IoT Powered App- Building iOS App to Control Hardware Devices

Around 10 years back, no one ever thought about technology helping us in our routine work. Be it shopping, paying bills, booking tickets etc., the technological innovations have made everything possible- too without involving much physical efforts.

One such innovation that is proving itself helpful and essential for the world is IoT- the internet of things. To brief out this term, it is a mode of connecting digital, mechanical, and computing machines via UIDs (unique identifiers) while transmitting data over a network of devices, too without human-to-computer interactions. The numbers below speak for its popularity:

There will be 25 billion connected things by the end of 2021, fueling the need of IoT to store and utilize the data shared in-between. Source- Gartner

The IoT market by 2026 will grow to USD 1.11 trillion with a CAGR of 24.7 percent. Source- Fortune Business Insights

The community of developers is upgrading itself to develop more powerful IoT solutions to control hardware devices. IoT solutions are here to bridge the age-long barrier between desktop jobs and on-field jobs. Managing the devices has turned easier and more efficient than ever before. Business niches that were far from desktop management are now controlled with mobile apps and smartwatches.

On a similar occasion, the custom iOS app development team at The Brihaspati Infotech had the opportunity to develop an iOS app that controls an IoT-powered Cryogenic chamber. The native iOS app takes full control of the cryosauna device automating a majority of the tasks for the clinics.

The blog describes the abilities of this app and how IoT controller apps are making our lives easier. But before that, let us assess the Cryotherapy device and the need for developing a remote control app for iOS.

Here is a brief preview of the iOS IoT app and how it connects with the cryotherapy device:

Developing an iOS IoT app for Cryotherapy device

Nitrogen at chilling low temperature is a boon to the human body. Not only it serves nearly every organ bank, but clinics also utilize it to treat internal physical ailments. Medical institutes have single-user personal rooms for treating patients with damaged tissues, popularly known as Cryogenic chambers.

Cryotherapy as a process has long been practiced for professionals with frequent physical activities. We are talking about athletes and stuntpersons who are supposed to stress out more muscles than an average human does making it one of the most used therapies across the globe.

Cryotherapy devices have temperature control allowing the users to adjust them for the patient.  Having said that the device has enough room for a single person, the inbuilt controllers often demand the doctors manage them from inside the chamber.  Added to that, the job is often a repetitive task to keep adjusting it manually, adding suspicion to the institute’s hygiene.

At this, our client wanted us to come up with an automated solution that can help them control the device without the need for physically touching it. There, we were with an iOS IoT app to control hardware. We extended its abilities for all the popular devices on iOS- iPhone, iPad and the Apple Watch!!!!

Managing Cryotherapy on a wireless iOS surrounding

iOS is more than just an operating system. The best part, Apple devises everything in-house, be it the hardware or the software which thereby enhances the scalability of the device by numbers. As a service provider, you can ask your custom iOS development team to create a complete IoT surrounding with iOS devices.

To establish such an IoT environment, we have a couple of options that can connect the iOS device with the IoT-enabled hardware with zero wires.

The first one is via Bluetooth. iOS offers you a Core Bluetooth framework that allows mobile applications to interact with BLE devices easily. We have discussed one such connectivity in one of our existing blogs: iOS app with BLE device integration.

This time, however, the needs were different. The client wanted a more efficient solution in terms of energy consumption as well as performance. We chose Wi-fi connectivity for IoT iOS development.

IoT powered iOS app connecting via Wi-Fi

A typical IoT setup involves multiple devices dealing with the same set of information in different ways based on the software they work on. In this case, we have a mobile app that works on iOS and a Cryotherapy device that is primarily a machine. The Cryotherapy device is attached to a gateway that handles cross-device interaction and allows you to control the machine with a simple app.

Thus, our setup comprised of

• The end user’s device
• A Wifi hub
• A cross-device gateway
• The IoT powered machine

The mobile app can thus, effectively communicate with the Cryogenic chamber allowing you to control its functioning with ease.

Features of the remote control iOS app for Cryotherapy device:

Activating the Cryogenic chamber
In general, the Cryotherapy device is switched on once the patient is in. The medical Staff has to operate the machine manually.
With our IoT based iOS app, the users can turn the machine on without the need for touching it. A tap on their iOS device, and done.

Controlling Temperature
The Cryotherapy device treatment is performed at a numbing -130°C .  However, based on the complications, the temperature is supposed to be varied from a person to another.
The staff can manage the temperatures from the Cryotherapy iOS app. They can change the temperatures with simpler taps.

Controlling the time
A Cryotherapy session is generally carried out below 5 minutes and the session time varies for every patient. The user usually sets the timer anywhere between two minutes to more.
With our custom-developed app, the staff can set the timer in terms of seconds. They can increase or decrease as per medical advice.

Monitor the Cryotherapy device
The app is created with the purpose to resolve nearly all the issues while managing a Cryotherapy device.
The users can monitor the device by every means like functioning, temperatures, timing and more without touching the machine at all.

Designed for all iOS devices
The sole purpose of designing this app was to avail the ease of managing device operations. The IoT powered Cryotherapy device avails Wi-Fi based integrations that can be utilized to create a controllable app.
Keeping in the eye of upcoming market demands and the need for availing ease of access we availed the app to support across all the iOS devices, i.e., iPhone, iPad, and the Apple Smartwatch. As a result, a user can operate the machine with much ease.

Technologies involved:

To build iOS applications and get a connection between the device and App, we used Swift code and the device’s in-built WiFi. Plus, a ‘custom script and scheme’ was developed by our team utilizing the device protocols.

Our experience with custom IoT based mobile app solutions is quite vast. In one of our recent blogs, we have discussed a similar Raspberry IoT case study where the users can control their refrigerated banks with a mobile app.

With such real-time examples of mobile app for hardware device control, we are capable enough to implement advanced technological inventions in mobile technology so as to deliver tailored solutions, serving the assorted needs of the businesses.

To Sum Up

Undoubtedly, the modern world has gained a lot of comfort and advancement in routine tasks- with the help of IoT. The automation of hardware devices is one of those benefits that are proving their worth in each and every step. IoT technology is growing by leaps and bounds in smartphones with every passing year.

In this article, we have seen how iOS expert developers are exploiting IoT prowess to build hardware controlling and monitoring apps with iOS technology. If you are also looking for building an IoT controller app or a remote control app for iOS, you are free to contact our team of experts for tailored solutions.