cordova-plugin-ibeacon

Cordova / Phonegap iBeacon plugin

Features

Features available on both Android and iOS

Ranging
Monitoring

Features exclusive to iOS

Region Monitoring (or geo fencing), works in all app states.
Advertising device as an iBeacon

Features exclusive to Android

ARMA filter for distance calculations

Installation

cordova plugin add https://github.com/petermetz/cordova-plugin-ibeacon.git

Usage

The plugin's API closely mimics the one exposed through the CLLocationManager introduced in iOS 7.

Since version 2, the main IBeacon facade of the DOM is called LocationManager and it's API is based on promises instead of callbacks. Another important change of version 2 is that it no longer pollutes the global namespace, instead all the model classes and utilities are accessible through the cordova.plugins.locationManager reference chain.

Since version 3.2 the Klass dependency has been removed and therefore means creation of the delegate has changed.

iOS 8 Permissions

On iOS 8, you have to request permissions from the user of your app explicitly. You can do this through the plugin's API. See the LocationManager's related methods: requestWhenInUseAuthorization and requestAlwaysAuthorization for further details.

In order to use Advertising (e.g startAdvertising), the iOS-Capability "Location updates" is required. (set in Xcode -> [your Target] -> Capabilities -> Background Modes -> Location updates)

Standard CLLocationManager functions

Creating BeaconRegion DTOs

/**
 * Function that creates a BeaconRegion data transfer object.
 * 
 * @throws Error if the BeaconRegion parameters are not valid.
 */
function createBeacon() {

    var uuid = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'; // mandatory
    var identifier = 'beaconAtTheMacBooks'; // mandatory
    var minor = 1000; // optional, defaults to wildcard if left empty
    var major = 5; // optional, defaults to wildcard if left empty

    // throws an error if the parameters are not valid
    var beaconRegion = new cordova.plugins.locationManager.BeaconRegion(identifier, uuid, major, minor);
   
    return beaconRegion;   
}

Start monitoring a single iBeacon

var logToDom = function (message) {
    var e = document.createElement('label');
    e.innerText = message;

    var br = document.createElement('br');
    var br2 = document.createElement('br');
    document.body.appendChild(e);
    document.body.appendChild(br);
    document.body.appendChild(br2);
    
    window.scrollTo(0, window.document.height);
};

var delegate = new cordova.plugins.locationManager.Delegate();
    
delegate.didDetermineStateForRegion = function (pluginResult) {

    logToDom('[DOM] didDetermineStateForRegion: ' + JSON.stringify(pluginResult));

    cordova.plugins.locationManager.appendToDeviceLog('[DOM] didDetermineStateForRegion: '
        + JSON.stringify(pluginResult));
};

delegate.didStartMonitoringForRegion = function (pluginResult) {
    console.log('didStartMonitoringForRegion:', pluginResult);

    logToDom('didStartMonitoringForRegion:' + JSON.stringify(pluginResult));
};

delegate.didRangeBeaconsInRegion = function (pluginResult) {
    logToDom('[DOM] didRangeBeaconsInRegion: ' + JSON.stringify(pluginResult));
};

var uuid = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000';
var identifier = 'beaconOnTheMacBooksShelf';
var minor = 1000;
var major = 5;
var beaconRegion = new cordova.plugins.locationManager.BeaconRegion(identifier, uuid, major, minor);

cordova.plugins.locationManager.setDelegate(delegate);

// required in iOS 8+
cordova.plugins.locationManager.requestWhenInUseAuthorization(); 
// or cordova.plugins.locationManager.requestAlwaysAuthorization()

cordova.plugins.locationManager.startMonitoringForRegion(beaconRegion)
    .fail(function(e) { console.error(e); })
    .done();

Stop monitoring a single iBeacon

var uuid = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000';
var identifier = 'beaconOnTheMacBooksShelf';
var minor = 1000;
var major = 5;
var beaconRegion = new cordova.plugins.locationManager.BeaconRegion(identifier, uuid, major, minor);

cordova.plugins.locationManager.stopMonitoringForRegion(beaconRegion)
    .fail(function(e) { console.error(e); })
    .done();

Start ranging a single iBeacon

var logToDom = function (message) {
    var e = document.createElement('label');
    e.innerText = message;

    var br = document.createElement('br');
    var br2 = document.createElement('br');
    document.body.appendChild(e);
    document.body.appendChild(br);
    document.body.appendChild(br2);
    
    window.scrollTo(0, window.document.height);
};

var delegate = new cordova.plugins.locationManager.Delegate();
    
delegate.didDetermineStateForRegion = function (pluginResult) {

    logToDom('[DOM] didDetermineStateForRegion: ' + JSON.stringify(pluginResult));

    cordova.plugins.locationManager.appendToDeviceLog('[DOM] didDetermineStateForRegion: '
        + JSON.stringify(pluginResult));
};

delegate.didStartMonitoringForRegion = function (pluginResult) {
    console.log('didStartMonitoringForRegion:', pluginResult);

    logToDom('didStartMonitoringForRegion:' + JSON.stringify(pluginResult));
};

delegate.didRangeBeaconsInRegion = function (pluginResult) {
    logToDom('[DOM] didRangeBeaconsInRegion: ' + JSON.stringify(pluginResult));
};

var uuid = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000';
var identifier = 'beaconOnTheMacBooksShelf';
var minor = 1000;
var major = 5;
var beaconRegion = new cordova.plugins.locationManager.BeaconRegion(identifier, uuid, major, minor);

cordova.plugins.locationManager.setDelegate(delegate);

// required in iOS 8+
cordova.plugins.locationManager.requestWhenInUseAuthorization(); 
// or cordova.plugins.locationManager.requestAlwaysAuthorization()

cordova.plugins.locationManager.startRangingBeaconsInRegion(beaconRegion)
    .fail(function(e) { console.error(e); })
    .done();

Stop ranging a single iBeacon

var uuid = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000';
var identifier = 'beaconOnTheMacBooksShelf';
var minor = 1000;
var major = 5;
var beaconRegion = new cordova.plugins.locationManager.BeaconRegion(identifier, uuid, major, minor);

cordova.plugins.locationManager.stopRangingBeaconsInRegion(beaconRegion)
    .fail(function(e) { console.error(e); })
    .done();

Determine if advertising is supported (iOS is supported, Android is not yet)

cordova.plugins.locationManager.isAdvertisingAvailable()
    .then(function(isSupported){
        console.log("isSupported: " + isSupported);
    })
    .fail(function(e) { console.error(e); })
    .done();

Determine if advertising is currently turned on (iOS only)

cordova.plugins.locationManager.isAdvertising()
    .then(function(isAdvertising){
        console.log("isAdvertising: " + isAdvertising);
    })
    .fail(function(e) { console.error(e); })
    .done();

Start advertising device as an iBeacon (iOS only)

var uuid = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000';
var identifier = 'advertisedBeacon';
var minor = 2000;
var major = 5;
var beaconRegion = new cordova.plugins.locationManager.BeaconRegion(identifier, uuid, major, minor);

// The Delegate is optional
var delegate = new cordova.plugins.locationManager.Delegate();

// Event when advertising starts (there may be a short delay after the request)
// The property 'region' provides details of the broadcasting Beacon
delegate.peripheralManagerDidStartAdvertising = function(pluginResult) {
    console.log('peripheralManagerDidStartAdvertising: '+ JSON.stringify(pluginResult.region));
};
// Event when bluetooth transmission state changes 
// If 'state' is not set to BluetoothManagerStatePoweredOn when advertising cannot start
delegate.peripheralManagerDidUpdateState = function(pluginResult) {
    console.log('peripheralManagerDidUpdateState: '+ pluginResult.state);
};

cordova.plugins.locationManager.setDelegate(delegate);

// Verify the platform supports transmitting as a beacon
cordova.plugins.locationManager.isAdvertisingAvailable()
    .then(function(isSupported){

        if (isSupported) {
            cordova.plugins.locationManager.startAdvertising(beaconRegion)
                .fail(console.error)
                .done();
        } else {
            console.log("Advertising not supported");
        }
    })
    .fail(function(e) { console.error(e); })
    .done();

Stopping the advertising (iOS only)

cordova.plugins.locationManager.stopAdvertising()
    .fail(function(e) { console.error(e); })
    .done();

Enable/Disable BlueTooth (Android only)

cordova.plugins.locationManager.isBluetoothEnabled()
    .then(function(isEnabled){
        console.log("isEnabled: " + isEnabled);
        if (isEnabled) {
            cordova.plugins.locationManager.disableBluetooth();
        } else {
            cordova.plugins.locationManager.enableBluetooth();        
        }
    })
    .fail(function(e) { console.error(e); })
    .done();

Specify wildcard UUID (Android only)

var uuid = cordova.plugins.locationManager.BeaconRegion.WILDCARD_UUID; //wildcard
var identifier = 'SomeIdentifier';
var major = undefined;
var minor = undefined;
var beaconRegion = new cordova.plugins.locationManager.BeaconRegion(identifier, uuid, major, minor);
 
var logToDom = function (message) {
    console.warn(message);
};
 
var delegate = new cordova.plugins.locationManager.Delegate();
 
delegate.didDetermineStateForRegion = function (pluginResult) {
 
    logToDom('[DOM] didDetermineStateForRegion: ' + JSON.stringify(pluginResult));
 
    cordova.plugins.locationManager.appendToDeviceLog('[DOM] didDetermineStateForRegion: '
        + JSON.stringify(pluginResult));
};
 
delegate.didStartMonitoringForRegion = function (pluginResult) {
    console.log('didStartMonitoringForRegion:', pluginResult);
 
    logToDom('didStartMonitoringForRegion:' + JSON.stringify(pluginResult));
};
 
delegate.didRangeBeaconsInRegion = function (pluginResult) {
    logToDom('[DOM] didRangeBeaconsInRegion: ' + JSON.stringify(pluginResult));
};
 
cordova.plugins.locationManager.setDelegate(delegate);
 
cordova.plugins.locationManager.startMonitoringForRegion(beaconRegion)
    .fail(function(e) { console.error(e); })
    .done();

Enable ARMA filter for distance calculations (Android only)

The underlying library uses the moving average to calculate distance by default, but an ARMA filter can be enabled which will weigh more recent measurements higher than older measurements. It can be enabled by adding the following preference to your config.xml file:

<preference name="com.unarin.cordova.beacon.android.altbeacon.EnableArmaFilter" value="true" />

Contributions

Contributions are welcome at all times, please make sure that the tests are running without errors before submitting a pull request. The current development branch that you should submit your pull requests against is "v3.x" branch.

This project uses commitlint, please ensure all commit messages pass commitlint before submitting a pull request.

Release checklist

CHANGELOG.md list meaningful changes since last release, use the format of git log --pretty=oneline --abbrev-commit
package.json bump the version
plugin.xml bump the version
Publish to both npm packages (due to historical reasons)
- $ npm publish (this publishes under com.unarin.cordova.beacon in npm)
- Edit name property in the package.json file from com.unarin.cordova.beacon to cordova-plugin-ibeacon (do not commit the change)
- $ npm publish again to publish under the legacy package name as well
- revert the change you just did in package.json

How to execute the tests - OS X

Prerequisites Of The Test Runner

Dart SDK installed on the path (Tested with: 1.2, 1.3, 1.3.3)
NodeJS
NPM
Cordova NPM package (Tested with: 3.4.0-0.1.3)
XCode (Tested with 5.0.2 and 6.0)

dart test/run_tests.dart

Executing the test runner will do the following:

Generates a Cordova project
Add the iOS platform
Installs the iBeacon plugin from the local file-system.
Launches XCode by opening the project.

How to execute the tests - Without the Dart SDK

Open an app which has Cordova iBeacon plugin installed in XCode
Install it onto a device or simulator
Open Safari
Go to the dev tools window
Paste the code from the examples into the javascript console, it should run without any errors.

npm