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I'm looking for a way to scan for android devices in my area. It should work without internetaccess nor gps. Just knowing the mac-address is enough for this app.

The first way I was thinking of was to use bluetooth. It's possible to scan for bluetooth devices, but it isn't possible to make your own device visibile forever (Android docs say that's possible, but it's limited to max 300 seconds).

The next what came up in my mind was to scan for wifi networks. Almost every android phone uses wifi.

It's possible to scan wifi networks. But is it possible to set my device as an accesspoint? It can with systemsoftware but I would like to do it programmatically.

Does someone know if that's possible? Is there another way to let devices 'see' eachother?

Thnx

PetK
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1 Answers1

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But is it possible to set my device as an access point?

This is possible by reflection, but not recommended. However you cannot force others to join your Wifi network. That is entirely their prerogative.

Is there another way to let devices 'see' each other?

Yes it is possible to see other device on the network. Check out these answers. If you have your apk installed on their device you can even try WiFi multicasting.

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Reno
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  • There is no need to let te devices connect. Just the appearance of the mac-address is enough for my app. The idea is that the users don't have to connect. For example in a moving bus, without wifi, the users can scan eachother. My idea was to make every device as accesspoint and they can identify eachother by the macaddress – PetK Oct 03 '11 at 07:27
  • That is a HUGE battery drain. – Reno Oct 03 '11 at 07:31
  • Do you maybe know another way to detect devices? The original idea was using bluetooth. Make the device visible (forever) and then you can see the bluetooth mac-address. Then can I recognize macaddresses, without pairing / connecting. The problem is that the max visible bluetooth time is 300 seconds, but the documentation says you can set it to unlimited. It's some kind of bug. Now I'm looking for another way =) – PetK Oct 03 '11 at 07:38
  • I'm afraid there isn't, probably due to privacy concerns. That said, Google is heavily promoting NFC so you should look it up. – Reno Oct 03 '11 at 07:41