NFC OOB Pairing and Apple GymKit

[Spacefrog]

Hi Community,

I'm a little bit flyiing in the dark, so I like to ask this in the devzone.

Does anyone already implement NFC OOB Pairing and using Apple GymKit?

1. NFC OOB Pairing MUST work on iOS on the same way as it does on an Android Device, because it is a Bluetooth-Standard. I'm asking, because I'm not sure if Apple does something special here. Would this work with NRF52832 and the included NFC Tag and Antenna?

2. Apple GymKit is a proprietary Apple GATT Profile/Service. Does it require any kind of MFi certification chip (hardware authentification) to use it?

I'm aware off, that it's required to be part of the Apple MFi to gain access to the Apple GymKit Profile/Service.

Thanks in advance for any answer.

Christian

[Edvin]

Hello,

Apple's GymKit is not something that we support. To be honest, I am not quite sure what it holds. I think I have only seen one previous request regarding the GymKit, prior to yours.

What we do have is a HomeKit SDK, which does require an MFi account to get access to, but this is not the same as the GymKit. I think you need to check with Apple to figure out who supports this. 

Best regards,

Edvin

[Spacefrog]

Hi Edvin,

thanks for your answer. I know that HomeKit is supported, but that's not what I need.

However, could you please confirm that the NFC pairing feature is a common standard (OOB Pairing) on all platforms.

Thanks
Christian

[Edvin]

I don't think it is, actually. I remember a couple of years ago that Apple opened up the NFC for apps running on iOS to allow for them to use NFC for pairing. I am not certain of the details, but it is possible to use the NFC for pairing, both for Android and iOS. I believe something like this is done in our Thingy52 app (link to github source code in that link), but it may only be connecting (selecting what device to connect to). 

You can check out the site "BLE Pairing Message Generation" on infocenter. Perhaps that gives the information that you need. 

In general, I think it is possible to use NFC for OOB pairing, but I am not completely sure how this is done on the iOS side. 

BR,

Edvin

[Spacefrog]

Ok, Thanks. So far I see, Apple requires authentification chip for it.
Once I know everything, I would put some information here.