The leading library for detecting beacons on Android.
What Does This Library Do?
It allows Android devices to interact with Bluetooth beacons with APIs that are interoperable with those for iOS. An app can request to get notifications when one or more beacons appear or disappear. An app can also request to get a ranging update from one or more beacons at a frequency of approximately 1Hz. It also allows Android devices to send beacon transmissions, even in the background.
What kinds of beacons does it detect?
The library can easily be configured to detect iBeacon, Eddystone and other beacon formats. By default, it detects beacons meeting the open AltBeacon standard but BeaconParsers allow it to work with other beacon formats as shown in the official reference app.
Android Version Support and Permissions
The library supports Android version 15 and is backward compatible all the way to Android 4.3. It is important for apps targeting Android 12+ request permission from the user for both Bluetooth and Location. Apps using the library’s built-in foreground service must ensure they have FINE_LOCATION permission from the user before configuring the foreground service..
Who uses this library?
Over 16,000 mobile applications use the Android Beacon Library, including some of the world’s biggest brands. These apps have over 350 million installations.
What devices can detect beacons?
Any device with Android 4.3+ and a Bluetooth Low Energy chipset can detect beacons with this library. This is over 99 percent of Android devices. Transmitting beacon advertisements is also supported by nearly all Android devices.