Is there any way to use Bluetooth LE from a c# desktop app in windows 10?

Question

Everything I found online regarding bluetooth LE requires a universal windows app, which is completely unsuitable for me.

Is there a way to use bluetooth LE from c# without having to write my whole app as on UWP?

Solution 1

You can use C# APIs in C# Desktop applications! I have a sample here in GitHub.

In general, to get access to the C# APIS, add two references to your project:

1. C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\UnionMetadata\Windows.winmd
2. C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETCore\v4.5\System.Runtime.WindowsRuntime.dll

Note that the #2 version depends on the version of .NET that you're using.

Background tasks will not be supported, but all other Bluetooth C# features should be there.

Solution 2

I have worked with and around the Microsoft partial Bluetooth API solutions since the XP days. I found a library from BTFramework that I have used extensively, on many platforms and in several languages. The Bluetooth Classic and Low Energy API packages from BTFramework have been easy to use, very reliable, and they've been super-responsive to any defects I did find. Our commercial product, as a result, has zero failures arising from the Bluetooth side. The team at BTFramework has taken on the job of working around Microsoft's partial implementations of the standard. We mainly code in C# dot NET, by the way. And we use many threads in the application.

Comments

[Cedric Mamo]

I tried that. Worked on windows 8, couldn't get it to work on windows 10 though. I have no idea what I did wrong. Also the bluetooth LE api is severely limited in windows 8. So while I can target the windows 8 ones and still run in windows 10, that just won't work for me. I need to use windows 10's bluetooth LE api

[Carter]

@CedricMamo Just tried doing this myself- updating the answer now!

[Raven]

It seems #2 can be found under a different path on my os C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETCore\v4.5\System.Runtime.‌​WindowsRuntime.dll

[uSlackr]

What would it take to access this from PowerShell?

[Jake Smith]

If I add these two references, I still don't have access to Windows.Devices

[batpox]

Thanks for the reference. Sometimes a 3rd party solution to a particularly thorny problem is the sensible answer. I will check them out...

[Amir Mahdi Nassiri]

Looks like the Windows SDK references can be added by installing the Microsoft.Windows.SDK.Contracts NuGet package

[JustAMartin]

@AmirMahdiNassiri I tried - it doesn't recognize "Windows.Devices".

[qwlice]

The file C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\UnionMetadata\Windows.winmd is not there also after the latest update

[Admin]

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