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tvProximity--turn AppleTV into BLE Beacon!

PostPosted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:21 am
by Different Computers
I just ran across this AppleTV app: https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/id1190320061?mt=8

I've just downloaded it and haven't yet tried it, but for anyone with a current model ATV that supports apps, it's a free way to have a beacon. At least in theory!

I plan to use it as the arrival/departure beacon for the house.

Things I've found so far:
    The beacon appears to keep broadcasting whether the app is in the foreground or not. Which is good, except if you want to turn it off you have to either power down the ATV or uninstall the app.
    UUID, Major & Minor & power are all configurable via a very basic web server (!) the app runs on the ATV. However, getting that web page to load can take a while. Don't give up.
    You can't change the beacon name. It doesn't advertise one.

Can't tell yet whether Home Remote is going to work with it, but this is because it's too cold to go out of its range today.

tvProximity--turn AppleTV into BLE Beacon!

PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 3:32 am
by Busta999
Thanks for this. Just been playing with it. Not much joy. Took a couple of installs before the config webpage became available. (http://appletvip:9080/setup) and even after setting it up it is not visible to eBeacon iOS app searching for iBeacons. So it appears to be flakey or just not working :-(


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Re: tvProximity--turn AppleTV into BLE Beacon!

PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 6:52 am
by Different Computers
It did take a long time for the setup page to appear. There's not much configurable there any way. However, for me, it does show up when I scan using the free iOS app "Light Blue Explorer" as an unnamed beacon.

Re: tvProximity--turn AppleTV into BLE Beacon!

PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 7:13 am
by Different Computers
Just looked at my logs from when I left for work this morning and the news is encouraging:
Code: Select all
 WebServer                       request to execute action group "Mike Away" from 127.0.0.1

On seeing this, I realize I don't have good enough logging actions set up, because I can only say I think this is from Home Remote noticing I left the ATV beacon range.

Re: tvProximity--turn AppleTV into BLE Beacon!

PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 7:07 am
by Busta999
Different Computers wrote:
Just looked at my logs from when I left for work this morning and the news is encouraging:
Code: Select all
 WebServer                       request to execute action group "Mike Away" from 127.0.0.1

On seeing this, I realize I don't have good enough logging actions set up, because I can only say I think this is from Home Remote noticing I left the ATV beacon range.



Ok Not really getting anywhere.

Not sure I doing this right.

This is what I am doing:-

Install tvProximity on gen4 AppleTv
Use LightBlue iOS App to detect AppleTv UUID
Copy that UUID
Open web page http://ipofappletv:9080/setup
Enter UUID of AppleTv and Update
Open Home Remote iOS App (Assume already configured for Indigo)
Add Action to Indigo Action Group /Set Variable Away to True and Save
Now Add Location Type to Home Remote action you have just created
Add Beacon
Enter AppleTv Beacon UUID and Major Version and Minor Version from tvProximity on AppleTv

I have set this to Trigger Exit
Notify Yes
Notify with Prompt Yes

then Update

Does that all look right?

Re: tvProximity--turn AppleTV into BLE Beacon!

PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 7:12 am
by Different Computers
I've come to the conclusion that this app isn't actually working. Looks like that log entry was triggered by a Geofence trigger on Home Remote, not a Beacon trigger.