We still want to control our small robots. What are we to do?

It turns out there is a tiny crack in Apple’s iOS Bluetooth lockdown that is sufficient to do something useful with LEGO Mindstorms as well as many other devices with the right mix of Bluetooth functionality. There is no need to jailbreak the phone and, surprisingly,  no need to use undocumented iOS APIs so this method does not violate Apple’s developer agreement. Nonetheless, experience has taught me that Apple would never approve this kind of app for inclusion in the app store and that Apple doesn’t need a reason to reject an app.

It would be very easy for Apple to plug this minor hole in their lockdown of the iPhone so in the interest of keeping the hole open as long as possible, I won’t detail how it works. Instead I’ll just post a video demo of an iPhone controlling a robot directly.

The iPhone and iPod are remarkable portable systems that could open up a whole new world of sophisticated low cost robotics. It would be very cool if Apple could find a way to officially allow these kinds of applications.

Apps can only be installed from Apple’s official app store after Apple has reviewed the app. One of the many things Apple checks when it reviews an app is to ensure the app does not leak data in a way that Apple or AT&T can’t profit from (Apple approves, pulls flashlight app).

Apple takes a cut from your app purchase. Free apps typically come loaded with ads which are served by Apple so it can take a cut there as well. The iPhone’s connector is a patented Apple design that can only be bought from Apple at a hefty price. iPhone accessories that communicate with the iPhone, speaker systems for instance, need to have an expensive Apple supplied authentication chip so the iPhone will agree to communicate with them. The iPhone’s Bluetooth capabilities are gimped to ensure no untolled data sneaks in or out of the iPhone. As a result, the iPhone works with Bluetooth headsets and can communicate with other iPhones over Bluetooth and little else.

In some sense, the iPhone is an irony. It’s the first true general purpose palmtop computer and universal communications device which can’t be used for very much computing or communication outside of Apple’s kid size prison cell.

So what does this have to do with LEGO NXT?

Well, I found a tiny little crack in the data prison that doesn’t require jailbreaking the iPhone (or iPod). It still requires the use of undocumented APIs but I find that more convenient than jailbreaking, as easy as jailbreaking has been recently. I managed to coax the undocumented Bluetooth facilities in the iPhone to let it communicate with a LEGO NXT brick.

Here’s a short unexciting video showing the two in action.

It is available in Apple’s app store here:

http://tinyurl.com/3azu5r5

The website does not appear to be too well known which is surprising as the idea seems solid. Solid enough that I think Apple should provide such an option as part of their promo code generation. If the developer chooses his promo code should require a review.

We’ll see how this experiment turns out…

Note: Continued use of the flash may dramatically decrease battery life.

Free Mirror in App Store

Apple is now sitting on the Flashlight 4 and FlashMaster apps with the intention of rejecting them. I received the dreaded “review process will require additional time” e-mail for both of them. This is Apple’s method of slowly rejecting your app. Typically, the rejection follows within a week or two.

I bet you’re not wondering what these apps could possibly do that would be so troublesome to Apple. Well, I’ll fill you in anyway. Flashlight 4 (originally submitted on the 11th of June), turns on the new camera LED flash on the iPhone 4. Horrors! FlashMaster, a much worse offender, turns the camera LED on and off in various ways. It can act as a flashlight, a strobe light, flash to a beat and emit Morse Code.

Apparently, these are not the only apps that Apple is now playing app roulette with. In between the many “I want one” comments you’ll also find a couple posts talking about rejected apps in this MacRumors thread:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=947471

Interestingly, there was a hint of Apple’s pending hostility to such apps at one of the WWDC talks. At 31:49 in the talk titled “Using the Camera with AV Foundation” the slide has this to say:

*Note* The torch only turns on if the device is associated with an AVCaptureSession instance that is running.

The presenter also felt it necessary to testily add “it’s meant for video recording” as if to say “don’t use it for anything else”.

It is possible that Apple is thinking of LED lifetime. Anything is possible. The trouble with Apple’s attitude towards developers is that it is too opaque. Apple could have just spelled out these hinted restrictions in the API or in the developer agreement but instead chose to stay mum and is instead rejecting apps with newly minted excuses.

Worse, Apple will reject flashlight apps until one noisy app developer makes enough of a stink about Apple’s fickle rejection of a simple flashlight app that the ensuing media firestorm will lead Apple to relent and rapidly approve the developer’s previously rejected app. While all the other developers are left hanging with their previously rejected apps.

That is Apple’s app roulette.