Nearby Interaction background session with "Just Works" pairing

Question

gorka-mk OP

Created Feb ’24

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Hello,

We are working with Nearby Interaction (UWB) technology to provide high-accurate location use cases to our customers.

According to Apple's documentation, in order to enable background sessions starting iOS16, the two devices need to be paired. The accessory needs to implement Nearby service and mandated encrypted characteristic.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/nearbyinteraction/ninearbyaccessoryconfiguration

So far we tested this with "PIN-based" secure pairing and everything works fine.

Can you confirm if "Just works" PIN-less pairing is expected to work as well here? The documentation is not clear on this respect. We would basically indicate IoNone local capabitilities for the accessory gap parameters if this is expected to work.

Thanks in advance! Regards.

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Answer 1

estimote OP

Mar ’24

It's unclear which UWB device you plan to range in the background, but generally, seamless pairing (without the need for a PIN or confirming the Bluetooth connection) is feasible, for example, with BLE pairing.

Users must grant one-time permission for Nearby Interactions or Bluetooth scanning. However, once you have obtained these permissions, you can perform background ranging over UWB, for example with UWB beacons whose identifiers you know ahead. These beacons (UWB devices) will show up in the list of Bluetooth devices as ones you are connected to or paired with.

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