Bluetooth Special Interest Group Bluetooth - Generic controllable device

Question

So if I connect some Bluetooth headphones my phone knows what to do with them, and I don’ t have to have an app to control them. They are used by other apps. But what if I have some Bluetooth enabled machine that I want to control using my phone as a control panel HMI for the machine. Now I have to download an app from somewhere before I can use the machine. Is there not a way for the Bluetooth device to host the control panel information on board and give it to the phone when it’ s connected, so the user does not have to search for and download a specific app for every device?

There are BT device types: headphones, speakers, cameras etc. Is there no (generic device with parameters, data, and a layout.xml file)?

Accepted Answer

There is actually a way to use Bluetooth devices as a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) without having to download a special app. To do this, the control panel information must be stored on the device itself, which acts as an HMI, and the device must support Bluetooth HID (Human Interface Device) profiles. HID profiles allow Bluetooth devices such as keyboards, mice, and joysticks to act as input devices for other devices such as computers and cell phones.

If the Bluetooth device is to be used as an HMI for a machine, the device would need to contain the necessary input options (e.g., buttons, switches, sliders) and associated code to control the machine. When the device is connected to the phone, the phone would recognize the HID profiles and recognize the HMI device as an input device for the specific controls of the machine.

However, there are no "generic devices" with parameters, data and a layout.xml file. The implementation of the HID profile is device specific and requires specific programming for each device.

Generic controllable device

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