Wand Browser is an open-source iOS browser built for developers who need to test web apps that interact with nearby hardware. It lets an HTTPS page use JavaScript Web Bluetooth to discover and connect to Bluetooth Low Energy devices, work with GATT services and characteristics, and receive notifications. It also supports reading and writing NDEF tags through Web NFC, plus permission-controlled camera video via the browser’s media APIs. Developers can reopen recent test pages from an on-device history. Wand mediates access: users select which Bluetooth device a site can use and approve NFC requests, while hardware permissions are cleared when a document changes, reloads, the app goes into the background, or access is revoked in site controls.
The project is an early implementation, not a full mobile browser replacement or complete implementation of either web standard. Hardware and camera features require a foreground session on a top-level HTTPS page; NFC is limited to NDEF, and developers need to compare their app’s API calls with Wand’s bridge. BLE and NFC must be tested on a physical iPhone with compatible devices or tags; the simulator can exercise browser flows and bridge logic but cannot test the radios. The app requires iOS 18 or later and can be built from its included Xcode project without generating project files or installing packages. Xcode tests use hosted HTTPS fixtures, and optional Node.js tests cover the standalone bridge and SDK. The code is MIT-licensed.
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