With Blynk it's easy to create a device prototype, generate AuthToken and flash it to the hardware for testing purposes. But how does this process scale up when you are deploying thousands of devices for end-customers?From the very beginning, we made it just as easy to deploy commercial WiFi devices. They can get an AuthToken from Blynk.App during the WiFi provisioning process. You can read all about how it works here.However, for non-WiFi devices, like cellular or wired devices ( 3G, 4G, LTE, Ethernet, etc.) the process is quite different. Two things have to happen to make it work:
- Device should be authenticated in the Blynk.Cloud. A valid AuthToken is required for that.
- Device should get an actual owner (end-user) and should be assigned to a certain organization.
Fortunately, with the new feature we are introducing today, putting cellular, wired, and other non-WiFi devices into your customer's hands has been made extremely easy.
The new workflow is the following:
1. Generate AuthTokens
You generate the number of AuthTokens you need using the new feature.
2. Flash AuthTokens to your devices
You can export all the AuthTokens as CSV and flash them to your devices using your own tools.
3. Get the QR codes
Every generated AuthToken is associated with a QR code image that can be printed on the product, inserted into the packaging, or delivered to your customer in any other way. Blynk generates printable QR codes in .PNG format.
4. Devices are ready for delivery
Now you are all set to start delivering (selling) your products to the customers
5. Customer receives your device
Your customer receives the device, downloads the Blynk app and creates a new account in the app.
6. Customer activate (claims) your device
Customer scans the provided QR code. Now device is added to the customer's account, placed into customer's organization and is ready to use.
You, as a manufacturer, can manage AuthTokens, view claimed and unclaimed devices, and perform all the actions needed.
In some cases, you may already have a unique identifier of the device. For example, an MAC address, or a serial number. With the AuthToken management feature you can map your unique identifiers to Blynk AuthTokens. We will cover this topic in one of the upcoming posts.
☝️ Things to pay attention to:
As you see, the proposed workflow offers an amazing end-customer experience because the device can be claimed with only a quick scan of the QR code. However, on a manufacturer's side, it requires a solid process.
- Flashing a unique AuthToken to each device means that every device will have a different firmware. This process can be optimized by flashing AuthToken at the "end of the line". Blynk can offer a special utility for that upon request.
- Because every device should have a QR code, your manufacturing process should be well-organized to put correct QR code prints on every device.
This new commercial feature is available in PRO plan and White Label plans. As always, try it out and share your feedback on our forum.
