communicate with an iOS device via the 30 pin connector. C2-DB9 uses a MAX3243 or similar driver to convert logic level signals to RS232 level signals.. Please think twice before down voting any answer.. – Prince Agrawal Jan 25 '14 at 04:08
  • @achievelimitless I am looking to create an application similar to Glooko with some extra feature. It is very clear that you cannot communicate without Mfi usb cables using authenticated co processors with External Accessory Framework provided in iOS SDK. As mention still I have to use RedPark cable to communicate with iDevice? Is there anyway to communicate with communicate with glucose with devices that have USB connector. Do I communicate with that devices using any HID protocols? I want communication with connecting cable not from bluetooth or wifi. – Usman Awan Jan 27 '14 at 08:18
  • updated my question please have a review. I should explain it better before :) sorry for that. – Usman Awan Jan 27 '14 at 08:29
  • @achievelimitless I do have communication protocol guidelines of meters I want to get the data. I just a channel or way to communicate between glucose meter and iPhone device. As we have an example of glooko they are doing it by having Mfi cable and they may be using their own communication protocol. There is also a framework in iOS SDK called 'External Accessory Framework' I think if would help me to send or receive data from device. – Usman Awan Jan 27 '14 at 10:17
  • @UsmanAwan… Try it & let me know if I could help.. feel free to ping me for any help in your project.. :) – Prince Agrawal Jan 27 '14 at 10:56
  • @achievelimitless, none of what you've said supports your assertion that "there is no possible way to have RS232 serial port communication with iOS device". Quite the opposite in fact! Your comments continue to support that it is *entirely* possible to do RS232 communications with an iOS device, and the Red Park cable is an example of that possibility. The fact that it contains a level converter is meaningless. In fact Maxim level shifter chips (e.g. MAX232) are very common in all sorts of RS-232 enabled devices. They just convert between low voltages, and RS-232's (otherwise unusual) +/- 12V. – Andrew Madsen Feb 01 '14 at 21:13
  • @AndrewMadsen.. I am not understanding what you are trying to prove here. Please read the question first. You are talking more about hardware specifications & stuff, where I am talking about APIs & frameworks. OP is not a vendor. OP is trying to create an app. For that he needs to know that there is no such universal SDK existing for communication between iDevices & various glucose meters from different vendors. And the matter of serial communication, myself I am working on a project in which we are having serial comm from hardware side & USB comm from iDevice side. – Prince Agrawal Feb 02 '14 at 04:11
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There is a device called Lightning Serial Cable, the link is following.Take a look at their SDK.

http://redpark.com/lightning-serial-cable-l2-db9v/

It seems work with your application. I'm also looking for the solution that iOS device can talk to another device via serial port. In PC world, all PC has USB ports, so there is large amount of USB to serial port devices and vendors, such as FTDI and Prolific. I don't know if similar situation happens in iOS world.

apolloneo
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4

Unless you join the Made For iPhone program you can not directly connect anything to an iOS device unless you use Bluetooth or TCP/IP.

Elise van Looij
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rckoenes
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