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The title pretty much explains it. We are working on an MFi accessory which communicates with our iOS app over Bluetooth. However, we want to replace Bluetooth with Wifi. Provided that we can make the necessary hardware changes in the accessory, can we enable an iOS application to use WiFi instead of Bluetooth to communicate with an MFi accessory?

Varun Singh
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1 Answers1

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The MFi program covers the Wireless Accessory Configuration (WAC) feature that simplifies the process of connecting new accessories to the user's existing Wi Fi network.

I don't believe that there is support for prompting the user to install or launch an application when a WiFi device is detected, as you can with the external accessory framework and Lighting/30pin/Bluetooth connected devices.

Once you have a WiFi connected device and it is active on the network, however, you can use TCP/IP and Bonjour to locate and communicate with the device without involving the MFi program.

If you are already a member of the MFi program then it is probably worth investigating WAC.

Paulw11
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  • Sorry for replying this late. From your answer it appears that the iOS device and the peripheral (MFi device in my question) should be on the same WiFi network. However, is there a peer-to-peer connection over WiFi possible like Bluetooth pairing? – Varun Singh Oct 26 '14 at 16:46
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    I suppose your peripheral could advertsise an ad-hoc wifi network, but the iOS device can only be connected to one wifi network at a time, so it couldn't connect to your device and still access the Internet – Paulw11 Oct 26 '14 at 19:42
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    I haven't tried it yet, but you should be able to browse for unconfigured accessories with EAWiFiUnconfiguredAccessoryBrowser_Class https://developer.apple.com/Library/ios/documentation/ExternalAccessory/Reference/EAWiFiUnconfiguredAccessoryBrowser_Class/index.html The device side of mFI will handle the magic of connecting and configuring... see also see also http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25999416/scan-for-mfi-products-over-wi-fi – Adriaan Nov 18 '14 at 12:16