Book excerpt: Connect things to create amazing IoT applications in minutes Key Features Use Blynk cloud and Blynk server to connect devices Build IoT applications on Android and iOS platforms A practical guide that will show how to connect devices using Blynk and Raspberry Pi 3 Book Description Blynk, known as the most user-friendly IoT platform, provides a way to build mobile applications in minutes. With the Blynk drag-n-drop mobile app builder, anyone can build amazing IoT applications with minimal resources and effort, on hardware ranging from prototyping platforms such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi 3 to industrial-grade ESP8266, Intel, Sierra Wireless, Particle, Texas Instruments, and a few others. This book uses Raspberry Pi as the main hardware platform and C/C++ to write sketches to build projects. The first part of this book shows how to set up a development environment with various hardware combinations and required software. Then you will build your first IoT application with Blynk using various hardware combinations and connectivity types such as Ethernet and Wi-Fi. Then you'll use and configure various widgets (control, display, notification, interface, time input, and some advanced widgets) with Blynk App Builder to build applications. Towards the end, you will learn how to connect with and use built-in sensors on Android and iOS mobile devices. Finally you will learn how to build a robot that can be controlled with a Blynk app through the Blynk cloud and personal server. By the end of this book, you will have hands-on experience building IoT applications using Blynk. What you will learn Build devices using Raspberry Pi and various sensors and actuators Use Blynk cloud to connect and control devices through the Blynk app builder Connect devices to Blynk cloud and server through Ethernet and Wi-Fi Make applications using Blynk app builder on Android and iOS platforms Run Blynk personal server on the Windows, MAC, and Raspberry Pi platforms Who this book is for This book is targeted at any stakeholder working in the IoT sector who wants to understand how Blynk works and build exciting IoT projects. Prior understanding of Raspberry Pi, C/C++, and electronics is a must.