Select your language

What's NFC?

NFC is a short-range wireless technology that opens a large array of possibilities and diversified uses.
It's up to everyone to own this technology. NFC actually means: Near Field Communication.

Suggested articles: NFC basics: Learn all About NFC

Where can I get NFC chips?

You can get check this page to find everything you need to start: List of recommended NFC chips
It is recommended to buy universal NFC chips to avoid compatibilities issues like the NTAG21x.

Visit our shop to get a wide range of NFC products : https://nfc.cards

Is my device NFC ready, and how do I activate it?

To activate NFC on your Android smartphone, you must go to the phone settings in the tab dedicated to connections (Bluetooth, NFC, etc.) and activate the NFC function. On iPhones, NFC is always enabled.

Suggested article: How do I activate NFC on my Android phone?

How do I read NFC chips?

Open NFC Tools on the “Read” tab and slide your NFC chip along the back of the device.

Suggested article: How to properly scan your NFC tag?

How do I write information?

Go to the “Write” tag of NFC Tools, then add as many records as you wish with the “Add a record” button.
When you're done, tap “Write” and slide the NFC Tags along the back of your device, it's that simple.

Suggested article: How to write a link on an NFC chip?

How do I write tasks?

The process is the same than with the previous question, but in the “Tasks” tab instead of the “Write” tab.

Why can’t I read (or write) my NFC tag ?

There are multiple reasons why you can’t read your NFC tag, here is the most popular answer :

  • Your device is not compatible with this sort of NFC chip
  • Your NFC chip is read-only, protected by password or locked
  • Your NFC chip is corrupted
  • Your chip is not a NFC chip (RFID doesn't mean NFC)
  • 42 (universal answer)


Suggested article: Why I cannot read or write my NFC chips?

Why does my NFC tag indicate “Not supported” ?

This means that your device does not support your NFC tag technology.
Eg: Your device can’t read Mifare Classic chips.

Suggested article: Why I cannot read or write on my Mifare Classic chips?

Once I lock an NFC tag, can I go back?

No, you can't unlock an NFC tag once it's been locked, it's the reason why you get an alert message when you decide to lock a tag.

Suggested article: How to lock an NFC chip?

How can I set a password on my NFC tag ?

After write an URL for example, your NFC tag can be left intentionally in a place easy to reach for everyone.
So, to avoid other people changing its content, you should lock your NFC tag to prevents any unwanted rewriting.

For this, you can lock your NFC tag but this operation can't be undone and your tag will be not writable thereafter.
The second option, is for tags like NTAG213, 216, and other compatible NFC tags : Password protection.
This is useful because it avoids a definitive lock of your NFC tag and prevents writing if the password hasn't been removed before.

Suggested article: How to protect an NFC chip with a password?

Is the password protection secure ?

On NTAG21x, there are 4 bytes allocated to the password.
The range is 00 00 00 00 to FF FF FF FF, it means 4 294 967 296 possibilities.
For example, on an NFC reader which takes 200ms to communicate with the chip, it will take approximately 27 years to brute force the password.

Suggested article: How to protect an NFC chip with a password?

Is it possible to save my NFC cards (bus, bank, door, ...) inside NFC Tools and use my device to emulate those cards ? Is it possible to copy / emulate my access card ?

No sorry, it’s not possible because these sorts of cards are generally read protected for security reasons.
Imagine if everyone could copy your access cards or your credit cards, It would be very dangerous.
With NFC Tools for Android, you can only emulate NDEF record located in “Write” tab.

Suggested article: [ NFC Tools - Android ] Why I cannot emulate my NFC chips?

What's the difference between the “Tasks” and the “Write” tabs?

With the “Write” tab, you can put standard information onto your NFC tag, so that you can read the tag with another NFC capable device -which doesn't need to run Android, it also works with Windows Phones for example. The “Tasks” tab require for NFC Tasks to already be installed on your device.

Why do I need NFC Tasks for my tasks to work?

Yes, you do need another app to run the tasks on your NFC tag. Having the proper permissions, NFC Tasks will run all the tasks recorded on your NFC tag. NFC Tasks is an extra app which runs tasks recorded by NFC Tools.

Why a separate app?

Running tasks require a lot of permissions, I wanted to keep as little required permissions as possible on NFC Tools (only NFC) in order to accommodate the people who don't want to use tasks.

Can someone else run tasks recorded on my NFC Tag?

Yes, if they have NFC Tasks on their device.

What happens if someone who doesn't have NFC Tasks on their device try?

The NFC tag will automatically redirect to Google Play in order to download NFC Tasks.
Once the app is installed, they'll be able to read the NFC tag and run the tasks.

Why are some tasks only running on a rooted device?

Android prevents some Settings from being changed by apps.
So, in order to put your device in Aeroplane mode you need to have root access on your device.
These tasks are highly dependent on your device software and hardware. It may sometimes not work at all.

Why can’t I use all the tasks located in the Root category ?

Advanced system commands need a privileged access to the Android system, this is why some tasks requires a rooted device for work properly.

How can I edit my NFC tag records or tasks ?

Yes, go to “more option” menu and select “Import from an existing NFC tag”.
Then you can edit, add or remove records / tasks and write again on your NFC tag.

Is it possible to control another app with NFC Tools ?

You can open an app, you can execute a shortcut, and you can send an intent to this app.
But if your app doesn’t offer any way to accept external control, it’s not possible.

Tasker doesn't have android permissions?

Check if external access in Tasker is enabled. If it still doesn't work, try to uninstall/reinstall NFC Tasks (Tasker needs to be installed before installing NFC Tasks).

Any more questions?

Feel free to ask the community or to contact the support, they will try to give you an answer as soon as possible.

About

Creator of innovative solutions
Android | iOS | Web | NFC

Keep in touch