Web Bluetooth for iOS - now available!

Over the past few months, David of Green Park Software has been working on an app for iOS that implements the Web Bluetooth API. It's now on the app store!

This means that you can now write web bluetooth enabled webpages that work on iOS. Please bear in mind that the app has literally only just been released, so there may still be one or two gotchas.

Try WebBLE on the App Store

This app costs $1.99. I've used a small amount of the KickStarter money to pay David to get started on development, but he's still spent weeks working on this for free. Please buy it and support him - if it does well hopefully he'll keep adding features!

Great! Purchased it right away

Thanks! Have you had a chance to try it with Puck.js?

Yep, working fine so far

Great! Just to add:

• Currently navigating around is a bit of a pain - it's probably better to copy/paste URLs into the address bar.
  
• Links that open a new window don't work right now, so the 'Try Me' links in http://www.espruino.com/Puck.js+Web+Blue­tooth don't do anything - you have to enter the URL manually.
  
• The Web IDE won't work (yet) - but I think this is more an issue with running the Web IDE under iOS than it is the app's fault
  
  

But it seems really promising!

Also, for those links that would open a new window / tab, you can always long hold on them and then hit the Copy Link button to avoid typing it in manually!

It's on my list to fix ;-)

I've got it. Seems very good.

You can't search it - or I couldn't - in app store. You get another app called Webble.

Maybe the default landing page could hit a page on espruino.com with Web bluetooth examples.

A basic bookmark facility would nice too.

Hmm, I get both when I search for webble on the app store from my iPhone, perhaps it just hasn't filtered through all Apple's servers yet..?

I'll talk with Gordon and see if we can work out a better landing page to go to.

Bookmarks is certainly something I'd like to do if I can get some time (and/or if it proves popular).

I guess nothing stops us just forwarding from David's webpage to Espruino.com at a later date.

I just added a thread for a Web Bluetooth landing page. I think it makes a lot of sense - even for https://www.puck-js.com/go - which lets face it is totally boring right now.

Also: we can handle bookmarks in the webpage. Assuming Webble preserves cookies (which I guess it should?) then we can do simple bookmarking pretty easily.

Nice, @daphtdazz! I was wondering how long till I'd be able to program pucks from my iPad :)
Purchased.

Very cool, works like a charm! Finally we can do HTML based control interfaces from IOS devices!!!

Great! Works with iPhone and iPad - many thanks to @daphtdazz and @Gordon

"basic bookmark facility"... done :-)

Nice one! Thank you!

First: finally an option to work on iOS. Yeah! :)
I bought the app to use on my iPad mini because I use a keyboard sleeve on it. But when using in landscape mode, the screen use is far from optimal. It would be great to have a bigger edit area while doing the actual coding op the iPad.

1 Attachment

Is there an industry over/under for betting wether or not Apple implements some web BLE / "physical web" type stuff ever ?

Until they do, I just can't tell my users to "go use this specific browser" on IOS.

when using in landscape mode, the screen use is far from optimal.

@PiAir does the Web IDE at https://www.espruino.com/ide/ work a bit better for you? That page really is just a demo to get you started.

Is there an industry over/under for betting wether or not Apple implements some web BLE / "physical web" type stuff ever ?

@user75010 as far as I can tell, so far there's been zero interest from Apple. I mean, their browsers still don't support standard web stuff like getUserMedia, so the chances of BLE are pretty slim right now.

However I imagine that there is some chance that Google will add it to Chrome for iOS at some point, so asking users to install Chrome isn't too bad.

I just can't tell my users to "go use this specific browser" on IOS.

I would have thought that David (the developer) would be willing to rebrand the WebBLE app into an app specifically for your company that went straight to your web page. I imagine it'd be by far the cheapest way to get a multiplatform Bluetooth solution.