GameKit
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Hunting for open GameKit solutions
On iOS, GameKit offers a simple way for applications to connect to each other using ad-hoc peer-to-peer communication without having to be connected to a common network. Despite its name, GameKit has been used for many non-gaming purposes as well as for games. These include contact information exchanges, media sharing, device-to-device presentations and so forth. It's surprising, therefore, that Apple has not introduced a computer-based standard to allow Mac and Windows computers to participate in this information exchange (let alone Android and BlackBerry devices) using the common GameKit programming frameworks. When you look closely at GameKit, you begin to experience the sense of top-down control and paranoia that permeates this implementation. If anything, Apple comes off as just a wee bit psychotic looking at the measures it takes to control GameKit connections, which are (after all) nothing more than Bonjour and Bluetooth handshakes.
