"It's complicated” is probably what describes the relationship between Windows and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE - the Bluetooth standard our Tracker uses) best.
In the following article, I would like to explain how to find out if you can use your computer's integrated Bluetooth to communicate with BLE devices and therefore the Timeular Tracker.
Windows 7 and 8 don't have any Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) support whatsoever so you will need to use a USB Bluetooth dongle in order to connect the Tracker. The USB Bluetooth dongle must be BLE compatible and must use a CSR8510 A10 chipset.
On Windows 10 things start to get a bit more complicated. Basically, your system needs to meet 2 requirements to go without the dongle:
- You need to use Windows 10 Version 1803 (April 2018 Update) or newer.
- Your Computer needs to have an integrated BLE capable Bluetooth device
Here are two links to help you to check for those requirements:
- https://www.howtogeek.com/236195/how-to-find-out-which-build-and-version-of-windows-10-you-have
- https://winaero.com/blog/how-to-check-if-your-pc-supports-bluetooth-4-0/
Most new macOS devices support BLE. Please check here to see if your device supports it: https://www.imore.com/how-tell-if-your-mac-has-bluetooth-40
If your System fulfils both requirements: Party Time 🎉 Starting with Timeular 1.9.0 you can use your computers integrated Bluetooth to connect with the Timeular Tracker.