How to add custom UUIDs definitions in nRF Connect for Mobile?

[zpm1066]

Hello,

In nRF Connect for Mobile, custom UUIDs show up as unknown, making it difficult to identify them easily.

Is there a way to add custom UUIDs, as can be done for example, on a Mac by adding the custom UUIDs to the "uuid_definitions.json" (located in folder /Users/username/Library/Application\ Support/nrfconnect)?

If not, How do I request an enhancement to nRF Connect for Mobile?

Thank you.

[Elfving]

Hi,

Are you using Android? If so, I just had a talk with the engineer responsible for that app. What you do is to long tap and select, and then press the edit icon.

Regards,

Elfving

[zpm1066]

Hi Elfving,

Thank you for your response. Sounds good. I'm on an iPhone.

Please let me know the appropriate action is to load the custom UUIds on an iPhone.


Regards,

Ravi

[zpm1066]

Hi Elfving,

Happy New Year! All the very best for 2025!

I've had some response from the 'nRF Connect for Mobile' team regarding adding an UUID for IAQ.

See the most latest update for the issue at
https://github.com/NordicSemiconductor/IOS-nRF-Connect/issues/169

Dinesharjani has responded, saying that Nordic has not generated a UUID for IAQ Sensor, so they can't tie one in for it. 

However, there must be a process within Nordic on how to allocate a new unique UUID.

Is there anyway you can look into how UUIDs get allocated by Nordic. Once a unique UUID has been assigned, it's a trivial matter for 'nRF Connect for Mobile' team to add it.

Thank you.

Regards,
Ravi

[zpm1066]

Hi Elfving,

Since Tiago Monte wrote the Thingy:53 Sensor Hub, he'll most likely know how to generate a Nordic UUID for the Thingy:53 IAQ sensor.

Do you mind dropping Tiago an email about this issue? Or if you can provide me his email, I could reach out to him. Thanks.

Regards,
Ravi

[Elfving]

Hi Ravi, and happy new year!

We will get this sorted for you We will add it to the blogpost, then get it supported in the app. I'll let you know how it progresses.

Regards,

Elfving

[zpm1066]

Hi Elfving,

Wonderful!. This is very much appreciated.

I'm sure that the existing Thingy:53 users and new Thingy:91X owners will also find the IAQ sensor characteristic showing up properly by name to be very useful from an usability aspect..


Kind Regards,
Ravi

[Elfving]

You're probably right :)

It should be there now! The UUID is also mentioned in the blogpost. 

Let us know if there is anything else.

Regards,

Elfving

[zpm1066]

Hi Elfving,

Thank you. Unfortunately, the IAQ sensor name isn't showing up.

I think it is because the UUID has been added to "services_uuis.json" and it should be in the "characteristics_uuids.json" where all the other Thingy53 sensor characteristics are listed.


The blogpost (Reading Thingy:53 sensor data using Bluetooth LE )now mentions the AQI, as in below

"If one would like to add an UUID for the Air Quality Index (AQI) measured by the BME688, one could also do that, for example with the UUID: ad79cbce-65df-4bc6-bdd4-8ce2b6b75c59."

The above is the same UUID that I generated and have been using for the IAQ sensor. It is now in https://github.com/NordicSemiconductor/bluetooth-numbers-database/blob/master/v1/service_uuids.json


{ "name": "Thingy Sensor Hub", "identifier": "com.nordicsemi.service.thingy.sensorhub", "uuid": "A5B46352-9D13-479F-9FCB-3DCDF0A13F4D" , "source": "nordic"},
{ "name": "Thingy Sensor Hub IAQ", "identifier": "com.nordicsemi.service.thingy.sensorhub.iaq", "uuid": "AD79CBCE-65DF-4BC6-BDD4-8CE2B6B75C59" , "source": "nordic"},


Is this not the wrong place for it? The rest of the Thingy:53 sensor UUIDs are in the "characteristics_uuids.json" and all of these show up correctly in the "nRF Connect for mobile" app.

https://github.com/NordicSemiconductor/bluetooth-numbers-database/blob/master/v1/characteristic_uuids.json 

{ "name": "Sensor Hub Temperature", "identifier": "com.nordicsemi.characteristic.thingy.sensorhub.temperature", "uuid": "506A55C4-B5E7-46FA-8326-8ACAEB1189EB", "source": "nordic"},
{ "name": "Sensor Hub Pressure", "identifier": "com.nordicsemi.characteristic.thingy.sensorhub.pressure", "uuid": "51838AFF-2D9A-B32A-B32A-8187E41664BA", "source": "nordic"},
{ "name": "Sensor Hub Humidity", "identifier": "com.nordicsemi.characteristic.thingy.sensorhub.humidity", "uuid": "753E3050-DF06-4B53-B090-5E1D810C4383", "source": "nordic"},
{ "name": "Sensor Hub Red Color", "identifier": "com.nordicsemi.characteristic.thingy.sensorhub.red", "uuid": "82754BBB-6ED3-4D69-A0E1-F19F6B654EC2", "source": "nordic"},
{ "name": "Sensor Hub Green Color", "identifier": "com.nordicsemi.characteristic.thingy.sensorhub.green", "uuid": "DB7F9F36-92CE-4509-A2EF-AF72BA38FB48", "source": "nordic"},
{ "name": "Sensor Hub Blue Color", "identifier": "com.nordicsemi.characteristic.thingy.sensorhub.blue", "uuid": "F5D2EAB5-41E8-4F7C-AEF7-C9FFF4C544C0", "source": "nordic"},
{ "name": "Sensor Hub Battery", "identifier": "com.nordicsemi.characteristic.thingy.sensorhub.battery", "uuid": "FA3CF070-D0C7-4668-96C4-86125C8AC5DF", "source": "nordic"},


Could you please get the IAQ sensor characteristics UUID moved from "services_uuis.json" to  "characteristics_uuids.json"? Once done, I then expect IAQ UUID to appear in the nRF Connect app.

Thank you.

Regards,
Ravi

[Elfving]

Hehe I see. Thanks for the heads-up. It should be fixed now.

Regards,

Elfving

[zpm1066]

Hi Elfving,

Thank you. As expected, the IAQ name now appears in the IAQ characteristic UUID when Thingy53 is connected from “nRF Connect for mobile” app.

It took a long time but with your help, we finally got the requested change made. It’s much appreciated,

Regards,
Ravi

[Elfving]

No problem Ravi. Thank you for your patience with this.

This was just noted as a request for a long time, but due to your persistence on this we figured it was worth it to give it to you

Let us know if there is anything else!

Regards,

Elfving

[zpm1066]

Hi Elfving,

Thank you. The sensor hub characteristic UUID  updates for usability will be useful for Thingy53 users, as well as new Thingy91 customers. 

Regards,
Ravi