🤖 Android
🍎 iPhone
💻 Desktop
1
Open Settings → Location and turn it ON. BLE scanning on Android requires location permission.
2
Open Settings → Apps → Chrome → Permissions and enable Nearby devices and Location.
3
In Chrome address bar go to chrome://flags, search bluetooth, enable Web Bluetooth New Permissions Backend. Relaunch Chrome.
4
For passive scan (all devices), also enable enable-experimental-web-platform-features flag.
5
Make sure Bluetooth is ON in your quick settings panel.
6
Return to this page, tap SCAN. On first run, allow all permissions when prompted.
💡 Boost signal: Keep your phone unlocked and screen on. Move slowly. Android aggressively throttles BLE scans in background. For best results, disable Battery Optimization for Chrome in Settings → Battery.
⚠ Android 12+ requires BLUETOOTH_SCAN + BLUETOOTH_CONNECT + ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION permissions. Deny any one and scanning fails silently.
⚠ iOS does not support Web Bluetooth in Safari. Apple blocks it by design. For BLE on iPhone, you need a native app (React Native / Swift). The steps below are for future compatibility if Apple enables it.
1
Currently the only option is using Bluefy browser (App Store, free) which implements Web Bluetooth on iOS.
2
In Bluefy, go to Settings → Bluetooth and allow access.
3
Go to iPhone Settings → Privacy → Bluetooth and enable Bluefy.
4
Open this app in Bluefy and tap SCAN.
💡 A native iOS app built with Swift CoreBluetooth would give full passive scanning without restrictions. Consider wrapping VAXXED with Capacitor for a full native app.
1
Use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge (Chromium). Firefox and Safari do not support Web Bluetooth.
2
Make sure your PC has Bluetooth 4.0+ hardware (most laptops 2014+ do).
3
On Windows: Settings → Bluetooth & devices → ON. On Mac: System Settings → Bluetooth → ON.
4
On Linux: enable enable-experimental-web-platform-features flag and ensure BlueZ is running: sudo systemctl start bluetooth.
5
The page must be served over HTTPS or localhost — Web Bluetooth is blocked on plain HTTP.
💡 Desktop BLE scanning is more reliable than Android. The browser picker shows device names and signal strength.