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Platform notes

Conduit runs on iPhone and iPad (iOS and iPadOS 16 or later) and on Mac (macOS 13 or later, as a Mac Catalyst app). The sensors you can use depend on the device. For every topic, message type and rate, see Sensors and topics.

Sensors by platform

Sensor iPhone iPad Mac
IMU ✅ ✅ ❌
Magnetic Field ✅ ✅ ❌
Barometer ✅ ✅ ❌
Illuminance ✅ ✅ ❌
GPS ✅ ✅ ❌
Proximity ✅ ❌ ❌
Device Pose (Conduit 3) ✅ ✅ ❌
Camera ✅ ✅ ✅ built-in camera only
LiDAR ✅ iPhone 12 Pro and later Pro models ✅ iPad Pro (2020 and later) ❌
Microphone ✅ ✅ ✅
Battery ✅ ✅ ✅
Thermal ✅ ✅ ✅
Game Controller ✅ ✅ ✅

A sensor the device does not have shows as Not Available. Tap it to see the reason.

iPhone

iPhone has all 13 sensors.

  • LiDAR needs an iPhone 12 Pro or a later Pro model.
  • Cameras: the front camera and the back cameras your model has (Wide, Ultra Wide, Telephoto). While LiDAR is on, only the Wide camera streams, because ARKit provides only that camera.
  • Illuminance is estimated from the camera's exposure, so it cannot run together with a camera stream, LiDAR or Device Pose.
  • Device Pose (Conduit 3) uses ARKit world tracking and publishes only while tracking is normal.

iPad

iPad has every sensor except Proximity.

  • LiDAR needs an iPad Pro (2020 or later).
  • GPS: iPad models without cellular have no GPS receiver. Location then comes from Wi-Fi and is less accurate.
  • Cameras: an iPad with Center Stage shows its front camera once, as the front camera.

Mac (Mac Catalyst)

On a Mac, Conduit can use:

  • Camera: the built-in FaceTime HD camera. External cameras and Continuity Camera are not listed.
  • Microphone
  • Battery: on a Mac with a battery.
  • Thermal
  • Game Controller

Macs have no motion sensors, GPS, barometer or LiDAR, so those sensors show as Not Available.

In Robots (Conduit 3), the robot arm view only watches on a Mac; moving the arm needs an iPhone or iPad.

Background publishing

Settings → Publishing → Background Publishing keeps sensors publishing after you leave the app. It needs the Background Mode In-App Purchase.

  • Camera and LiDAR stop in the background (iOS restriction).
  • The other sensors keep publishing until iOS suspends the app, which it can do at any time.

Keep Conduit in the foreground when you need data for a long time. See Known issues.

Network

  • Zenoh works over any network that can reach the router over TCP, including a Tailscale tailnet.
  • DDS needs the device and the ROS 2 host on the same LAN. On iPhone and iPad, select en0 (WiFi) as the network interface (Settings → Discovery).

See Transports.