This is not about FM or AM radio music at all! Here's what you need to know about the ANT radio service.
If you've ever encountered a process called ANT Radio Service on your Android device, you might be wondering what it is. After all, you may be thinking, “I don't listen to the radio. I need it? »
Here's the thing: ANT Radio service has NOTHING to do with AM or FM radio. You are not using the ANT radio service to set up radio services on your Android device. But then again, judging by the name, you could be forgiven for assuming that's what the ANT Radio Service might be for.
In fact, the ANT Radio service is designed to provide connections between your Android phone and Internet of Things (IOT) devices. Here's what you need to know.
ANT Radio Service: It’s not about FM radio at all
What ANT Radio Service is is partly mentioned in the name itself - and in the “Radio” part. But here radio does not mean AM and FM radio stations. Instead of radio means wireless radio signal. Wireless radio signals aren't just for AM and FM stations. They also allow data transfer.
And this data transmission is exactly what the ANT radio service is designed for. You see, ANT Radio Service is just another wireless protocol for your smartphone and connected IoT devices. So it's not much different from NFC , Bluetooth or Wi-Fi . But the ANT Radio service tends to be primarily used to connect one type of IoT device: sports and fitness devices.
These are devices such as fitness trackers, smart watches , and heart rate monitors. ANT Radio Service is what allows these devices to communicate and exchange data between themselves and your Android smartphone .
There are TONS of devices that require an ANT connection and you can see them all here.
Disadvantages of the ANT standard
Among the disadvantages of the ANT data transmission method are conflicts with other technologies. Its creators did everything to ensure that devices equipped with it worked stably. But in some situations, when other technologies (Bluetooth) are activated, some losses and interruptions in the incoming signal occur. Therefore, users should make sure that they are not encountered in active mode on devices.
Unlike the similar Bluetooth standard, ANT is not as widespread. And there are problems in supporting it with other devices.
ANT Radio Service: How do I get it?
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The ANT Radio service most likely comes pre-installed on your Android device. However, if this is not the case, you will likely be prompted to install it if you connect a device that requires ANT Radio service.
Alternatively, if there is an app on that device, it may include the ANT radio service installer itself, in which case you do not need to install the ANT radio service separately.
And of course, you can install ANT Radio Service directly on your phone (even if you don't need it) by downloading from the Google Play store.
Facebook and other social networks
The social network Facebook is the most popular in the world today, so it is not surprising that the corresponding mobile application is installed by a huge number of users. The mobile client allows you to receive notifications about new likes, post photos of your food and always stay in touch with friends. However, in return, this application consumes a huge amount of system resources and significantly reduces the battery life of the mobile gadget. According to the annual App Report 2015 AVG Android App Report, it is the Facebook mobile client that ranks at the top of the chart of the most power-hungry programs on the Android platform.
Alternative. Use the mobile version of Facebook in any modern browser. The functionality is not much different, but there are no annoying notifications and a rapidly draining battery.
ANT radio service: can it be removed?
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If you're wondering if ANT Radio Service can be safely removed, the answer is YES. However, if you remove the ANT radio service, any connected devices that require it will no longer talk to your smartphone.
But don't worry, if this happens, you can simply download ANT Radio Service again.
The Weather Channel and other weather apps
The Weather Channel is an excellent example of how developers manage to build a whole mega-combiner on the simplest function - displaying a weather forecast. Here you will see animated wallpapers, meteorological maps, a bouquet of interactive widgets, and God knows what else. All this equipment sits in the device’s RAM, contacts the Internet every five minutes and, of course, eats up your battery in the most unscrupulous way.
Alternative. Look out the window - you will get much more reliable information than what the desktop widget shows. If you need a forecast, Google will provide you with the most reliable forecast for the week ahead.
ANT Radio Service: what else should I know?
That's all! But if you want to dive into more technical details about the ANT Radio Service, you should check out the official website here. And if you're interested, this is their official description of the ANT radio service:
“ANT Radio service is a system service that was pre-installed by your device manufacturer or added as part of an Android update by your carrier and smartphone manufacturer* to enable the built-in ANT communications hardware already included in your mobile device. It is similar to the system components that provide other forms of wireless connectivity on your phone (e.g. WiFi, NFC), and will not launch or use system resources unless you run an application that requires ANT wireless connectivity.
“This system service, together with ANT+ plug-ins, allows other applications of your choice to interact with ANT+ compatible products (system services cannot be removed or launched directly). These other apps allow you to do things like collect, share, and view real-time sports, health, and fitness data on your mobile device. Please note: The compatible products you can use with your mobile device will depend on the third-party Android application you select."
And check out how to use Google Nearby Share !
Q: Is ANT Radio service free? "
Yes, ANT Radio service is free. It comes installed on most Android phones, but you can also download it for free.
Q: What is ANT radio service used for?
It is used to connect Internet of Thing devices to your smartphone. These are devices such as fitness trackers and smart watches.
Principle of operation
The protocol is capable of providing communication between two components, where one device in the connection is a sensor from which data comes, while the other receives it. At the same time, any devices that support the standard can form a logical connection and transmitting information can receive it in another formed connection with another object. ANT+ Plugins includes system elements that allow smartphone applications to access ANT+-enabled devices, regardless of Android OS version. The feature has already been implemented on smartphones from well-known manufacturers Samsung, Sony, etc., unlike Apple, but this does not mean that the technology cannot be applied to them. You can work with the adaptive standard even in the absence of integrated hardware support, via an OTG cable and an ANT+ USB stick using the ANT+ USB Service application. So, for mobile devices with USB/OTG, computers and devices with MacOS you need a USB adapter.
To make it more clear what kind of ANT HAL Service program is in a smartphone, we can give as an example any system installed in the house with an electronic sensor, from which signals will be sent to the control center, that is, to the phone where there is software that uses ANT+ transmission. The technology is also convenient when used for medical purposes, for example, when a doctor located at some distance from the patient (of course, within the range of the standard) receives data from sensors from the patient about his condition.
Convenience for the manufacturer
The ANT+ consortium holds developer conferences every year to meet product manufacturers and programmers. This is where discussions happen and product managers request new profiles for upcoming features. It's also a place where startups submit new designs and profiles in hopes that manufacturers will license them, or simply want to make things themselves.
Since June 2012, the ANT+ technology development team has been led by Sebastian Barnovsky, who has been creating profiles - a communication language for a specific type of information.
Thus, heart rate data has its own profile, as does power, speed, cadence, etc. This allows you to work with devices from different brands, which is a boon for everyone. Closed systems like Polar's proprietary language simply don't have a future where ANT+ technology is headed.
Differences from Bluetooth
An inquisitive mind has already noticed certain similarities between Bluetooth and ANT+. Despite the general frequency of operation, the two communication standards have a number of differences from each other. They have different packet structures, different channel intervals and reception ranges - Bluetooth operates at a distance of up to 50 meters.
ANT+ outperforms its competitor in terms of power consumption. In sleep and active modes, the consumption is approximately identical, but when initiating communication sessions the difference is obvious. Features of the ANT+ format allow it to send less additional data. There are other points, the difference for each of which individually is small, but in total there is an advantage of 30 percent. The presence of this protocol will be a positive factor for people who attach great importance to the power consumption of a smartphone.
Sport display
How else is this technology used? 4iiii makes the Sportiiiis display, which syncs with the bike's ANT+ sensors to show your current workout status using simple LEDs. The system mounts on any sunglasses and uses a series of red, yellow and green lights, the latter of which is in the center, to indicate whether the athlete is above or below your target zone. Voice guidance from the rear speaker provides a wider range of data, including heart rate, power, speed and cadence.
Integration efficiency
So what happens if someone wants to submit new information that is not in their current profiles? According to Barnowski, this can be done in two ways. The first and fastest option is to create your own profile, which is necessary to quickly bring a product to the market or to hide something from other devices. This can be done at any time at the manufacturer level, which significantly speeds up the development cycle.
The second option is to request a new public ANT+ profile. This is necessary if, say, Speedplay wants to convey sole pressure or pedaling speed. This requires a computer company that will receive this data and, upon request, provide it to various electronics for reading and display. In this case, Speedplay representatives will contact ANT Plus and tell you what they need.
Interference
ANT+ devices do not interfere with each other thanks to channel coding, modulation scheme and very clever time division of signals. But Bluetooth, wireless home phone, smartphone WiFi, and even home WiFi also occupy the very crowded unlicensed 2.4 GHz band. All of these ANT+ signals are noise and can cause errors and affect reception range. If there is reason to believe that the data is incorrect, you should look for extraneous sources of radiation (including a microwave oven). Moving WiFi to the 5 GHz frequency so that every device in the room works in this band (if it is modern enough) can help solve the problem.
A USB3 hub can also wreak havoc on ANT+ broadcasts. If there is something similar nearby, you can try to turn it off. If reception improves, then the source of interference has been found.
Brief historical background
The parent of the promising communication protocol is Dynastream Innovations. The official date of birth of the project is the distant year 2004.
Since then, the development team has been engaged in marketing, advertising the creation to corporations. Over time, the “big bosses” believed in the future of ant - today more than 500 companies are promoting the technological product to the masses.
It is important to know! Microsoft and Texas Instruments have announced their support for this promising creation.
Operating range
Although the specification states that ANT+ has a range of up to 30m, it doesn't say that all devices must have that range. Most likely, sensor manufacturers will settle on a fairly minimum, such as the distance from the bike sensor to the handlebars, thereby reducing power and significantly improving the device's internal battery life. The Kickr is mains powered so it can handle maximum ANT+ signal. The receiver on the PC also operates at full power. Therefore, you should not be surprised if you easily receive signals from Kickr that the online calorie counter installed on your bike stops functioning if the exercise machine is moved a little further from the receiver.
