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Home > IoT & Hardware > Single Board Computers > Learning ibeacon
Learning ibeacon
Learning ibeacon

Learning ibeacon:

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Profile Icon Craig Gilchrist
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€8.99 €19.99
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.4 (7 Ratings)
eBook Nov 2014 196 pages 1st Edition
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Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Craig Gilchrist
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Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.4 (7 Ratings)
eBook Nov 2014 196 pages 1st Edition
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Learning ibeacon

Chapter 2. Detecting Beacons – Showing an Advert

In the previous chapter, we introduced you to the amazing possibilities of iBeacon and brought the UUID/major/minor broadcasting triplet to your attention. We also built our first, albeit very simple, app that detected the presence of beacons.

In this chapter, we're going to expand our knowledge and get an in-depth understanding of the broadcasting triplet, and we'll expand on some of the important classes within the Core Location framework.

To help demonstrate the more in-depth concepts, we'll build an app that shows different advertisements depending on the major and minor values of the beacon that it detects. We'll be using the context of an imaginary department store called Matey's. Matey's are currently undergoing iBeacon trials in their flagship London store and at the moment are giving offers on their different-themed restaurants and also on their ladies clothing to users who are using their...

Uses of the UUID/major/minor broadcasting triplet

In the last chapter, we covered the reasons behind the broadcasting triplet; we're going to use the triplet with a more realistic scenario. Let's go over the three values again in some more detail.

UUID – Universally Unique Identifier

The UUID is meant to be unique to your app. It can be spoofed, which we'll cover in Chapter 9, iBeacon Security – Understanding the Risks, but generally, your app would be the only app looking for that UUID.

The UUID identifies a region, which is the maximum broadcast range of a beacon from its center point. Think of a region as a circle of broadcast with the beacon in the middle.

If lots of beacons with the same UUID have overlapping broadcasting ranges, then the region is represented by the broadcasting range of all the beacons combined as shown in the following figure. The combined range of all the beacons with the same UUID becomes the region.

UUID – Universally Unique Identifier

Broadcast range

More specifically, the...

Understanding Core Location

The Core Location framework lets you determine the current location or heading associated with the device. The framework has been around since 2008 and was present in iOS 2.0. Up until the release of iOS 7, the framework was only used for geolocation based on GPS coordinates and so was suitable only for outdoor location.

The framework got a new set of classes and new methods were added to the existing classes to accommodate the beacon-based location functionality. Let's explore a few of these classes in more detail.

The CLBeaconRegion class

Geo-fencing (geofencing) is a feature in a software program that uses the global positioning system (GPS) or radio frequency identification (RFID) to define geographical boundaries. A geofence is a virtual barrier.

The CLBeaconRegion class defines a geofenced boundary identified by a UUID and the collective range of all physical beacons with the same UUID. When a device matching the CLBeaconRegion UUID comes in range, the...

Creating a CLLocationManager class

The CLLocationManager class is used to track both geolocation and proximity based on beacons. To start tracking beacon regions using the CLLocationManager class, we need to do the following:

  1. Create an instance of CLLocationManager.
  2. Assign an object conforming to the CLLocationManagerDelegate protocol to the delegate property.
  3. Call the appropriate start method to begin the delivery of events.

All location- and heading-related updates are delivered to the associated delegate object, which is a custom object that you provide.

Defining a CLLocationManager class line by line

Consider the following steps to define a CLLocationManager class line by line:

  1. Every class that needs to be notified about CLLocationManager events needs to first import the Core Location framework (usually in the header file) as shown:
    #import <CoreLocation/CoreLocation.h>
  2. Then, once the framework is imported, the class needs to declare itself as implementing the CLLocationManagerDelegate...

Understanding iBeacon permissions

It's important to understand that apps using the Core Location framework are essentially monitoring location, and therefore, they have to ask the user for their permission. The authorization status of a given application is managed by the system and determined by several factors. Applications must be explicitly authorized to use location services by the user, and the current location services must themselves be enabled for the system. A request for user authorization is displayed automatically when your application first attempts to use location services.

Requesting the location can be a fine balancing act. Asking for permission at a point in an app, when your user wouldn't think it was relevant, makes it more likely that they will decline it. It makes more sense to tell the users why you're requesting their location and why it benefits them before requesting it so as not to scare away your more squeamish users.

Building those kinds of information...

Building the tutorial app

To demonstrate the knowledge gained in this chapter, we're going to build an app for our imaginary department store Matey's. Matey's is trialing iBeacons with their app Matey's offers. People with the app get special offers in store as we explained earlier.

For the app, we're going to start a single view application containing two controllers. The first is the default view controller, which will act as our CLLocationManagerDelegate, the second is a view controller that will be shown modally and shows the details of the offer relating to the beacon we've come into proximity with.

The final thing to consider is that we'll only show each offer once in a session and we can only show an offer if one isn't showing. Shall we begin?

Creating the app

Let's start by firing up Xcode and choosing a new single view application just as we did in the previous chapter. Choose these values for the new project:

  • Product Name: Matey's Offers...

Uses of the UUID/major/minor broadcasting triplet

In the last chapter, we covered the reasons behind the broadcasting triplet; we're going to use the triplet with a more realistic scenario. Let's go over the three values again in some more detail.

UUID – Universally Unique Identifier

The UUID is meant to be unique to your app. It can be spoofed, which we'll cover in Chapter 9, iBeacon Security – Understanding the Risks, but generally, your app would be the only app looking for that UUID.

The UUID identifies a region, which is the maximum broadcast range of a beacon from its center point. Think of a region as a circle of broadcast with the beacon in the middle.

If lots of beacons with the same UUID have overlapping broadcasting ranges, then the region is represented by the broadcasting range of all the beacons combined as shown in the following figure. The combined range of all the beacons with the same UUID becomes the region.

Broadcast range

More specifically, the region is represented by an...

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Description

This book is intended for iOS developers who are curious to learn about iBeacon and want to start building applications for iOS. You will gain everything you need to know to master indoor location functionality using Bluetooth beacon technology. No knowledge of iBeacon is assumed.

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Publication date : Nov 25, 2014
Length: 196 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781784393243
Category :
IoT & Hardware
Concepts :
Single Board Computers

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Publication date : Nov 25, 2014
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ISBN-13 : 9781784393243
Category :
IoT & Hardware
Concepts :
Single Board Computers

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Table of Contents

10 Chapters
1. Welcome to iBeacon Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
1. Welcome to iBeacon
Introducing iBeacon
Hey, 'sup
Understanding a range using RSSI
Compatible devices
Commercial applications of iBeacon
So many vendors, so little time
The companion OS X application and website
Hello world
Testing our code
Summary
2. Detecting Beacons – Showing an Advert Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Detecting Beacons – Showing an Advert
Uses of the UUID/major/minor broadcasting triplet
Understanding Core Location
Creating a CLLocationManager class
Understanding iBeacon permissions
Building the tutorial app
Summary
3. Broadcasting Advertisements – Sending Offers Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Broadcasting Advertisements – Sending Offers
Introducing the Core Bluetooth framework
Obtaining broadcast values from CLBeaconRegion
Summary
4. Ranging Beacons – Hunting for Treasure Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Ranging Beacons – Hunting for Treasure
There be treasure nearby
Understanding distance
Our application
Getting started with building our app
Completing the code
Summary
5. Detecting Beacons in the Background – Location Dating Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Detecting Beacons in the Background – Location Dating
Real-life use cases
Handing over responsibility
The CLBeaconRegion options
Passbook integration
Our tutorial app
Testing your application
Summary
6. Leaving Regions – Don't Forget Your Stuff Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Leaving Regions – Don't Forget Your Stuff
Raspberry Pi
Ninja Blocks
Nest
Phillips Hue
Belkin WeMo
iBeacon and home automation
Beacon stickers
Our tutorial
Building our app
Testing your app
Summary
7. Vendor SDKs – Buying and Configuring Beacons Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Vendor SDKs – Buying and Configuring Beacons
Estimote motes and SDK
ROXIMITY implementation
Choosing the best platform for your requirements
AltBeacon – the open beacon specification
Using Estimote API 2.1
Let's get building
Testing your application
Summary
8. Advanced Tutorial – iBeacon Museum Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Advanced Tutorial – iBeacon Museum
Our exhibitions
The museum map
Our app structure
The supporting website
Our app design
Building the application
Time to test
Summary
9. iBeacon Security – Understanding the Risks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. iBeacon Security – Understanding the Risks
Beacon spoofing
Beacon hacking
Dispelling security myths
Overcoming users' fears with good UX
Summary
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index

Customer reviews

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Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.4
(7 Ratings)
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4 star 57.1%
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Cheopys Feb 09, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
A very clear and comprehensive introduction and explanation to this vital new technology. Presentation is staged and linear, examples are clear and useful, not nonsense placeholder code. I'd quibble over the accessibility to novice iOS developers, however. The technology is too dependent on deep understanding of objective C and iOS frameworks for any novice.A singular book, recommended.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
serafino sorleti Jan 27, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Beacon technology was something I was always curious about (both as user and developer), and finally I discovered this book that helped me to understand what a beacon is and how I can use the beacon technology together with iOS SDK to develop either an advertising or a dating or an indoor location or an IoT app. I'm an iOS developer since 2009 and it was very easy for me to understand the author's beacon technology description and how to interact with it using the iOS SDK. Furthermore, the book describes beacons powered apps security issues (and, most important thing, how to solve/minimize these issues). As an iOS developer I really appreciated the good description of background/foreground beacon related location events handling and the OS X companion software that allows book readers to test book objective-c project without the need of buying an actual beacon device (but the author lists the most known beacon devices on the market, their prices, pros and cons of their sdk in a very good and helpful way). Recommended!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
David A. P.A. Jun 30, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book gives you a great walkthrough the ibeacon technology, how to create some apps, important information on security and concerns, if you are a Marketer or a developer its a great option to get into the ibeacon world
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Kevin Kirkhoff Jan 20, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
While I didn’t do all the examples, this book shed a lot of light on the iBeacon technology. Contrary to what the author states early on though, this is not a book for beginners. It’s for intermediate to advanced Objective-C developers who either want to learn iBeacon or they have a project that utilizes it and need a crash course.The author spent a good amount of productive time explaining what iBeacon was and how it can be used. He then jumps into a standard “Hello World” example.The rest of the book is spent on the various concepts…detecting beacons, beacon ranges, advertising beacons, and leaving beacon regions. He even spends some time showing beacon vender SDKs. He ends up the book with some interesting security issues to be aware of.He even has a really cool demo that features beacons in different rooms of a museum.I would highly recommend this book to any experienced Objective-C iOS developers that want to learn (i.e. immerse themselves) in the world of iBeacons.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
James Ransom Jan 13, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
This book contains valuable information that is readily available to the reader. It strikes a nice balance of basic knowledge and info pertaining to the technology, as well as delving in deeper for those who are truly serious about getting to know the outs and ins of iBeacon.
Amazon Verified review Amazon

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About the author

Profile icon Craig Gilchrist
Craig Gilchrist
Craig Gilchrist is the Digital Director at Eden Agency (http://createdineden.com/), a small but mighty digital agency that is at the forefront of proximity marketing. His team is one of the first to release commercial iBeacon-powered apps in the world and currently boast over 1.5 million app downloads in multiple fields and have a perfectly balanced technical and creative team. Craig is based in North Yorkshire, England, and has been developing commercial software since graduating from the University of Teesside in 2004 with a BSc in Software Engineering and has been building apps for iOS since 2009. Craig is an avid reader and is always at the forefront of commercial technological developments. Other than mobile app development and digital marketing, Craig also has a keen interest in developing rich media, including gaming, children's interactive media, and a very keen interest in Unity and virtual reality with Oculus Rift.
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