iOS wifi scan, signal strength

Question

As far as I know it's not possible to scan for hotspots in range and read their bssid and signal strengths. This was possible on iOS 4 by using private APIs and not longer possible on iOS 5 without jailbreak. Even if it were possible, the app would be rejected on the App Store. Is that right?

One company that has an indoor positioning system is claiming they can develop this system in iOS. I know for a fact they are scanning for hotspots and signal strengths and then triangulating the signal on their current Android app.

Are there any alternatives I am missing? Their claiming sounds impossible to me but I would love to hear from the people here. I would like to be ready when they demo (although I am expecting a jailbreak or some kind of mock up)

Answer 1

Just to update the answer: The MobileApple80211 framework has been replaced by MobileWifi.framework. You will need a jailbroken device (supposedly it can't be done using just private API's, hence on a development/enterprise non-jailbroken device).

Answer 2

As far as i know this can still be done (using private APIs, of course) by MobileApple80211 framework.

Stumbler code is a good source of information on how to use this framework.

For iOS 5 you'll need a jailbroken iPhone. Guvener Gokce has a very educational blog post on this: iPhone Wireless Scanner iOS5