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I have an iPhone app, in which I have created a transmitter and a receiver, both. But, the transmitter stops transmitting when the screen is locked or the app is sent to the background.
Can I keep transmitting (a.k.a. advertising, broadcasting) while still in the background?
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The maximum range of an iBeacon transmission will depend on the location and placement, obstructions in the environment and where the device is being stored (e.g. in a leather handbag or with a thick case). Standard beacons have an approximate range of 70 meters. Long range beacons can reach up to 450 meters.
Summary: For installations with regular beacons (an iBeacon is a type of beacon) then you cannot do much without an app, as you cannot interact with users (even after the additions from Eddystone).
Beacons themselves don't collect any data. They do not send marketing messages to your phone. They broadcast location marks that your phone and apps using your phone can take advantage of to understand more precisely where you are.
Retail: In retail, iBeacon is often used in shopping malls and department stores. For stores, iBeacon is an effective way to send a notification to customers entering the store via the brand's mobile application previously installed on their phone.
Unfortunately, no. iOS does allow background advertising of Bluetooth Services, but only using a proprietary technique that breaks the iBeacon advertising format. As a result, if your app starts transmitting as an iBeacon, then switches to the background, its transmission will still exist, but it will no longer be picked up by iBeacon detectors. See here for more information:
...you should be aware that advertising while your app is in the background operates differently than when your app is in the foreground. In particular, when your app is advertising while in the background ...[a]ll service UUIDs contained in the value of the CBAdvertisementDataServiceUUIDsKey advertisement key are placed in a special “overflow” area; they can be discovered only by an iOS device that is explicitly scanning for them.
The bottom line is that iOS devices cannot transmit as iBeacons when they are in the background.
Edit 4/11/2020: Apple announced plans for a new beacon advertisement that will work in the background. See here for more info.
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