Nordic_AMS no longer appears as available to connect for iOS devices

[AirTurn]

Can anyone help figure out what changed recently (probably last three months) that caused the Nordic example code "Peripheral AMS client" to stop connecting to iOS devices?

We built this project over the summer and it worked fine until three days ago, 12/7/24. Now, the same project build does not appear as available to connect under Settings>Bluetooth for iOS devices.  It does appear available for Android devices. I can connect on iOS using the Lightblue app.  After connecting via Lightblue the device name "Nordic_AMS' does appear uner Settings>Bluetooth. I think perhaps this is related to iOS 18.1.1.

We are building and testing the project on an nRF52 DK. 

Thanks for the help!

[AirTurn]

Update - I can confirm that the issue is related to iOS 18x, though I'm not sure which update has caused the issue.  This project build still appears available for connection on iOS 17x and earlier. 

Understanding the issue is important because we plan to release FW that heavily utilizes AMS.  I need to figure out if the issue is something intentional by Apple or just a bug.  We can plan accordingly based on the findings.

We have submitted a ticket with Apple as well.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

I see the same on my end. From what I can see the sample works as expected, but you need to connect via an app (like nRF Connect for mobile or Lightblue). This is typically the case for most devices except those that are natively supported in iOS which AMS is. We do unfortunately not have any insights into how and why Apple changes iOS behaviour, so asking them as you have done is the right approach.

Einar