Easing setup of SSID and Password

I'm helping write an app to interface with custom hardware.


The device will startup with it's own Ad-Hoc wifi network, but then the user must migrate it to their own wifi network.


From what i've read so far, it seems the only way to do this is to have the user manually type the SSID and password and send it down to the device.


From a user friendliness standpoint, this if of course, less than ideal.


Is there any way to ease this process up a bit. Or am I correct that there is no way to capture the current SSID or any other type of assistance I can provide the user to make it easier to migrate the device to their network?


The company I'm helping is fairly large, so if getting this thing MFI certifiied or some other such similar certification would allow us access to some easier setup option I might be able to get them to consider going through that process.....


"SSID? What's that? ........Password? ......Larry!!!....... Do we have a password for our wifi box? Larry!!!!"

Replies

The device will startup with it's own Ad-Hoc wifi network, but then the user must migrate it to their own wifi network.

The best way to do this is to implement Wireless Accessory Configuration (WAC), which is part of MFi. To learn more, watch:

Share and Enjoy

Quinn "The Eskimo!"
Apple Developer Relations, Developer Technical Support, Core OS/Hardware

let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@apple.com"

Hey Eskimo,

Just saw the two lectures you recommended, it helps to get the picture, thanks!


We are currently developing a custom accessory and want to use it as a MFi / HomeKit device.

Our device is currently working on WiFi and we would like to find the easiest method to teach it the WiFi credentials creating the best user experience we can get with the MFi program.

We understood from the session you recommended (Session 700 WWDC 2013) how it should look on the iOS side but we would like to understand what are the demands from the custom hardware side in order to support Apple's WAC (Things such as memory constrains, support for non-os / os systems etc).


Where can we find further information about it?


We would appreciate your help,

Thanks and have a good day,

Nir