There are several obstacles to be overcome before you can start writing applications for iPhones and iPads, and there are many cases where hobbyists who are just looking for a rudimentary app to control some external hardware would welcome a simple solution. Enter techBASIC: this is a platform that enables you to write your own iPhone and iPad applications directly on your mobile device, and it comes with a suite of libraries covering a wide range of functions. In this article we look at an example application that communicates with the outside world using BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy).