A device-connection-finding library for Android.
| module | artifact | badges and stuff |
|---|---|---|
| dog | "com.github.explodes.dog:dog:0.0.6" |
 |
| dog-compose | "com.github.explodes.dog:dog-compose:0.0.6" |
 |
| loggly | "com.github.explodes.dog:loggly:0.0.6" |
 |
Dog is a project aimed to answer two questions:
- What does it look like when we do everything we can to find a nearby device?
- Can we make it easy for an app developer to "just get some devices"!? so they can create amazing multi-user multi-device experiences?
Turns out, (a) it's really cool, and (b) yes we can.
The Dog code is split between the core module (dog) and optional UI code that leverages compose (
dog-compose.) Additionally, there is a test application, and a logging utility.
dog is the core library. This provides the functionality for device discovery and advertising with
different technologies.
dog-compose is a companion library that provides a device picker UI and returns connections to the
application.
dog-app is an app you can use to connect to nearby devices! The apps logs are drawn in the
background for easier debugging.
loggly is a bad abstraction for logging that was useful initially, but needs to be replaced with a
more robust mechanism.
Currently there are two "technologies" available for device connection. RFComm (BLE) and Android NSD.
The idea is to add more capabilities, such as Android Nearby, Cross Device SDK, stuff for UWB, Chip/Matter, maybe Zigbee? You get the idea.
Now that the proof of concept has been established, the hardcoded technologies should be adapted to a more plug and play style to allow 3rd party packages to plug in their connection strategies as separate dependencies.
The dog module itself includes a pattern that allows for returning control back to the user during
discovery or while connecting. This enables user interaction between any step, vital or not, such
as:
- Finding a client or server
- Prompting to begin Bluetooth pairing
- Prompting to join server
- Prompting to admit users into servers
Allowing users to decide if they want to advance a connection enables opportunities for privacy and trust between nearby devices by preventing unwanted incoming and outgoing connections.
There is a simple protocol between client and server that performs an information exchange with data such as name, device info, and an app-specific blob.
MIT License.