Covers both Nearby APIs from Google. Messages is a publish-subscribe API for co-present iOS and Android devices to discover and communicate with each other, as well as beacons. Connections is a low-latency networking API for Android, powering use-cases such as: local multiplayer, collaborative whiteboards, and multi-screen gaming.
Nearby is divided into three parts:
Nearby Messages is a cross-platform publish-subscribe API for exchanging <100KB messages between co-present devices that may or may not be on the same network. Nearby Messages is also used to detect beacons and retrieve messages associated with them via the Google Proximity API
Nearby Connections is a low-latency, socket-like API for sending of bi-directional data between Android devices. Under the hood, the API uses a combination of Bluetooth, BLE, and Wifi hotspots, leveraging the strengths of each while circumventing their respective weaknesses.
Nearby Notifications is for contextual device, app, and website discovery.
For more info developers.google.com/nearby
Nearby Messages
The Nearby Messages API is a publish-subscribe API that lets you pass small binary payloads between internet-connected Android and iOS devices. The devices don't have to be on the same network, but they do have to be connected to the Internet.
Nearby uses a combination of Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi and an ultrasonic modem to communicate a unique-in-time pairing code between devices. The server facilitates message exchange between devices that detect the same pairing code.
Examples: Pocket Casts share podcast subscriptions, Trello share board
Nearby Connections
The Nearby Connections API enables your app to easily discover other devices on a local network, connect, and exchange messages in real-time. You can use the Nearby Connections API to give your apps the following capabilities:
- Collaborative whiteboard: Jot ideas down with nearby participants on a shared virtual whiteboard.
- Local multiplayer gaming: Set up a multiplayer game and invite other users on the local network to join it. Your app can also allow a player to start an in-game mission when enough nearby participants join.
- Multi-screen gaming: Use a phone or tablet as a game controller to play games displayed on a nearby large-screen Android device, such as Android TV. Your app can also enable players to see a customized game screen on their personal devices while all nearby participants see a shared common view on a large-screen Android device.
Example: Beach Buggy Racing phone as controller
Nearby Notifications
Nearby Notifications enables you to advertise HTTPS URLs, trigger app intents, and trigger app installs using beacons.
