Awesome Bluetooth Beacon

A curated list of awesome iBeacon and Eddystone Bluetooth beacon resources, open source projects, libraries, tools and tutorials.

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

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.

• Physical Web - Walk up and use anything - Official Github repository
• Video: Introduction to the Physical Web - Ubiquity Dev Summit 2016
• URL Validator 1, URL Validator 2
• Physical Web Getting Started Guide for Developers
• Physical Web Implementation Status
• Physical Web Branding Guidelines & Logos
• IEEE: Enabling the Internet of Things by R. Want, B. Schilit, S. Jenson
• Exploring the Physical Web (Without Buying Beacons)

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)

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
• Traveling with Beacons: Checked Luggage Made Easy

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

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.
• BeaconKit - Beacon detection framework using CoreBluetooth, supporting Eddystone-UID, Eddystone-URL, AltBeacon.

Objective-C

• Generic iBeacon Management and Utilities by KinveyLabs
• Replicates detecting and broadcasting iBeacons in the background
• RABeaconManager RABeaconManager is an easy to use library that allows you to detect Bluetooth Beacons and iBeacons in the foreground and 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?

Virtual Beacons

• Beacon Toy - Android App to advertise as Eddystone
• Android BLE advertising library
• Locate by Radius Networks - Virtual iBeacon
• Chrome App to advertise Eddystone packets - uses Eddystone Advertising Library
• Linux iBeacon broadcaster
• Quick Beacon

Android

Beacon Development

• Android Lolipop Bluetooth Low Energy Enhancements. Support OS-level scan filter & peripheral mode.
• iBeacon Scanner for Android, Docs & Blog post
• 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 & BLE
• DevBytes: Bluetooth Low Energy API in Android 4.3
• BLE SDK for Android
• Bluetooth LE Library for Android
• reelyactive-ble-android-sdk This SDK allows you to scan beacons and advertise as a beacon.

Beacon Scanner Apps

• iBeacon Scanner & code
• 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 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.
• BeaconKit - Beacon detection framework ns Swift using CoreBluetooth, supporting Eddystone-UID, Eddystone-URL, AltBeacon, iBeacon.

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

Windows

• Universal Bluetooth Beacon Library - open source library and links to apps to talk to Eddystone and iBeacon beacons

Bluetooth Low Energy

• Official Bluetooth Smart Portal

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

Web Bluetooth API

• Web Bluetooth Intro by Opera
• Web Bluetooth Demos

Beacon Developer Kits & BLE Chips

• Texas Instruments - BLE Portal
• Texas Instruments - SensorTag DeveloperKit
• TI SensorTag Android Sources
• Broadcom - WICED™ Sense Development Kit
• Dialog Semiconductor
• EMMicroelectronics

Proximity Trends & Outlook

• Wired 4 Reasons Why Apple’s iBeacon Is About to Disrupt Interaction Design
• 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

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