Shake to Connect is a very handy feature that you can use with Estimote Beacons. It uses accelerometer built into Proximity Beacons and Location Beacons and prompts beacons to start broadcasting more frequently (compared to when they're still).
As a result, in the Estimote Android app, you can quickly connect to a beacon by just shaking it. Simply go to the Configuration menu, wait for a few seconds until beacons appear on the radar and then shake a beacon. The connection will be initiated almost immediately. It's especially handy when you have plenty of beacons on your account and need to connect to the one in your hand.
The connection feature is not currently available for the Estimote iOS app but we'll definitely introduce it at some point. In the meantime, you can still shake a beacon to push it to the top of the list in the Configuration menu. It's also going to be handy if you have a large fleet of beacons.
Shake to Connect is also used in the Proximity Demo in both iOS and Android apps. We ask you to shake a beacon and then, once we detect which one you're holding, you need to add a tag to this specific beacon. "Shaking" ensures that you're adding a tag to the right beacon. Make sure Shake to Connect is enabled before you start the demo, otherwise, the demo itself won't work.
How to enable Shake to Connect
All the new Proximity Beacons ship with Shake to Connect enabled by default. If you ordered the beacons before or you disable Shake to Connect for some reason, it's really easy to enable it.
- Go to the Estimote Cloud and find a beacon you want to enable Shake to Connect on.
- Click on "Edit Settings" and then "Show Advanced Settings"
- Find "Connection" packet in the menu to the left and enable Shake to Connect.
Make sure you connect to the beacon with the Estimote app afterward to update those settings. Until you do so, Shake to Connect will remain disabled.