I hear you, that is what David was talking about on the show about them not being as “consumer friendly” as they could be.
iBeacon is a Bluetooth LE-based signal standard that lets Apple devices know if they are near an emitter. In common language, the devices themselves are referred to as “iBeacon”.
As long as the device supports the iBeacon standard it will work with iOS and Pushcut. Whether you go for a USB dongle, a powered beacon station, or a battery-powered tile or dot will depend mainly on the where you want to place them.
You will not need “SDKs”, and the custom apps you get with the beacons are usually only needed to initially set them up for use. (ie: copy the beacon’s UUID and adjust its signal strength).
There were some recommendations in this thread: