Android and Bluetooth




The Android platform includes support for the Bluetooth network stack, which allows a device to wirelessly exchange data with other Bluetooth devices. The application framework provides access to the Bluetooth functionality through the Android Bluetooth APIs. These APIs let applications wirelessly connect to other Bluetooth devices, enabling point-to-point and multipoint wireless features.
Using the Bluetooth APIs, an Android application can perform the following:
Scan for other Bluetooth devices
Query the local Bluetooth adapter for paired Bluetooth devices
Establish RFCOMM channels
Connect to other devices through service discovery
Transfer data to and from other devices
Manage multiple connections
The Basics
This document describes how to us the Android Bluetooth APIs to accomplish the four major tasks necessary to communicate using Bluetooth: setting up Bluetooth, finding devices that are either paired or available in the local area, connecting devices, and transferring data between devices.
All of the Bluetooth APIs are available in the android.bluetooth package. Here’s a summary of the classes you will need to create Bluetooth connections:
BluetoothAdapter
Represents the local Bluetooth adapter (Bluetooth radio). The BluetoothAdapter is the entry-point for all Bluetooth interaction. Using this, you can discover other Bluetooth devices, query a list of bonded (paired) devices, instantiate a BluetoothDevice using a known MAC address, and create a BluetoothServerSocket to listen for communications from other devices.
BluetoothDevice
Represents a remote Bluetooth device. Use this to request a connection with a remote device through a BluetoothSocket or query information about the device such as its name, address, class, and bonding state.
BluetoothSocket
Represents the interface for a Bluetooth socket (similar to a TCP Socket). This is the connection point that allows an application to exchange data with another Bluetooth device via InputStream and OutputStream.
BluetoothServerSocket
Represents an open server socket that listens for incoming requests (similar to a TCP ServerSocket). In order to connect two Android devices, one device must open a server socket with this class. When a remote Bluetooth device makes a connection request to the this device, the BluetoothServerSocket will return a connected BluetoothSocket when the connection is accepted.
BluetoothClass
Describes the general characteristics and capabilities of a Bluetooth device. This is a read-only set of properties that define the device’s major and minor device classes and its services. However, this does not reliably describe all Bluetooth profiles and services supported by the device, but is useful as a hint to the device type.
Bluetooth Permissions

More Details