ANT Forum

Hi all ,

Hope you are well. Could you please help us with these queries ?

We are going to develop an iOS application using ANT+/BLE connection to get Heart rate data. Our plan is to connect at least 30 sensors at a time and get data to an iOS device(iPad). We know BLE is a low power and it can not hold too much connection. We tried with Native BLE API in ios which is able to connect 14/15 sensors only. We heard that ANT+ solution can be a good way to connect more connections (30 sensors + ) in iOS too.

So what is the way it could be to develop a fitness app with multiple ANT+ connections in iOS ? we want to use Polar H10, Wahoo KICKR sensors which support both ANT+. Is there any simple way/SDK/API which can provide this multiple connection in iOS without much hassle ?

So , the key points are :

- iOS app
- ANT+ 30+ sensors
- How to read ANT+ sensros (Polar or Wahoo ) data
- How iOS app will receive those data , directly or via any other devices ?
- Charge of available API/SDK
- Membership policy
- Future support

It will be a great help for us.

Thanks. Regards      

haighi - 21 September 2020 01:12 PM

Unfortunately iOS devices do not have native support for ANT.

Wahoo made an ANT+ key with the old 30 pin connector, but recent iOS updates have lead to issues.
https://www.smartbiketrainers.com/ios-11-2-1-disable-wahoo-ant-key-3993
https://support.rouvy.com/s/article/iOS-IPAD-IPHONE-USERS-IOS-11-2-1-DISABLES-WAHOO-ANT-KEY?language=en_US

I do not believe that the Wahoo key supported the scanning channel interface you are likely to want to use to support 30+ sensors present.

For this use case you likely want to use a device such as the NPE WASP https://npe-inc.com/wasp/ to provide access to sensor data for your application.

Thanks for your reply. I see an iOS app SelfLoops in iPad , someone told me that they use 35 users. Do you have any idea regarding the technology they use in iOS ? I need to be sure that they use any NPE WASP type external device to configure it. First i was looking for a solution without WASP type device. Otherwise i will go for WASP. Please share your thought, It would be a great help for me.

Thanks.      

haighi - 22 September 2020 09:04 AM

https://support.selfloops.com/?epkb_post_type_1=i-want-to-use-ant-heart-rate-monitors-which-app-should-i-use
https://support.selfloops.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Selfloops-Repeater.pdf
"If you choose the iPad or Apple TV version you would need to use also our Selfloops Repeater as the iPad and the Apple TV cannot receive data directly from the ANT+ HRMs."

They implemented their own WASP like solution, but using Android software, where the WASP is a custom hardware and software solution.

My another team member sent this app link ( https://apps.apple.com/us/app/selfloops-group-fitness-plus/id1016376205 ) and told that they use no third party device or any app to get data in iPad. They heard it from client. i think there is a gap of information here. Now queries like :
- Does this iPad app seriously can collect 30+ sensors data without help of other app/device ?
- If so , Does SelfLoops provides any public API/SDK to do so ?

I guess they collect ANT+ data through android phone and sent those data to the iPad within same WIFI network or Multipeer technique. iPad app just receives WIFI shared data. Here is our gap. i'm not 100% sure, I think you can clear our concept.

App connection manual : https://ibb.co/J7w6gpZ

Thank you again, this forum is awesome.