Wand Browser

At a glance

Wand Browser is an open-source iPhone browser for testing web apps that use Web Bluetooth, Web NFC and the camera. You open your HTTPS page in Wand, and a JavaScript bridge hands navigator.bluetooth and NDEFReader calls to the iPhone's Bluetooth and NFC radios. It is worth trying if your hardware web app must work on iPhone.

Good fit

Developers building a web app that talks to Bluetooth Low Energy peripherals or NDEF tags and who need to test it on an iPhone. It covers device selection, GATT reads, writes and notifications, NDEF tag reads and writes, and getUserMedia video, with per-site device choice and NFC approval.

Consider something else when

Skip it if your code depends on Web Bluetooth or Web NFC calls outside the subset the bridge implements, if your tags are not NDEF, or if you need hardware access from an iframe or plain HTTP page. It is a test browser for developers, not a general Safari replacement.

Start here

Install it from the App Store or the TestFlight beta, open your HTTPS test page with a compatible BLE device or NDEF tag nearby, and pick the device when the site requests it. To build from source, open ios/WandBrowser.xcodeproj, select the WandBrowser scheme, set your signing team, bundle ID and NFC Tag Reading capability, then run.

Cost and requirements

The source is MIT licensed. The README links an App Store listing and a TestFlight beta but does not state an App Store price. It requires iOS 18 or later and a physical iPhone for BLE and NFC tests; the simulator can only check browser flows and bridge logic. Source builds were tested with Xcode 26.6 and need no package installs.

Limits to know

The README calls this an early version that supports a subset of Web Bluetooth and Web NFC, and tells you to check your calls against HardwareBridge.js. Hardware and camera access need a top-level HTTPS page with Wand in the foreground, and permissions end on reload, navigation or backgrounding. The repository was created in October 2026. Its native tests load hosted HTTPS fixtures and need internet access.

Still unclear

• Which specific Web Bluetooth calls (for example getDevices, advertisement watching or descriptor access) are missing from the bridge is not listed in the README.
• Whether the App Store version is free or paid is not stated in the repository.