Hello, lovers of new (and not so new) technologies. In modern society, people have increasingly begun to use NFC, while many still have difficulty imagining what kind of technology NFC is and how to use it. Let's shed a handful of light on this issue and figure it out... what is NFC in your smartphone.

NFC on my phone. What else is this?

I don’t like to use boring terminology in my articles. Eh, how can I explain it to you in simple Russian language, what is NFC? It’s like “hello” from people, or it’s like dogs, when they meet, the first thing they do is sniff each other’s butts! In any case, all intelligent beings somehow connect before communicating with each other.

In the morning, when you come to work or university, you say hello to a friend. In this way, you identify your interlocutor and identify yourself in front of him. You kind of indicated “ Here I am! Pay attention to me" And after that you begin to exchange information (most often of little use).

Via NFC chips, only small amounts of information can be transmitted (up to about 1000 bytes). And if you need to transfer something weighty, for example, music or video, then NFC is used only for lightning-fast communication between gadgets, and the file transfer itself is carried out either via Bluetooth or via Wi-Fi.

Take, for example, . Some of them also have NFC chips installed, but, nevertheless, they did not become called NFC speakers because of this, right? The NFC chip in them is used only to quickly connect to another device. That's all.

How to use NFC on a smartphone?

You can use NFC technology on your smartphone in a variety of ways, depending on what you need to do. But the list of possibilities for its use is quite wide. Here are just a few of them: transfer content from one device to another, pay for travel on the subway, pay for purchases in a store (you need to link a bank card to your smartphone), use your phone as a door key, and so on. And it seems to me that this list will only grow with time.

As an example, we'll look at how to use NFC to transfer content from smartphone to smartphone. Naturally, NFC technology must be supported by both smartphones and turned on.

In the same way, you can use NFC on a smartphone, for example to transfer a bookmark (or link) from a browser, to transfer someone's phone number from your contacts list, and so on.

How to find out if your phone has NFC?

Are you interested in new technology and would like to know whether your smartphone (phone) has NFC or not? Now it is supported by almost all models of modern dialers, even some. First of all, pay attention to the inscriptions on your smartphone. If your smartphone supports this technology, then you will most likely see a characteristic inscription somewhere on the case or on the battery NFC(or NearFieldCommunication).

If you haven’t seen such an inscription anywhere on the case or under the back cover, then look in the phone menu. If you have an Android smartphone, then lower the curtain and click on the settings icon. There, go to the wireless settings and click on the “ More…" And if you have an option to enable NFC here, then you definitely have it.

NFC tags for phones: where to get them and how to use them?

I don’t know, maybe it would be more correct to make a separate article about NFC tags for phones... Well, oh well, I’ll describe it in general right here.

What's happenedNFC tags for your phone? In essence, NFC tags are very small information storage devices (144 bytes - 1 kilobyte) and are capable of transmitting this information instantly over short distances.

This is what self-adhesive NFC tags look like

How to use tags? In short, using a special application on your smartphone ( NFC ReTag, for example), you program a set of NFC tags for different tasks so as not to perform them manually every time.

A striking example is when you get into a car and turn on the navigator on your smartphone every time. Using the tag and programming it just once, you stick the NFC tag directly onto the phone holder in your car. Now, every time you insert the phone into the holder, it will automatically launch the navigator. Convenient, you will agree.

Another such example is sleep. To avoid muting your phone at night (if that's what you do), place a programmed tag on the place where you usually put your phone before going to bed.

Where to get itNFC tags? The easiest way, of course, is to buy them. For example, this can be done in almost any electronics store (in a large city) or in an online store, it will be cheaper. It will be even cheaper if you order them from China, but then you will have to wait a long time for them.

But purchasing is not the only way to get NFC tags. You can use any NFC chip from everyday use as an NFC tag for your phone. For example, if you don’t know, such chips are inside travel cards, inside bank cards with contactless payment technology, inside some electronic keys and so on. If you have any of this that you no longer use for its intended purpose, then you can safely use it as an NFC tag. Again, do not forget about the application for programming NFC tags.

Conclusion

Yes, it turned out to be so global to cover the topic of using NFC in a smartphone (phone), but there are almost no specifics. Well, I hope the article shed at least a little light on your questions. And if you still have questions, don’t hesitate to ask them in the comments.

NFC stands for Near Field Communication or literally “near field communication”. This technology is used to transfer data between devices over a distance of up to 10 cm. Communication is maintained through magnetic field induction.

NFC can operate in active and passive modes. For the first, it is necessary that both devices have their own power source, and for the second, one is enough. In the latter case, one of the devices receives its operating power from the electromagnetic region of the other.

The NFC chip itself is quite compact in size, which allows it to be installed in smartphones, audio speakers, tablets and other mobile gadgets.

What can NFC be used for?

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Compared to technology, NFC has a very high connection speed between devices. At the same time, the speed of data transfer itself in the active communication mode is quite low. That is why in smartphones NFC is usually used only to transfer contacts, links, notes, and coordinates on the map.

When transferring large files, the technology is used only to connect devices, and the content is sent via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. This even applies to transmission simple video or documents via the “Send” function.

You can find out the exact location of the chip's antennas in the instructions for the device. However, in most cases they are located on the back of the case. Therefore, when connecting via NFC, smartphones need to be leaned against each other with their back panels.

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Passive communication mode can be used to read information from programmable NFC chips or so-called tags. They do not have their own power source, and activation occurs from the electromagnetic field of the reader device.

The main purpose of tags is to obtain additional information about a product or some event. In some retail chains, NFC tags are already replacing barcodes. By leaning the smartphone, the buyer can get detailed information about the expiration date and storage conditions.

Tags are also used to automate various actions on a smartphone - turning on applications, changing the sound profile, sending messages, and so on. For example, you can program a tag to launch your navigator and attach it to your car. As soon as you place your smartphone on it, the gadget will start automatically.

Tags are programmed through special applications on a smartphone, such as NFC Tools.

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Gadgets with NFC can be used to emulate smart cards used as a pass, key or travel pass. However, with the arrival in Russia payment systems Android Pay and Samsung Pay, the main purpose of the NFC chip in a smartphone is to emulate bank cards for contactless payments.

To pay for goods using NFC, you just need to bring your smartphone to the terminal at the checkout. The main thing is to first link your bank card to a payment system available for your smartphone.

Android Pay has the greatest coverage across devices, since, unlike similar services from Apple and Samsung, it is not tailored to devices from a specific manufacturer. However, you can use any of these payment systems without fear or risk.

None of them transmits the card number to the terminal itself at the time of payment. Instead, a so-called token is used - a digital encrypted identifier that is generated automatically when the card is activated. It is he who will be read as the main requisite.

How secure is NFC?

Devices with NFC can both receive and transmit data at the same time, allowing them to detect inconsistencies if the received signal does not match the transmitted one.

The risk of your data being intercepted is extremely low, especially given the technology's minimal range. The same Bluetooth, which operates within tens of meters, is much more vulnerable to external interference.

This also applies to payment details: the token generated for contactless payment will not allow attackers to gain access. And the very fact of intercepting an encrypted identifier looks unrealistic.

In addition, contactless payment requires confirmation via fingerprint reading, password or facial scan. Without all this, the purchase cannot be made. This means that even if the smartphone is stolen, no one will be able to use it as a payment instrument.

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Once upon a time, only expensive flagships supported this technology, but now you can buy a smartphone with NFC for less than 10,000 rubles. In any case, this applies to Android devices. Among the most affordable are Nokia 3, Samsung Galaxy J5, Motorola Moto G5s.

In the Apple ecosystem, the cheapest smartphone with support Apple Pay is the iPhone SE, which today costs just under 20,000 rubles. All more expensive models, starting with the iPhone 6, also have an NFC chip.

If you don't know if your Android smartphone has NFC, you can check by searching through the settings. Typically, technology-related features are available in the connections or wireless sections. Also, the NFC icon should be present in the list of quick launch icons in the curtain at the top.

Initially, Near Field Communication technology ( NFC) has gained maximum popularity as a technology for making contactless payments. You can use a smart card with a built-in NFC chip as a travel card in public transport, as a payment card in institutions retail, as a “smart” business card or as a contactless key card.

However, in lately, this technology is increasingly used in devices such as smartphones and tablets: almost all large manufacturers began to equip their models with medium and high level NFC adapters.

What is NFC?

If we translate the name of the Near Field Communication technology from English, we get the phrase “near field communication,” which can be deciphered in ordinary language as wireless communication over short distances. Thus, we see that two NFC-enabled devices can communicate with each other when they are nearby. And indeed, the “range” of NFC is only a few centimeters.

IN mobile devices NFC technology can be used for various purposes. You can, for example, turn your phone into a virtual bank card, or use it as a pass to a swimming pool or to a business. You can also quickly exchange files and links, and even, using special applications, read and write information to programmable NFC tags or NFC smart cards.

In the operating room Android system, NFC support appeared in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich - its built-in Beam function allows you to share files between devices.

Why do you need NFC if you already have Bluetooth?

As you remember, NFC is most often used when paying for various goods or services, and in this case Bluetooth is not entirely suitable. Firstly, due to its large range (there is a possibility of interception of your payment data). And secondly, the connection between two NFC devices, unlike Bluetooth, occurs almost instantly.

Does your device support NFC?

Not all phones and tablets have NFC adapters. Does your tablet support NFC? How to check its availability?

Some manufacturers, such as Samsung, place the Near Field Communication message directly on the battery of their smartphones, while others, such as Sony, place the NFC logo on the device.

However, the easiest way to check the presence of an NFC adapter in your phone or tablet is through its settings menu:

Go to the settings menu of your Android device

In the section " Wireless networks» click "More..."

Here you should see NFC settings items:

NFC activation

If your tablet or phone has an NFC adapter, you need to allow it to be used to exchange data between other NFC devices.

Go to Settings -> Wireless & networks -> More...

Check the box next to "Allow data exchange when combining the tablet with another device"

This will automatically turn on Android Beam.

If Android Beam doesn't turn on automatically, simply tap on it and select Yes to turn it on.

When Android Beam is disabled, it limits the ability to share NFC data between smartphones or tablets.

Exchange data with using NFC

Once you have activated NFC, you can use it to transfer data. For successful data exchange between tablets and phones, pay attention to the following:

Both the sending and receiving devices must have NFC enabled and Android Beam enabled.

None of the devices should be in sleep mode or have a locked screen.

When you bring the two devices close enough to each other, a beep will sound indicating that the devices have detected each other.

Do not separate the devices until the data transfer is complete and you hear a success signal.

Data transfer via NFC

Place the backs of the devices facing each other.

Wait until confirmation appears that both devices have detected each other and the message “tap to transfer data” appears on the sender’s screen:

Click on the screen and data transfer will begin:

You will hear a sound confirmation both at the beginning and at the end of the data transfer.

Application sharing

With NFC you can't share APK files. Instead, the sending device sends the other device a link to the app in the Google Play Store, and the recipient opens a page in the Market offering to install it.

Sharing web pages

Just as in the previous case, the web page is not transferred from one device to another, but only a link to it is exchanged, which the recipient tablet or phone opens in its web browser.

Exchange YouTube video

Again, when sharing a YouTube video, the file itself is not transferred - the second device will simply open the same video on the YouTube website.

Using NFC tags.

In addition to exchanging information between tablets and phones, you can use your device to read (and write) data from NFC tags and smart cards equipped with an NFC chip.

NFC chips are small enough that they can be embedded anywhere - in business cards, bracelets, product labels, stickers, price tags and other items. They can contain information about the person, a URL, product information, and even commands that your phone or tablet should execute when you touch these tags.

To read data from NFC tags (or to write information to them), you will, of course, need a special application.

For example, using the Yandex.Metro program you can find out how many trips are left on your disposable Moscow Metro card, and the NFC App Launcher program will allow you to program your phone or tablet to perform certain actions by placing the corresponding information in the NFC tag.

Conclusion

Most of the modern Android phones and tablets are already equipped with NFC adapters, but so far this function is in little demand and its use is still limited, mainly by the ability to quickly exchange content and contactless payment for services. However, in the future, NFC may penetrate into all areas of our lives, sometimes even completely unexpected ones.

Modern technologies in the mobile industry are expanding and improving at a rapid pace. Wireless communications such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth occupy a special place here. But in this article we will talk about relatively new technology- NFC: what is it on the phone and what is it for.

Purpose of the module

NFC is a wireless communication module. This name is an acronym and stands for “Near Field Communication”, which means “close communication”. And its main nuance is its small radius of action (up to 10 cm).

The module provides information exchange without the need for a wired connection. The transmitting and receiving devices must be located very close to one another, similar to the type of smartphone and payment terminal.

NFC is developed on the basis of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) - radio frequency identification that automatically identifies different objects. In this case, a special radio signal is used that reads the necessary information contained in the transponders. They are defined as NFC tags.

The main features of this technology:

• small size sensor;
• the ability to exchange any data with gadgets (including passive ones);
• high energy efficiency;
• low exchange rate;
• small price.

Due to these factors, this feature is very popular and can be easily installed in most devices. Among budget models we can highlight phones such as Huawei Honor 5C, Sony Xperia E5, Nokia 3, and among the expensive ones - Xiaomi Mi 6, Samsung Galaxy S8, LG V30.

Difference between NFC and Bluetooth

Many people compare NFC and Bluetooth modules due to the fact that they are both designed for wireless transmission information at a short distance. IN modern smartphones they are implemented together.

There are significant differences between them, one of which is the speed of operation. Energy saving also depends on this. Thus, NFC transmits data much slower, but pairing occurs instantly and little energy is wasted. For Bluetooth, these indicators are the opposite.

To use Bluetooth, you need to turn it on, go to the list of devices available for connection, select the one you need and wait for the connection. For NFC, the connection time takes less than a second, and for this you need to touch your smartphone to the receiving gadget.

Actually, the NFC transmission speed reaches 424 Kb/s, and even Bluetooth version 3.1 reaches 40 Mb/s, not to mention 4.2 and 5.0.

The special difference is in the range. For NFC this figure is no higher than 10 cm, while Bluetooth operates up to 10 m depending on the version and signal strength.

Checking for NFC

This communication is integrated into phones, plastic cards and payment terminals. The receiver itself does not require much space, and it is usually mounted between the battery and the cover of the smartphone.

To programmatically define and enable a module:

If it is missing, then there will be nothing to activate. On plastic cards it is always enabled.

Application options

As soon as the technology became widespread, users began to be interested in ways to use it. So, the NFC gadget can operate in two modes:

• active - NFC is used on both communicating devices;
• passive - the working field of one device is used.

More details about the use of technology in practice are described below.

Contactless payment

The most common use case is contactless payments. All you need to do is link your bank card to your device and bring it to the terminal to make the payment. This method is guaranteed to protect against fraudsters, because due to the small field of action, the signal cannot be intercepted.

To carry out such operations, you must have a special bank card that supports PayPass, after which:

1. Install your bank's application.
2. Log in with your account.
3. Go to the main menu.
4. Select "NFC".
5. Place the card on the back of the smartphone. This is necessary for the sensor to read information on it.

Exchange of information

Another exploitation option is information exchange. For this purpose, for example, a special application from the Play Market is used, which includes “Android Beam” in the name or description. This software allows you to transfer various files to another phone.

Advice! Only send objects as messages or links this way, because the data transfer speed is low and sending files will be very slow.

Reading marks

Another method of use is reading labels. The principle of operation is similar to scanning a QR code, only it uses a sensor under the back cover rather than a camera.

This can be especially useful at home. To create your own tags you need to install special program in Play Market. In this case, it will be possible to assign a specific task under a specific label such as “send a message”, “call”, etc.

Conclusions

NFC on your phone allows you to connect contactlessly with other devices for various tasks, such as paying for goods and services, exchanging information and reading tags. The data transfer speed is low, but the connection is instantaneous and requires almost no power.

On September 9, Apple announced the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones, one of the features of which was the NFC chip and the Apple Pay technology based on it. In the presentation, the main emphasis was placed on the possibility of contactless payment for purchases using a smartphone, but in fact, the possibilities of NFC do not end there and have long been successfully used in Android smartphones to perform many different tasks, from paying for a trip on the subway to automation smartphone.

Instead of introducing

NFC stands for Near Field Communication or “near contactless communication”, in Russian. At its core, it is a small chip that can be built into a smartphone for the purpose of transmitting data over very short distances at a very meager speed. NFC is very close to RFID technology, which has long been used to tag products in supermarkets, but is based on its more recent ISO/IEC 14443 (smart cards) standard and is designed for use in wearable electronics (read: smartphones) and performing secure transactions (read: payment for purchases).

As with the ISO/IEC 14443 standard, NFC has a range of only 5–10 cm, but the difference is that the NFC chip is capable of acting as both a tag and a reader at the same time. In other words, a smartphone equipped with NFC can be either a smart card (a metro card, for example), which just needs to be brought to the reader to pay, or the reader itself, which can be used, for example, to transfer funds between smartphone cards and convert real cards with support for ISO/IEC 14443 standard in virtual.

But this is only “one of” and the most obvious application of NFC. Due to the fact that the NFC chip is capable of transmitting data in both directions and does not require device authentication, it can be used as a simple and more convenient replacement for Bluetooth. Using NFC, for example, you can share links, passwords, contacts and other data between smartphones by simply bringing them close to each other.

Introduced in Android 4.0, Beam technology further expands the scope of NFC, allowing you to quickly transfer entire files and folders between devices, which is achieved by pre-authenticating Bluetooth devices via NFC and then establishing a Bluetooth connection and sending files. As in the previous case, all that is required for the transfer is simply to bring the phones close to each other. IN Samsung firmware this function is called S-Beam and allows you to use not only bluetooth as a “transport channel,” but also Wi-Fi (one of the smartphones turns into an access point).

Another possibility is the use of passive NFC tags. These tags, in the form of small stickers, can be purchased for half a dollar each and reprogrammed using a smartphone. Each of them can contain 137 bytes of information (in the case of the most common and cheapest Mifire Ultralight C tag), to read which, again, you just need to bring your smartphone. You can write down the password for your home Wi-Fi into the tag and stick it on the router. Or a code word to which the smartphone will respond. You can organize the automatic launch of the navigator when you install the smartphone in the holder in the car, or enable silent and energy-saving modes when the phone is on the bedside table. A small shopping list of 137 bytes will also fit quite well.

In this article we will talk about all possible applications NFC is in practice, but since payment for purchases using it has been implemented almost nowhere in our country, we will talk mainly about automation based on tags.

Smartphone support

The first phone with integrated NFC support was Nokia 6131, released back in 2006. At that time, the built-in NFC chip was just a toy to demonstrate the capabilities of the technology created two years ago. The smartphone was equipped with software for reading NFC tags, but due to their then high cost and almost zero popularity of the technology, it was not suitable for any serious use this feature I didn’t claim a smartphone.

After some lull, NFC was popularized by Google, which released in 2010 samsung smartphone Nexus S and Google app Wallet, which allowed you to pay with virtual credit cards using NFC. The following year, Google became a leading participant in the NFC Forum and introduced Android 4.0 and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone based on it, which now boasted the presence of that very Beam function. Later the Nexus 4 appeared, and other manufacturers finally began to catch up.

Today, almost all smartphones produced are equipped with NFC. Even ultra-low-cost Mediatek chips have a corresponding module, so most new Chinese smartphones costing 5,000 rubles are also equipped with it. In any case, the presence of an NFC chip can be easily checked by the presence of the “Wireless networks -> NFC” item in the settings.

Playing with tags

Where can I get tags? As I said, the easiest option is to simply order them from China (dx.com, tinydeal.com, aliexpress.com). The cheapest tags, represented by Mifire Ultralight C with 137 bytes of memory, will cost about five dollars for ten pieces. You can also get branded tags from Sony (SmartTags), but in addition appearance and prices, which will be three to five times higher, they are no different. Another option: TecTile tags from Samsung with an even higher price tag, but also more memory (716 bytes). But here you need to be careful, the first version of the tags is only compatible with the NXP NFC controller, so they will not work with most smartphones.

It is quite possible to use tokens and subway cards as a tag for multiple trips. Often, part of the memory in them remains free for writing, so you can put any information there. But even if this is not the case, the tag can still be used as an action trigger, simply by setting the smartphone to react to the unique ID of the tag.

Without additional software, mobile operating systems have only limited support for “communication” with tags. The same Android does not offer any tools for working with them at all. All you can do is simply bring the tag to your smartphone so that the latter can read it. Depending on the type of data recorded in the tag, the smartphone can display this data on the screen (text type or not supported), open a web page (URI type), launch an application (special type android.com:pkg, supported only in Android) , open the dialer with the specified number (URI type "tel://") and perform some other actions.

There are no means in Android to change the tags themselves or the behavior of the smartphone in response to their detection, so we will have to acquire additional software. The three applications we will use are:

• NFC TagInfo - a tag reader that allows you to obtain the most complete information about the tag and the data recorded in it;
• NFC TagWriter is a proprietary application from leading tag manufacturer NXP Semiconductors;
• Trigger - allows you to independently determine the reaction to a tag with the ability to transfer control to Tasker.

NFC TagInfo

First, let's figure out what kind of tags we got. The Chinese usually don’t provide any details on this matter, and I’m generally silent about subway maps. Launch NFC TagInfo and bring your smartphone to the tag. Next, tap on the Tag Information item and see (screenshot “Reading the NFC tag”) what we have:

• UID - unique tag identifier;
• RF Technology is a standard supported by the tag. IN in this case this is ISO/IEC 14443 Type A, that is, a regular RFID tag with support for the first version of the data exchange protocol (Type A);
• Tag Type - the type (or better said, “model”) of the tag. In this case, NTAG203 is Mifare Ultralight C, the cheapest on at the moment tag. The letter C means support for data encryption. There is also Topaz 512, which holds 450 bytes of information, and Mifare Classic 1K (716 bytes), used in TecTile tags and often in metro maps;
• Manufacturer - tag manufacturer. NXP Semiconductors - they make 90% of all NFC tags (Mifare family).

Now let's go back and go to the NDEF information menu. NDEF is one of the NFC standards that describes the format for storing information in the tag memory and transmitting it to the reader. A tag can contain multiple NDEF messages, each with its own ID and type, which the smartphone can use to determine how to interpret the data it contains. The type is specified in the format URI, MIME, or domain:service, if we are talking about some type specific to the reader (for example, the same android.com:pkg).

In the NDEF information menu, we are primarily interested in the lines Maximum message size (useful tag size), Is tag writable (write support) and Can tag be write-protected (write protection support). The last option allows you to block tag recording for all devices except ours. In addition, a tag can be permanently locked so that it can never be written down again. In this case, the penultimate option will indicate no.

What's inside the tag?

From a technical point of view, an NFC tag is a microcomputer like those found inside SIM and bank cards. It has its own processor, RAM and permanent memory, but there is no traditional power source. Electric current it receives through electromagnetic induction that occurs between the reader and tag antennas, just as it happens in wireless chargers and passive radio receivers. Thanks to the ultra-low level of energy consumption, the power of such a “transformer” is quite sufficient for the normal functioning of the microcomputer.

The antenna occupies about 99% of the tag area and transmits data at a frequency of 13.56 MHz at a speed of 106, 212, or 424 Kbps. The NFC standards define several data transfer protocols, including several implementations of the data exchange protocol (they are designated by the letters A, B, and so on), which can be supplemented by the manufacturer of the tag itself. For example, Mifare family tags implement a number of extensions over the standard protocol, which is why it is possible to catch incompatibilities between applications and the tag (but this is rare).

Data security is ensured in several ways:

• Short range. Ten centimeters is a very private zone.
• Anti-cloning protection with a unique serial number.
• Possibility of overwrite protection and password protection of data.
• Optional data encryption in memory and during transmission.

The leading manufacturer of NFC tags is NXP Semiconductors. They produce tags from the Mifare family, which have become so popular that compatibility with them is ensured not only by other tag manufacturers, but also by manufacturers of NFC chips for smartphones (at the tag emulation level). The family includes several different models, starting from the simplest Mifare Ultralight C and ending with Mifare DESFire EV1, which have a built-in file system with cryptography support and flexible access rights.

Go to the NDEF message menu. If the tag contains any data, it will all be displayed here, broken down into messages. The remaining NFC TagInfo options allow you to view information about the tag's memory: actual volume, dump in HEX and ASCII formats, access rights to memory pages, and so on. I recommend returning to these options after writing to the data tag.

Writing data

We will use NFC TagWriter to record data. Using the application is quite simple. Launch it, tap on Create, write and store, select New, then select the type of data to be written. The most useful types: contact, plain text, telephone number, Bluetooth connection data, URI and application. The list even includes a web browser bookmark and an email message, but what they are needed for is not entirely clear.

Next, fill in the required fields (for example, the website address in the case of URI), click Next and get to the options screen (screenshot “NFC TagWriter: message options”). Here you can specify the application that will be launched after reading the label (Add launch application) and set protection against overwriting by a third-party device (Apply Soft Protection). The application will also take care to inform us about tag models that can accommodate this data (in this case everything is OK, NTAG203 is in the list).

Click Next again and bring the smartphone to the tag. Voila, our data is in it. Now they can be read by any NFC-enabled smartphone. But what does this ultimately give?

Use cases

In fact, there are a lot of scenarios for using tags. For example, I use tags for storing passwords and home automation, others for automatically unlocking a smartphone and automatically starting a navigator in a car. Tags can be glued to a table, on a laptop, on a keychain, inside a book, on a business card, or sewn under clothing. Therefore, the range of their application is huge, and ultimately everything depends only on your imagination.

Home automation

The simplest and most obvious way to use tags is to simply stick them around the house in order to create some kind of automation system. There are many different options here. I will give you the most interesting and useful ones.

• Home Wi-Fi password. We put a tag on the router and write the password into it using the InstaWifi application. It will be useful not only for those who often receive guests, but also for those who like to experiment with firmware.
• Launch auto-sync or an application for exchanging data with a PC. The tag can be glued to a laptop or system unit and configured to launch an application for data synchronization (AirDroid, WiFi ADB and others).
• Enable the access point. Again, we glue the tag on the laptop, then install the Trigger application. In it we add a new task, select NFC as a trigger, skip the selection of restrictions, select “Wireless and local networks-> Wifi zone", skip the next screen (adding a switch) and on the last screen bring it to the NFC tag.
• Turn on airplane mode at night. We glue the mark somewhere closer to the bed. Launch Trigger, new task -> trigger: NFC -> action: “Experimental -> Airplane mode”. Alternatively, instead of turning on airplane mode, you can set the data and Wi-Fi to be turned off by adding the appropriate actions to the task.

Automotive Automation

NFC tags will be very useful for those who use a smartphone as car navigator. Just stick the tag on the smartphone holder and write down instructions for launching the navigator in it - and voila. Everything has become much easier. However, I would recommend going a slightly different route and complicating the setup by adding automatic switching on Bluetooth (for headset), GPS and turning off Wi-Fi.

To do this, we again need Trigger. Launch it, add a task, select NFC as a trigger. Add the action “Bluetooth -> Bluetooth On/Off -> Enable”. Add one more action: “Wireless and local networks -> GPS On/Off -> Enable”. And one more thing: “Wireless and local networks -> WiFi On/Off -> Turn off.” Finally, add the action “Application and shortcuts -> Open application -> select application”. We skip the screen for adding switches, on the next screen we bring the smartphone to the tag.

Now, after installing the smartphone in the holder, we will receive a smartphone fully configured for use in the car.

Unlocking your smartphone

Motorola has a pretty interesting smartphone accessory called the Motorola Skip. This is a clothing clip for quickly unlocking your smartphone without having to enter a PIN code or graphic key. The accessory is quite useful in some cases, but it only works with smartphones from the same company. Fortunately, a similar contraption can be assembled on your knee.

I won’t tell you how to make the clip itself - here everyone is free to show their imagination, you can stick an NFC tag on your hand - but instead I’ll tell you how to set up the smartphone to unlock when you touch it. There are several ways, but the simplest and most effective is the Xposed NFC LockScreenOff Enabler module. The module, like Xposed itself, requires root, but in addition to effectively solving the problem, it includes a super function - activating NFC when the screen is off.

The fact is that for security reasons, Android prohibits the use of NFC until the screen is unlocked (not just turned on, but unlocked), which negates many effective techniques for using it. NFC LockScreenOff Enabler solves this problem.

Business card

NFC tags can be used in combination with business cards. There are several companies on the market that produce them, but their price tags are such that it’s easier to stick tags on ordinary business cards yourself, and still have a lot of money left in your pocket. You can write any information into a tag, including contact information (TagWriter supports this format), website address, or even the geographic coordinates of your office (the smartphone will automatically open maps to show the location). And the most important thing is that you don’t have to give the business card to the person, it’s enough for him to scan it.

Turning on the computer

This is a kind of development of the idea of ​​tags on a system unit and a laptop. The idea is to create a setting that will allow you to turn on your computer using an NFC tag without taking into account where the tag itself is located. For example, you can stick it in the hallway, so you can turn on the car even before you take off your shoes. The method is based on the WoL function, which allows you to turn on a computer by sending packets to an Ethernet port, and the Android application Wol Wake on Lan Wan, which does this via the Internet.

How to set it up? First, open the router control panel and configure forwarding of ports 7 and 9 (WoL ports) to our home car. It is very important to specify the MAC address instead of the IP, since the latter may be given to another device. Next, we go to noip.com, register and receive a free domain, which we will use to reach the router from the outside. If you have a static IP, you can skip this step.

Next, install Wol Wake on Lan Wan on your smartphone, click the Add New button and enter an arbitrary name, the computer’s MAC address and the previously obtained domain in the window that opens, and click Save. Just in case, we check the settings. Next, install Tasker, go to the Tasks tab, create a new task, select Plugin -> Wol Wake on Lan Wan as an action and select the previously created WoL profile. Save.

Now we need to link this task to NFC. To do this, launch Trigger, add a task, select NFC as a trigger, and “Scheduler -> Scheduler Task” as an action (the developers translated Tasker as “Scheduler”), then select the task created in the previous step in Tasker, skip creating switches and At the last stage of setup, we bring the smartphone to the NFC tag.

This is all. If everything is configured correctly, then when a tag is detected, Android will give control to Trigger, it, in turn, will launch a Tasker task, which will activate the profile we need in the Wol Wake on Lan Wan application, it will send the WoL packet to the router, and it will redirect it to MAC address of the computer, network card which... Oh well. In general, everything should just work :).

Conclusions

NFC technology has a lot of applications, and I'm sure that within five years NFC tags and payment terminals will be everywhere, from advertising posters to supermarkets. And I hope that at least this time Russia will not lag behind the rest of the world by fifty years.