Blog | Punch Through

BLE

The Ultimate Guide to Android Bluetooth Low Energy

By: Chee Yi Ong

With its ability to consume very little power yet still provide the connectivity to communicate with small devices, more and more people are looking to hop on the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) bandwagon for Android apps. Unfortunately, the Android SDK’s BLE API is full of undocumented pitfalls and leaves a lot to be desired despite the platform commanding over 76% of market share worldwide. Fret not, as the Punch Through team has learned a…

Embedded Engineer Henry in Punch Through Office

Culture

Meet the Team – Henry Anfang

By: Emily Hinderaker

At Punch Through, we encourage everyone to proudly be themselves and want you to know the people behind the work that we’re so proud of. That’s why we launched our “Meet the Team” series, where we introduce you to one of our team members…

Engineer working with Android Studio in office

Mobile App Dev

Boost Productivity with 4 Android Studio Tips

By: Ashish Derhgawen

For those of us writing Android apps for a living, Android Studio is our bread and butter. Optimizing Android Studio will make your development experience both enjoyable and productive. In this blog post, I will share some tips to improve build…

Mobile App Dev

What to Consider Before Building a Mobile Medical App

By: Alec Letourneau

So, you want to build a mobile app for use in medical or health applications and believe that it may fall under government regulations? Getting regulatory approval is no small task, but focusing on building a great product will significantly…

Culture

Meet the Team – Chee Yi Ong

By: Emily Hinderaker

At Punch Through, we encourage everyone to proudly be themselves and want you to know the people behind the work that we’re so proud of. That’s why we launched our “Meet the Team” series, where we introduce you to one of our team members…

BLE

How Apple and Google’s Bluetooth Contact Tracing Framework Actually Works

By: Chee Yi Ong

The COVID-19 pandemic affects us all, with public life seeing disruptions at an unprecedented scale. To help curb the spread of the disease, Apple and Google have announced a joint effort to develop a contact tracing framework with a heavy focus on…

Culture

My First Few Months as an Engineering Intern

By: Wally Lu

As a Senior in college, my worries begin to shift away from school and turn to my professional career. Internships play a large role in the preparation of entering the workforce and I am finding it more of a relevant concern. Information Technology…

Culture

Meet the Team – Charlie Kellerman

By: Emily Hinderaker

At Punch Through, we encourage everyone to proudly be themselves and want you to know the people behind the work that we’re so proud of. That’s why we launched our “Meet the Team” series, where we introduce you to one of our team members…

Mobile App Dev

Why Re-Signing iOS Apps is Better than Recompiling

By: Alec Letourneau

Re-signing iOS apps allows you to open your app after it’s been built and modify everything except the application code. The main reason to use this process is to avoid recompiling an app and risking the introduction of unintended changes.…

LightBlue®

What’s new in LightBlue® Android v1.6.0 and iOS v3.1.1

By: Chee Yi Ong

LightBlue® Android v1.6.0 Hello BLE fans! We've been hard at work implementing some of your most highly requested features over the past couple of months for LightBlue® Android, and we're excited to share these changes with you. The version…

Gretchen Walker - mobile software engineer

Culture

Meet the Team – Gretchen Walker

By: Emily Hinderaker

At Punch Through, we encourage everyone to proudly be themselves and want you to know the people behind the work that we’re so proud of. That’s why we launched our “Meet the Team” series, where we introduce you to one of our team members…

engineers sitting discussing Apple's Swift Package Manager

Mobile App Dev

How to Use Apple’s Swift Package Manager

By: Julian Hays

A package manager, also sometimes referred to as a dependency manager, is a tool that facilitates installing, updating, and configuring other code packages to make them available within your software. Many iOS developers will already be very…

Engineer learning about Android Debug Bridge

Mobile App Dev

How to Set Up Wireless Debugging with Android Debug Bridge

By: Ashish Derhgawen

Writing apps for Android devices can often be challenging enough as it is. Having to deal with different USB cables (or cables that don’t work) just adds to the struggle. It wasn't until recently that I found you could avoid a lot of cable issues…

Culture

Meet the Team – Amanda Nguyen

By: Emily Hinderaker

At Punch Through, we encourage everyone to proudly be themselves and want you to know the people behind the work that we’re so proud of. That’s why we launched our “Meet the Team” series, where we introduce you to one of our team members…

Team of engineers learning about background Bluetooth

Mobile App Dev

Leveraging Background Bluetooth for a Great User Experience

By: Alec Letourneau

One of the most important things that users want when using a connected product is to be able to put its app in a folder and forget about it, trusting that it’ll work. Designing apps with this capability goes far beyond a product’s physical…

Punch Through team learning about 2M PHY

BLE

Bluetooth PHY – How it Works and How to Leverage it

By: Henry Anfang

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is a wireless communication protocol. As with other communication protocols, BLE uses a layered design, where each layer is associated with a specific aspect of the protocol. Interlayer interaction is restricted and…

Andy Lee standing in the Punch Through office

Culture

Meet the Team – Andy Lee

By: Emily Hinderaker

At Punch Through, we encourage everyone to proudly be themselves and want you to know the people behind the work that we’re so proud of. That’s why we launched our “Meet the Team” series, where we introduce you to one of our team members…

Punch Through Team learning about bleno and Node.js

BLE

How to Use Node.js to Speed Up BLE App Development

By: Julian Hays

Imagine you are a mobile software developer that’s been tasked with implementing support for a new BLE device. But there’s one catch: The device doesn't exist yet. Not a problem! You can use bleno, a Node.js module, to mock out a BLE…

Punch Through team discussing mobile development

Mobile App Dev

3 Reasons Native iOS and Android Apps are Better for Connected Products

By: Punch Through

One decision must be made before developing a mobile app: native or hybrid. For many developers, preconceived notions lead them down the hybrid route, believing it to be cheaper and more efficient with a "one-code-fits-all" approach. However,…

BLE

Bluetooth Low Energy Serial: A Valid Design Strategy?

By: Alec Letourneau

At some point in developing a connected product for BLE, you may have wondered, "Where is the serial profile?" Maybe you assumed that you missed it while scrolling through the long lists of profiles on the Bluetooth SIG’s website. Or, maybe you…

Alec Letourneau standing in Punch Through office

Culture

Meet the Team – Alec Letourneau

By: Emily Hinderaker

At Punch Through, we encourage everyone to proudly be themselves and want you to know the people behind the work that we’re so proud of. That’s why we launched our “Meet the Team” series, where we introduce you to one of our team members…

Group of Punch Through team members who recommend Android App Tools and Patterns

Mobile App Dev

Our Preferred Android Development Tools and Patterns

By: Chee Yi Ong

At Punch Through, we work on both greenfield and legacy app projects for our clients. For greenfield Android projects, we generally try to conform to a modern, well-documented, and well-supported architectural pattern that’s easy to follow. The…

Mobile App Dev

How to Handle iOS 13’s New Bluetooth Permissions

By: Alec Letourneau

iOS 13's new Bluetooth permissions have sparked many questions, and everyone’s concluding that Bluetooth apps are tracking them. With the inevitable backlash that will arise from this conclusion, will everyone start denying apps access to…

diagram of agile methodology made by Punch Through

Product Dev

How to Use Agile Frameworks in the Medical Device Industry

By: Amanda Nguyen

“If it’s not broken, don’t fix it” is a widespread mindset in highly regulated industries. While change aversion has its place in preventing unnecessary risks, it also impedes progress and innovation in the development of life-sustaining…

Culture

Meet the Team – Erin Moore

By: Emily Hinderaker

At Punch Through, we encourage everyone to proudly be themselves and want you to know the people behind the work that we’re so proud of. That’s why we launched our “Meet the Team” blog post series, where we introduce you to one of our team…

Punch Through Hiring Process Blog Post Image

Culture

What to Expect when Applying at Punch Through

By: Erin Moore

Looking for a new job is stressful. There’s very little satisfaction in applying to jobs online, and the hiring process can be confusing. You spend hours online reading about various companies, scour through job descriptions, and fill out…

Intern Louis in the Punch Through office with an office dog, Archer

Culture

Meet the Team – Louis Barrett

By: Emily Hinderaker

We encourage everyone to proudly be themselves and want you to know the people behind the work that we're so proud of. That's why we are launching a "Meet the Team" blog post series, which highlights one of our team members. Meet Louis,…

Python coding language on computer screen used to test Bluetooth Low Energy peripheral

BLE

Testing Bluetooth Low Energy Peripherals using a Python Script

By: Ashish Derhgawen

When developing a Bluetooth Low Energy peripheral, it’s often useful to have an app that can connect to and test the peripheral to ensure it’s working as expected. If, however, you don’t already have a companion app for the device, you’d…

Culture

Company Newsletters – The Punch Through Way

By: Emily Hinderaker

We have a love/hate relationship with company newsletters. We certainly understand the value, but let’s be honest, we all get newsletters that don’t meet our standards. They feel impersonal, the information isn't valuable, and we feel like we…

Karel standing in the Minneapolis Punch Through office

Culture

Meet the Team – Karel Kalthoff

By: Emily Hinderaker

We encourage everyone to proudly be themselves and want you to know the people behind the work that we're so proud of. That's why we are launching a "Meet the Team" blog post series, which highlights one of our team members. Meet Karel,…

Computer coding with Android and Bluetooth symbol - Android BLE tips

Mobile App Dev

4 Tips to Make Android BLE Actually Work

By: Chee Yi Ong

Android development is hard, and it's no thanks to its relatively fragmented ecosystem and having a million OEM’s out there. Throw BLE—which is extremely hardware and Bluetooth spec. dependent!—into the mix and the platform's behavior becomes…

BLE

Maximizing BLE Throughput Part 3: Data Length Extension (DLE)

By: Zach Michel

Welcome back BLE enthusiasts, to the long-overdue 3rd installment in Punch Through’s ‘Maximizing BLE Throughput’ blog post series. It's been about 2.5 years since our last post in this series and a lot has happened in that time: The…

Hardware Dev

Harmonics Part 2 – Determining the Source of the Harmonic

By: Charlie Kellerman

This post is the second part of the two-part Harmonics & BLE blog post. We urge you to read this part if you enjoyed Harmonics Part 1 – Introduction to Harmonics & BLE or you didn’t read part 1 but are somewhat familiar with…

Hardware Dev

Harmonics Part 1 – Introduction to Harmonics & BLE

By: Charlie Kellerman

Welcome to the first part of a two-part blog brought to you by the Punch Through Team! We hope this two-parter helps educate readers on a topic at which Punch Through excels. This blog post aims to help you better understand what harmonics are,…

BLE

Maximizing BLE Throughput Part 2: Use Larger ATT MTU

By: Punch Through

It's commonly accepted with BLE that as throughput goes up, so does power consumption. However, by intelligently choosing your MTU size, you can actually increase throughput while also decreasing power consumption. NOTE: This is Part 2…

4k-wallpaper-atmosphere-cloudiness-1631625

LightBlue®

Introducing Cloud Connect for LightBlue® Explorer

By: Chee Yi Ong

Punch Through Design is proud to announce Cloud Connect: an exciting new feature for LightBlue® Explorer, the leading BLE debug and development tool. Cloud Connect enables users to quickly and easily send data received from your BLE devices…

LightBlue®

Setting up Adafruit IO with LightBlue® Cloud Connect

By: Chee Yi Ong

LightBlue® Explorer has the ability to send data received from your BLE devices via indication or notification to Adafruit's IO platform. You'll be prompted to provide some information for your Adafruit IO set up from within LightBlue®…

Mobile App Dev

CoreNFC – The Missing Link

By: Punch Through

Near-field communication (NFC) is standardized by ISO/IEC 18092. While not a new technology it has become more important with the proliferation of mobile devices. Phone manufacturers have increasingly begun to incorporate NFC hardware in their…

LightBlue®

Introducing LightBlue® Explorer for Android

By: Chee Yi Ong

LightBlue Explorer for iOS has been downloaded by over 600,000 people over the years and is trusted by industrial experts and enthusiasts alike. What began as a project to simplify BLE development internally blossomed into an app that has helped…

LightBlue®

Setting up AWS IoT with LightBlue® Cloud Connect

By: Chee Yi Ong

LightBlue® Explorer has the ability to send data received from your BLE devices via indication or notification to AWS's Internet of Things (IoT) platform.You'll be prompted to provide some information for your AWS IoT set up from within…

BLE

Developing Cross Platform BLE Apps: Our Experience

By: Punch Through

Those who have successfully developed a connected product know it is a unique struggle. The idea of a product being one physical thing, where you build it, ship it, and move on, is over. Now the hardware is only one part of the puzzle, and often…

BLE

Attribute Caching in BLE: Advantages and Pitfalls

By: Punch Through

Every OS that supports BLE caches parts of your device's profile. It's a method to save power and time by caching values that don't change very often. But what happens when the values change? If you're not careful, you can end up rendering your…

BLE

Maximizing BLE Throughput on iOS and Android

By: Punch Through

Still confused about how fast you can really send data over Bluetooth Low Energy? It's not just you. A google search will turn up many incomplete answers. Each OS and device has it’s own restrictions, such as connection interval and number of…

Mobile App Dev

WTF is an iBeacon

By: Punch Through

At this year’s WWDC, Apple quietly announced one of their upcoming products for iOS 7, the iBeacon. Even if you’ve been following WWDC and the iOS 7 announcements, you might not have heard of the iBeacon. And even if you’ve heard the name,…

architectural-design-architecture-bridge-2524368

BLE

How GAP and GATT Work

By: Punch Through

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is a protocol developed by Bluetooth SIG that builds on the lessons learned from building lots of Bluetooth Classic devices. Compared to Bluetooth Classic, BLE consumes less power, requires less time and effort to…

BLE

Testing Bluetooth Low Energy Devices

By: Punch Through

Bluetooth Low Energy is a new Bluetooth standard that is exciting for a couple reasons- it enables very low power battery applications, and it further opens the smartphone accessory market. LightBlue allows you to test and simulate Bluetooth Low…