Comparing React Native BLE libraries

Written by Fimber Elemuwa
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Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), often referred to as Smart Bluetooth, is a wireless technology designed for short-range communication. It supports innovative uses in healthcare, fitness, security, and home entertainment. BLE uses frequency hopping to connect devices in the 2.4 GHz unlicensed radio band, offering a range similar to traditional Bluetooth but with significantly lower power usage.

BLE provides a consistent way for React Native apps to interact with Bluetooth hardware on both iOS and Android platforms and unlock native hardware functionality, including communication with peripherals like smartwatches, fitness bands, health sensors, and more. This allows React Native apps to tie into IoT (Internet of Things) ecosystems by handling use cases beyond what web apps can achieve.

To effectively use BLE in React Native, choosing a powerful BLE library is crucial. There are many libraries available, each with unique advantages. In this article, we have compiled a list of the top BLE libraries for React Native to help you find the perfect match for your upcoming project. When putting this list together, we considered documentation, features, community support, and platform compatibility.

react-native-ble-plx

Arguably the most full-featured and reliable React Native BLE library available today, react-native-ble-plx is designed to handle everything from device discovery and connectivity to data management and communication.

A primary goal of react-native-ble-plx is robust cross-platform support for iOS and Android within a unified JavaScript interface. Unlike web-only solutions, the library provides full access to core Bluetooth functionality across mobile operating systems. Whether working with iOS Core Bluetooth APIs or Android Bluetooth Low Energy, react-native-ble-plx normalizes these into a consistent React Native component interface.

react-native-ble-plx supports everything you would expect: scanning, connectivity establishment, communication, background mode operation, device filtering by name and identifiers, package checksums for integrity multi-device connections, service and characteristic discovery, and much more.

With excellent documentation and an active community behind it, react-native-ble-plx is one of the best-maintained React Native BLE libraries. This library has 2.9k stars and 12.3k weekly downloads, and for most use cases, it should be the first choice.

react-native-ble-manager

If react-native-ble-plx seems too advanced, react-native-ble-manager offers another excellent choice. This tool supports all primary BLE capabilities like scanning for devices, establishing connections, transferring data, getting notifications on status changes, and disconnecting. It provides a simple way to get basic BLE functionality working quickly in React Native apps.

Unlike React Native BLE PLX, react-native-ble-manager does not cater to more complex use cases like multi-device connections, guaranteed transactions, or raw data packet handling. But the features cover most typical application needs reasonably well.

There is also built-in support for working with beacons on both iOS and Android through consistent React Native JavaScript APIs, allowing developers to implement BLE connectivity directly within React Native rather than having to build native modules separately for each OS.

This library is clean and simple enough for BLE beginners to grasp quickly, and it has great documentation and community support. With 1.9k GitHub stars and 46k downloads per week, react-native-ble-manager rates as one of the top options for integrating BLE capabilities into React Native apps.

React Native Bluetooth Serial

If you prefer a lightweight React Native BLE library that focuses specifically on serial communication, React Native Bluetooth Serial has you covered. As the name suggests, React Native Bluetooth Serial focuses specifically on serial communication over Bluetooth classic connections. It allows for the establishment of a serial channel with a remote device and sending/receiving data over that channel.

Unlike more robust BLE libraries, there is no support for discovery, connection management, background modes, or battery-efficient communication. But for simple serial use cases, the streamlined functionality works reasonably well.

This simplicity makes it easy to drop into React Native apps quickly when Bluetooth serial communication is the only requirement. While capability is narrow, the use case focus makes it a great choice for apps talking to hardware via serial Bluetooth connections.

React Native Bluetooth Serial has decent documentation covering installation, usage, and API reference. There are code examples for establishing connections and transferring data in the README file. However, compared to libraries like React Native BLE PLX, the documentation for React Native Bluetooth Serial is relatively sparse. It provides enough to get started but lacks depth in explaining complex usage and troubleshooting.

While the documentation only references iOS explicitly, React Native Bluetooth Serial appears to have React Native modules for both iOS and Android platforms – though details on Android usage are not clearly covered. Based on user comments, getting the library working properly on Android requires significant additional effort compared to iOS. So while technically cross-platform, practical usage of this package leans heavily towards iOS.

React Native Bluetooth Serial has 459 stars and averages 110 downloads weekly, so its popularity can be considered limited.

React Native BLE Peripheral

Where most libraries focus on central devices scanning and connecting, a unique gem stands apart – React Native BLE Peripheral. This library empowers you to transform your React Native app into a beacon, sensor, or any other BLE peripheral, broadcasting data and interacting with central devices.

React Native BLE Peripheral simplifies the process of setting up discoverable BLE services, managing connections as a peripheral device, and facilitating data exchange with central devices over prolonged sessions or short discovery periods. It supports functionalities such as beacon-style broadcasting, proximity-based Bluetooth notifications, and bilateral data transmission with custom hardware, available for both iOS and Android platforms.

react-native-bluetooth-escpos-printer

For an even more targeted use case, react-native-bluetooth-escpos-printer allows printing directly to ESC/POS-enabled Bluetooth printers.

As the name suggests, react-native-bluetooth-escpos-printer focuses specifically on enabling printing to ESC/POS-type Bluetooth receipt printers. Key features like text formatting, barcode printing, cash drawer control, and image printing enable mobile apps to print receipts, tickets, coupons, and more, similar to web-based POS software with native Bluetooth connectivity.

This allows React Native apps to easily print receipts, reports, tickets, or any other formatted documents without wiring up a server backend. It handles device discovery, printer status, barcode printing, and graphics capabilities. With many mobile apps needing simple receipt printing, react-native-bluetooth-escpos-printer delivers an elegant solution. Consider how many apps could replace a server print job with direct-to-printer Bluetooth capability using this library.

react-native-bluetooth-escpos-printer has 335 stars on GitHub and averages 250 downloads per week. The library supports both iOS and Android by detecting the platform and importing the appropriate native modules behind the scenes. There is some community activity but support levels appear relatively limited, and it is far less robust than larger React Native libraries.

Conclusion

This collection explores the diversity and specific strengths of React Native BLE libraries, catering to a wide range of needs within the Bluetooth Low Energy ecosystem. react-native-ble-plx leads the pack in terms of features and versatility. But alternatives like React Native BLE Manager, React Native Bluetooth Serial, and others excel in their respective niches. So whatever platform you use, there is likely a library here to suit any BLE-related need in the React Native ecosystem today.

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