What are error handling patterns for Core Bluetooth in Swift?

When working with Core Bluetooth in Swift, error handling is crucial to ensure a smooth user experience. Various error handling patterns can be implemented to respond to common issues that might arise during Bluetooth operations.

Core Bluetooth typically uses the CBError type to represent errors. Errors can occur during peripheral connection, service discovery, characteristic reading/writing, and more. Here are some common patterns for handling errors:

  • Logging Errors: Always log errors for debugging purposes to understand what went wrong.
  • User Alerts: Inform users of issues via alerts to provide feedback and guidance on resolving the problem.
  • Retry Mechanism: Implement retry logic for transient errors that may resolve on their own after a short period.
  • Graceful Degradation: Inform users about the unavailability of features when encountering connection errors.

The following example demonstrates error handling in a Bluetooth central manager:

// Example of handling Core Bluetooth errors in Swift func centralManager(_ central: CBCentralManager, didFailToConnect peripheral: CBPeripheral, error: Error?) { if let error = error as? CBError { switch error { case .connectionTimeout: print("Connection timeout. Please try again.") case .peripheralDisconnected: print("Peripheral disconnected unexpectedly.") default: print("An unknown error occurred: \(error.localizedDescription)") } // Display alert to user regarding the error showAlert(message: error.localizedDescription) } } func showAlert(message: String) { let alertController = UIAlertController(title: "Error", message: message, preferredStyle: .alert) alertController.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style: .default, handler: nil)) // Assuming this is called from a UIViewController self.present(alertController, animated: true, completion: nil) }

Core Bluetooth Swift error handling CBError Bluetooth errors peripheral connection