Awesome Bluetooth Beacon

A curated list of awesome iBeacon and Eddystone Bluetooth beacon resources, open source projects, libraries, tools and tutorials. This repo is part of the Beacon Developer Hub project.

Eddystone by Google

Eddystone A platform for marking up the world to make your apps and devices work smarter by providing timely, contextual information.

• Google Developers Beacons Portal
• Eddystone Protocol Specification & Tools
• Advertising frame types
  • Eddystone-UID
  • Eddystone-TLM
  • Eddystone-URL
• Eddystone Validator
• [Eddystone GATT Configuration Service & Google Nearby API and Proximity API](* ) (by Nordic Semiconductor)
• Web Bluetooth Eddystone Configurator
• Eddystone Branding Guidelines & Logos
• Chrome App to advertise Eddystone packets - uses Eddystone Advertising Library
• Beacon Toy - Android App to advertise as Eddystone

Physical Web

The Physical Web is an approach to unleash the core superpower of the web: interaction on demand. People should be able to walk up to any smart device - a vending machine, a poster, a toy, a bus stop, a rental car - and not have to download an app first. Everything should be just a tap away.

• Video: Introduction to the Physical Web - Ubiquity Dev Summit 2016
• Physical Web - Walk up and use anything - Official Github repository
• IEEE: Enabling the Internet of Things by R. Want, B. Schilit, S. Jenson
• Physical Web Branding Guidelines & Logos
• Physical Web Getting Started Guide for Developers
• Physical Web Implementation Status

Proximity Beacon API by Google

• Beacons 101-- Getting Started with the Google Beacon Platform - Video Ubiquity Dev Summit 2016
• Get Started with Beacons - This guide explains the steps required to start using Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacons to provide proximity-based experiences for your users.
• Proximity Beacon API - A cloud service that allows you to manage data associated with your BLE beacons using a REST interface
• Nearby - Build simple interactions between nearby devices and people

iBeacon Resources by Apple

iBeacon for Developers From welcoming people as they arrive at a sporting event to providing information about a nearby museum exhibit, iBeacon opens a new world of possibilities for location awareness, and countless opportunities for interactivity between iOS devices and iBeacon hardware.

• iBeacon for Developers
• Getting Started with iBeacon (PDF)
• iBeacon Artwork and Specifications
• iOS: Understanding iBeacon device compatibility
• iOS 7: Understanding Location Services
• Apple AirLocate Sample Code (iOS8 fix)
• Location and Maps Programming Guide (PDF)

Industry News, Blogs & Presentations

• Beacon Developer Hub (by Beaconinside)
• beekn.net - Beacons, brands, and culture on the Internet of Things
• Crafting and Launching Successful Beacon Apps (by Vektor Digital)
• Developer Blog (by Radius Networks)
• The Talking Llama. Beacons, Mobile, Web Apps, Tech.
• LOCPlace - LBMA Slides

Proximity Trends & Outlook

• Wired 4 Reasons Why Apple’s iBeacon Is About to Disrupt Interaction Design
• Proxbook The Guide for Proximity Marketing by Unacast
• Wi-Fi Aware™ - Wi-Fi Aware™ is a new Wi-Fi Alliance certification program that extends Wi-Fi’s capabilities with a real-time and energy-efficient discovery mechanism that provides an immediate on-ramp to rich here-and-now experiences.

Vendor-driven Beacon Standardization

• BeaconCtrl Setup and manage large beacon deployments with BeaconCtrl Open Source platform
• The Open and Interoperable Proximity Beacon Specification
• Open iBeacon Credentials on Github
• Policies about beacon IDs

iBeacon for Developers

• Building Applications with iBeacon
• Cisco iBeacon FAQ
• 5 Minute Overview - What is iBeacon? by ThoughtWorks
• A Semi-Technical Lowdown on Working with iBeacons
• CapTech Webinar: iBeacon Demystified
• 5 fundamental misconceptions about Beacon technology by RadiusNetworks
• Ask a Dev: What Are the Limitations of Beacons?
• What's the Difference Between Beacons and Geofencing?
• Guide to iBeacon Hardware by beekn.net
• Developing an iBeacon App by beekn.net

Hacks & Cool Apps

• Empowering vision impaired people to navigate the world independently (an open standard)
• Google Glass & Beacons
• 10 awesome things you can do today with iBeacons (by Twocanoes)
• PunchClock An in/out tracking app for iOS 7+ that uses iBeacon and Geofencing.
• The Geofancy iOS app Helping you to get the best out of your automated home, geofencing, iBeacons at your hand.
• LaunchHere for iOS - iBeacon based app shortcuts

Installation & Radio Planning

• Brooklyn Museum: Positioning Visitors with iBeacons & Getting Visibility on the iBeacon Problem

Beacon Discovery & Configuration Tools

• ScanBeacon - A ruby gem that allows you to scan for beacon advertisements using IOBluetooth (on Mac OS X) or a BlueGiga BLE112 device (on mac or linux)

iOS

Beacon Scanner Apps

• Locate Beacon by RadiusNetworks
• Locate by Radius Networks - Virtual iBeacon

Swift

• iOS Eddystone Scanner Sample Application
• Swift based iBeacon App Development with CoreLocation on Apple iOS 7/8
• Udemy: iBeacon development for iPhone
• HiBeacons A nice iBeacon demo app in Swift.
• PubNub.com - Two-Way iBeacon Communication with Swift Programming Language
• iOS & OSX Bluetooth library for RxSwift
• JMCiBeaconManager - An iBeacon Manager class that is responsible for detecting beacons nearby.

Objective-C

• Generic iBeacon Management and Utilities by KinveyLabs
• Replicates detecting and broadcasting iBeacons in the background

Stackoverflow Q&A

• iBeacon detection time in background
• iBeacon region monitoring AND proximity for >20 beacons?
• How to make iBeacon foreground ranging for CLProximityImmediate faster in iOS?
• Can we start iBeacon transmitter in background?
• How does iBeacon wake up our app?
• Use Core Bluetooth instead of iBeacon - Any Downsides?

Android

Beacon Development

• Android Lolipop Bluetooth Low Energy Enhancements. Support OS-level scan filter & peripheral mode.
• Android beacon library based on AltBeacon. Use a custom beacon parser for iBeacon device compatibility.
• BeaconKeeper The simple library for locating iBeacons in background
• Android iBeacon Patterns
• Android & BLE
• DevBytes: Bluetooth Low Energy API in Android 4.3
• BLE SDK for Android
• Bluetooth LE Library for Android

Beacon Scanner Apps

• Beacon Scanner & Logger Android app that scans for BLE Beacons/iBeacons and logs the results to a file
• iBeacon Detector
• Bluetooth 4.0 Scanner
• Beacon Keeper

Beacon Advertiser Apps

• Beacon Simulator - iBeacon, Eddystone, AltBeacon

Stackoverflow Q&A

• BLE Distancing

Cordova, Phonegap, Xamarin, Titanium

• Cordova iBeacon Plugin
• Using iBeacon with Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android
• iBeacon advertising and scanning in a Titanium module

OS X

• iBeacon Scanning Utility App for OSX
• iBeacon Scanner - Scan for nearby iBeacons regardless of their UUID
• Beacon OSX - Mavericks as an iBeacon
• Electron Physical Web Scan - Mac OSX desktop app to scan for Physical Web (Eddystone) bluetooth beacons
• Electron Slide Beacon - Share links from your Mac using this app to broadcast them as an Eddystone URL (Physical Web) bluetooth beacon.

Linux

• Python script for scanning and advertising urls over Eddystone-URL

Node.js

• Node-RED nodes to interact with the Physical Web
• A node.js BLE (Bluetooth low energy) central module
• A node.js module for implementing BLE (Bluetooth low energy) peripherals

Bluetooth Low Energy

• Official Bluetooth Smart Portal
• Bluetooth Smart Go To Market Toolkit
• Bluetooth BLE Library

Bluetooth Smart & BLE Tools

• nRF Master Control Panel (BLE) nRF Master Control Panel is a powerful generic tool that allows you to scan and explore your Bluetooth Smart (BLE) devices and communicate with them.
• LightBlue Mac OSX (or iOS) LightBlue can test all of your devices that use Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy (also known as Bluetooth Smart, or Bluetooth Light).
• BlueSpeed for iOS by Punch Through Runs a Bluetooth LE speed test between 2 iOS devices
• Nordic BLE nRF Sniffer

Web Bluetooth API

• Web Bluetooth Intro by Opera
• Web Bluetooth Demos

Beacon Developer Kits & BLE Chips

• Dialog Semiconductor Beacon Reference Design
• Nordic Semiconductor nRF51822 Bluetooth Smart Beacon Kit
  • Eddystone GATT Configuration Service for nRF5 devices
• Texas Instruments - BLE Portal
• Texas Instruments - SensorTag DeveloperKit
• TI SensorTag Android Sources
• TI Mini Bluetooth® Low Energy Broadcaster
• Broadcom - WICED™ Sense Development Kit
• Dialog Semiconductor
• CSR & CSR Mesh
• EMMicroelectronics

Bluetooth, Apple, Google, iBeacon, Eddystone and other trademarks are the property of their respective trademark owners.

License

To the extent possible under law, Beaconinside GmbH has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work.