4 ms·

PeerTalk: iOS and OS X Cocoa library for communicating over USB

76 points by shinvee 14y ago

0x0 14y ago
How does iOS and USB mix? Is it just a TCP protocol and the real USB i/o happens on a mac?
echamussy 14y ago
Is this something that Apple would approve?
- seltzered_ 14y ago
  seconding this question. My obvious need would be a version of "air display" that worked over usb, but when i looked into it 2 years ago talking over usb wasn't allowed except for certified products.
  - mikeash 14y ago
    If you have a device that supports tethering, you can do that today. Turn on tethering, plug in the device, and they'll get a mini-LAN running over the USB connection. If you have a WiFi-only device, or a cell plan that doesn't allow tethering, then this won't work, sadly.
    - seltzered_ 14y ago
      thanks for the tip! I may start looking for an old ipad 3g then. Also going to look and see if you can just enable usb tether with jailbreak.
- phurley 14y ago
  Inquiring minds want to know, I would love to write a true DSLR tethered shooting app for IOS.
- flatline3 14y ago
  Unlikely. It requires use of private API on the Mac, or direct USB communication with the device using an undocumented/private protocol.
  - grantj 14y ago
    That private API appears to be usbmux which iTunes uses to create tunnels to the device: http://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Usbmux http://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Usbmux
- delllapssuck 14y ago
  Who cares?! You bought the device. It's yours not Apple's.
  - ja27 14y ago
    But you can't publish the app in the store, so few people can use it. Closed ecosystem :(
    - delllapssuck 14y ago
      So distribute it some other way. If it's a great app and lots of people have a use for it, they will find a way to get it. You have the greatest distribution channel known to man at your disposal which NO ONE, not even the mighty Apple, truly controls: the internet. Apple is just one company... which happens to spend an inordinate amount of money on marketing and an incredible amount of effort trying to control people through the lure of nice form factor and a graphical interface. But there's more to computing than form factor and GUI. Lots more.
stcredzero 14y ago
What would it take to get an iOS device to talk to an arduino? (Over USB, specifically. Though WiFi might be workable for a game controller.)
- e28eta 14y ago
  There's an iOS to RS232 cable I've wanted to play with for a while: http://www.redpark.com/c2db9.html http://www.redpark.com/c2db9.html Sorry if you meant specifically using USB

76 points by shinvee 14y ago

0x0 14y ago

How does iOS and USB mix? Is it just a TCP protocol and the real USB i/o happens on a mac?

echamussy 14y ago

Is this something that Apple would approve?

seltzered_ 14y ago
seconding this question. My obvious need would be a version of "air display" that worked over usb, but when i looked into it 2 years ago talking over usb wasn't allowed except for certified products.
- mikeash 14y ago
  If you have a device that supports tethering, you can do that today. Turn on tethering, plug in the device, and they'll get a mini-LAN running over the USB connection. If you have a WiFi-only device, or a cell plan that doesn't allow tethering, then this won't work, sadly.
  - seltzered_ 14y ago
    thanks for the tip! I may start looking for an old ipad 3g then. Also going to look and see if you can just enable usb tether with jailbreak.
phurley 14y ago
Inquiring minds want to know, I would love to write a true DSLR tethered shooting app for IOS.
flatline3 14y ago
Unlikely. It requires use of private API on the Mac, or direct USB communication with the device using an undocumented/private protocol.
- grantj 14y ago
  That private API appears to be usbmux which iTunes uses to create tunnels to the device: http://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Usbmux http://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Usbmux
delllapssuck 14y ago
Who cares?! You bought the device. It's yours not Apple's.
- ja27 14y ago
  But you can't publish the app in the store, so few people can use it. Closed ecosystem :(
  - delllapssuck 14y ago
    So distribute it some other way. If it's a great app and lots of people have a use for it, they will find a way to get it. You have the greatest distribution channel known to man at your disposal which NO ONE, not even the mighty Apple, truly controls: the internet. Apple is just one company... which happens to spend an inordinate amount of money on marketing and an incredible amount of effort trying to control people through the lure of nice form factor and a graphical interface. But there's more to computing than form factor and GUI. Lots more.

stcredzero 14y ago

What would it take to get an iOS device to talk to an arduino? (Over USB, specifically. Though WiFi might be workable for a game controller.)

e28eta 14y ago
There's an iOS to RS232 cable I've wanted to play with for a while: http://www.redpark.com/c2db9.html http://www.redpark.com/c2db9.html Sorry if you meant specifically using USB