BLE access issue with `Cordova run android --device' command?

Question

I'm building a simple BLE application using cordona/phonegap.

I use BLE lock as an example. Everything works fine with `cordova serve': cordova can scan and access available BLE devices with Phonegap Android application.

However, with `cordova run android --device,' I could build a standalone Android app, download the app to my Android device; but no BLE devices are shown when I execute the downloaded app on the Android device.

What might make this difference? Do I need to do something more to make the standalone app access the Android BLE features?

Answer 1

You need to install the cordova bluetooth plugin into the Cordova app.

cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-ble-central

If you're using the phonegap cli, try

phonegap plugin add cordova-plugin-ble-central

The app works when running in the PhoneGap Developer App because the bluetooth plugin is pre-installed in that app. When you're running directly in Cordova, you need to install the plugin yourself.

Before you install the plugin, you can see the error using Chrome. To get the stack trace from the application on your Android device: Open Chrome on your computer, enter chrome://inspect, choose your device. You should see a message like this in the console.

After you install the plugin and redeploy the project, scanning should work.

 cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-ble-central
 cordova run android --device