NFC stands for Near Field Communication and allows two devices to communicate closely with each other. An NFC tag is a paper tag that can be programmed to accomplish your tasks using NFC technology.
If you haven’t heard of this technology before, the above may sound too technical to you, but it is not. After learning the basics of programming an NFC tag, you will find that you can use it to automate a number of tasks that you might do manually every day.
Obtaining an NFC tag and programming it does not require any special skills. If you know how to use the app on your Android device, you can program the NFC tag to perform the tasks you specify. Plus, these NFC tags are inexpensive and available on all major websites including Amazon. You can get several of them so that they can do different tasks for you.
NFC Tag Programming Requirements
In order to program NFC tags, you must meet certain requirements or requirements. These are basic and as long as you use modern gadgets you should be fine.
You must have:
- an NFC tag that can be bought very cheap on Amazon.
- An NFC compatible Android device. Check the specifications of your phone to confirm.
- Application for programming your tags. There is a free app in the Play Store, so you have nothing to worry about.
After making sure you meet the minimum requirements, proceed to the next section to start writing data to your NFC tag.
Writing data to an NFC tag using an Android device
Programming an NFC tag basically means writing the actions you want to take into your tag. This is done using a free app from the Play Store that you can download and use on your device.
- The first thing you need to do is enable the NFC option on your device. To do this, open the Settings app, tap Bluetooth & device pairing, select Connection options, and finally turn the NFC switch to ON.
If you don’t find this option in the exact menu shown above, you can look inside the other menus to see if it’s there. The location of the option depends on the device you are using.
- When NFC is enabled, launch the Google Play Store on your device, find an app named Trigger and install it on your device.
- Start the application you just installed. When it opens, you need to create a new trigger first. This can be done by clicking on the + (plus) sign in the lower right corner.
- On the next screen, you will find the parameters for which you can create triggers. The option you need to tap is called NFC because it allows you to take an action when you tap an NFC tag.
- After pressing NFC, click Next on the next screen to continue programming the tag.
- On the next screen, you can add constraints to your tag. Here you can define the conditions under which your tag can run. When you have specified the options, click Finish.
- Your NFC trigger is now ready. Now you need to add an action to it for the tag to perform the selected action when clicked. Click Next to do this.
- You will find various actions that you can add to your tag to make it run. As an example, we will use the Bluetooth toggle option to turn Bluetooth on / off when clicking on a tag. When done, click Next.
- You can further customize the action on the next screen. Since we want to enable Bluetooth, we will select Toggle from the dropdown menu and click Add to Task.
- Now you can see all the actions that you have added to the list. If you like, you can take additional steps by clicking on the + (plus) sign at the top. This will force your tag to do multiple tasks at the same time. Then click Next to continue.
- Click Finish on the next screen.
- Here is the main part where you actually write data to your tag. Place the NFC tag near the NFC location (usually near the rear camera) and the app will automatically record your actions in your tag.
- You will receive a message about the successful completion of the tag programming.
From now on, whenever you touch your phone to an NFC tag, it will perform predefined actions on your device. In our case described above, it will switch the Bluetooth function on our phone.
You can even pin these tags wherever you want, and then all you have to do is tap them with your phone to start your tasks.
How to Erase NFC Tag on Android
If you want to use your tag for some other purpose, you can do so by deleting the existing data on it. You can program NFC tags as many times as you like, and it’s pretty easy to format them if you want.
- Enable the NFC option on your device and launch the Trigger app.
- Click on the three horizontal lines in the upper left corner and select “More NFC Actions”.
- On the next screen, you will find the Remove Tag option. Click on it to select.
- Place your NFC tag on your phone as you did when programming it.
You will receive a notification when the tag is removed. In most cases, this happens instantly.
Programmable NFC Tag Uses
If this is your first time using NFC tags, we know you will appreciate some suggestions as to what to use them for
- Create an NFC tag for Wi-Fi that will allow your guests to automatically connect to your Wi- Fi.
- Create an NFC tag for your alarm so you don’t have to mess with the alarm app.
- Create a conference room tag that silences people’s devices.
- Program a tag to call someone from your contacts
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