Any support for Windows Phone 8.1
KyleLeneau opened this issue · comments
I just implemented the Android SDK in our app for a proof of concept but am now wondering about what the Beacon or BEL story is on Windows Phone 8.1?
Unfortunately, I have confirmed with Microsoft engineers that this is not possible on Windows Phone 8.1.
While this operating system version did introduce Bluetooth LE support, the APIs do not allow scanning for iBeacons because scanning functions are locked down to the operating system. Thitrd party apps are not allowed to perform scans which would be needed to look for beacons. The OS itself has no functionality to scan for iBeacons, only the ability to scan for connectable Bluetooth LE devices and pair with them.
Microsoft is expected to expand support for Bluetooth LE in their upcoming Windows 10 release, which will have a unified desktop/mobile codebase. It is possible the necessary functionality will be included. This OS will not be released until late 2015 and no preview APIs will be available until early 2015, which is the soonest we may have confirmation that such support is coming. Because the company is putting so much energy into this release, it is unlikely there will be any new functionality added to Windows Phone 8.x in the meantime.