Is this the correct layout to detect iBeacons with AltBeacon's Android Beacon Library?

ento picture ento · Jul 30, 2014 · Viewed 33.6k times · Source

I have successfully modified the reference implementation app of the Android Beacon Library using the following beacon layout, so that it detects an iBeacon device that I have at hand:

public class MainActivity extends Activity {
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        BeaconManager beaconManager = BeaconManager.getInstanceForApplication(this);
        beaconManager.getBeaconParsers().add(new BeaconParser().
               setBeaconLayout("m:0-3=4c000215,i:4-19,i:20-21,i:22-23,p:24-24"));
        beaconManager.bind(this);
    }
}

Being new to the internals of BLE packets, I'm not sure if this is the correct layout to use. The library endorses the AltBeacon standard and its documentation does not mention how to detect iBeacon devices.

  • Will this code detect all iBeacon devices? i.e. is the m: prefix too restrictive or is it the right byte sequence that matches the iBeacon spec?
  • Similarly, does the rest of the layout exactly match the iBeacon spec?

Reference:

Answer

mobiledevbrick picture mobiledevbrick · Jul 31, 2014

This worked for me: "m:2-3=0215,i:4-19,i:20-21,i:22-23,p:24-24"

I don't think you need to match the 4c00 part because that is the manufacturer id, so you can probably leave that off and start with m:2-3=0215 Everything else looks right, and it seems to work.