How can we fetch the names of devices connected to the same Wi-Fi?

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Created Apr ’21

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We are developing an app that lets you see the names of devices connected to the same Wi-Fi. Our Developers said that we need NEHotspotHelper framework to do it. But when we reached out Apple Developer Relations team they said next

NEHotspotHelper was designed to facilitate hotspot network connections and is not appropriate for apps trying to do accessory integration, Wi-Fi location, or other low-level Wi-Fi tasks like signal strength. Specifically, NEHotspotHelper does not let you initiate a Wi-Fi scan, or access iOS’ internal list of nearby SSIDs.

So the question is how can we fetch the names of devices connected to the same Wi-Fi if NEHotspotHelper doesn't let you do it?

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Answer 1

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

Apr ’21

We are developing an app that lets you see the names of devices
connected to the same Wi-Fi. Our Developers said that we need
NEHotspotHelper framework to do it.

That’s incorrect. NEHotspotHelper is about finding Wi-Fi networks, not about finding devices on a specific network.

IMPORTANT There are both business and technical limitations to the NEHotspotHelper API. If you’re curious, see this post for more.

So the question is how can we fetch the names of devices connected to
the same Wi-Fi … ?

That depends on what these devices are:

Some devices advertise a service via Bonjour, in which case you can find those services using Bonjour APIs.
At the other extreme, some devices don’t advertise their name at all. Indeed, there’s no requirement for a device to respond at all to any incoming packet [1].

So, what sort of devices are you looking for?

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Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

[1] In a dynamic IP world a host must at least defend its IP address (via ARP for IPv4 or ND for IPv6) but not all IP networks are dynamic.

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