The NFC tag type is not supported on Samsung Galaxy. We use NFC for automation

All current Android smartphones have the top line of the screen literally filled with all sorts of symbols. Many of them are clear, familiar, and even useful: the notification panel informs you about new email messages, file downloads, the availability and quality of telephone and WiFi networks, battery charge level, etc. However, sometimes a mysterious letter N appears there, causing some suspicious users to feel slightly uneasy.

In this article we will talk about the function that is designated in Android devices by this very letter N, as well as how to disable it, and why you can do it right now.

• What does the N symbol mean and what is NFC?

On the panel Android notifications an intricately designed letter N appears as a sign that the smartphone (or tablet) is turned on NFC module. NFC - Near Field Communication - is a technology through which two nearby mobile devices can exchange data (sorry for such a simplified definition).

You've probably already heard about this technology and even seen it in action. In developed democracies, NFC is used everywhere: for example, in mobile payment systems (the most famous in our country are Android Pay And Samsung Pay) - this is when you can directly from your smartphone, smart bracelets and other smart devices. In addition, via NFC you can transfer any other data from one smartphone to another.

• How to disable NFC in Android smartphone(and take the N icon from the notification panel)?

This one is simple. Most likely, in your Android you will find the option to disable NFC directly in the quick settings menu. That is, we swipe across the screen from top to bottom, and in the drop-down menu, somewhere next to the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth symbols, we find an icon in the form of the same letter N as in the notification panel, with a caption next to it and, if the function is active, tap on it to turn it off.

If in quick settings You didn’t find the letter N on your smartphone, then open the usual settings, then click “ More… " in the section " Wireless networks " and in the subsection " Transfer files and data » turn the NFC option switch to the « position Off ", after which the N symbol will disappear from the notification panel.

• To disable or not to disable NFC?

Frankly speaking, at present there is practically no real benefit from NFC for the vast majority of Android users. Well, as we have already said, you can transfer photos or other files from one smartphone to another. Contactless systems mobile payments So far they have not enjoyed such significant popularity among the population and there is a suspicion that they will not be used for quite some time. The mentioned Android Pay and Samsung Pay, despite their very successful debut in the States, will not come to our shores anytime soon.

So, if you are not in an American store right now, you can safely turn it off NFC function in your Android smartphone and thus save its battery power.

Nowadays, many smartphones are equipped with an active NFC chip. It allows you to make using the device a little more convenient. Especially if the device owner has a set of NFC tags.

Advantage NFC technology is that it can be contained in both an active chip and a passive tag. The latter does not require energy to operate; you can forget about regular recharging. At the same time, NFC tags have minimal sizes, which allows them to be located even in some key fob. In fact, each such tag is a small antenna as thick as a sheet of paper. Its diameter is comparable to a 5-ruble coin. Data exchange takes 0.1 s. To do this, you need to attach your smartphone to the tag so that the air gap does not exceed 5 cm. More precisely, the distance is measured between the chip and the tag - the first is usually located somewhere in the area of ​​the device’s battery.

NFC tags can be used for a variety of purposes. Most often they can be found in bank cards. In this case, the label is used for contactless payment- you just need to make sure that the terminal supports it. This significantly speeds up the payment process, because in most cases you will not be required to enter a PIN code.

NFC tags are also sold as separate accessories. They can be placed on the table or hung from a bunch of keys. Such labels are used to control " smart home" And with their help, you can force your smartphone to automatically switch to specific mode work. For example, the mark may be on the dashboard of a car. In this case, touching the smartphone will turn on Bluetooth, after which the driver will communicate with callers via a wireless headset. And only one action does not have to be programmed. In addition to Bluetooth, your favorite radio station can turn on, as well as a GPS navigator. In a word, everything depends on the user’s imagination!

Where to buy NFC tags?

If you are interested in sticker tags, which are the easiest to use, then you will have to visit AliExpress. This is where they have the most choice. For example, you can purchase a set of ten different Ntag213 stickers - the cost of such a set does not exceed 220 rubles.

You can easily buy NFC tags from different manufacturers. This will not affect their work in any way, because they use the same protocol. In fact, such products differ from each other only in shape and depicted pattern.

If six tags are enough for you, then we suggest you familiarize yourself with a slightly truncated set from AnyNFC. However, purchasing it will cost even more - a set of six stickers costs 312 rubles. But these stickers are made on thicker paper and are much more difficult to damage.

The options discussed above have specific designs. If you intend to program some unusual commands, then you need stickers without any houses, airplanes or other images. For example, 6 multi-colored stickers, sold for approximately 83 rubles (excluding delivery), have only a logo wireless technology NFC. When using such stickers, you will be guided by their color and location.

There is an even more simplified version. You can buy 10 tags without pictures. These will be the thin antennas mentioned at the very beginning of the article. Next, you can make any image with your own hands by applying it to the antenna, turning it into a full-fledged NFC tag. The easiest way to do this is to use a printer and self-adhesive paper.

But a sticker tag is not always required. In some cases, it should be made in the form of an accessory that would be attached to a key ring. Then you need to purchase a set of keychains NTAG215. The antennas in them are enclosed inside a plastic case. The key fob is attached to the keys using a metal ring. You can stick any image you want on the body.

How to record an NFC tag?

Many users believe that recording NFC tags is the domain of professionals. And without the appropriate commands, such products are useless - touching them will not cause any action. How to program this or that command using a smartphone on Android based? Is it really difficult? We hasten to please you, everything is much easier than you think.

It helps to record this or that action that will be performed by the smartphone after touching the NFC tag. special program. Similar applications can easily be found in Google Play. We recommend installing NFC Tools and NFC Tasks on your device. Their interface is based on English. But even basic knowledge of the language is enough to work with these programs. As a last resort, you can use .

Working with NFC Tools, for example, is very easy. Just go to the tab " Tasks", after which all that remains is to select the task that the smartphone will perform when it is brought to a specific NFC tag. And don't forget to touch the sticker or keychain afterwards.

Almost all programs used to communicate with NFC tags are designed in a similar way. Some offer simple commands to choose from. Others are more complex and complex. Don't forget that not all of them are free. However, such applications are not expensive either.

Summing up

We can safely say that NFC tags are very useful. They can automate smartphone actions. Also, such tags can be praised for their versatility - which commands the device will execute depends only on you. In short, NFC tags make using your phone more convenient.

The range of use of this technology is very wide: you can transfer all kinds of content, pay for services like credit card, pay for travel and groceries, use as a key card, etc. The use of NFC will be discussed using the example of Android devices, because They are the ones that are most actively equipped with the appropriate adapter.

Does my smartphone have NFC?

Sony puts the NFC logo directly on the bodies of its devices, but it is best to check through the gadget menu. To do this we do the following.

First step. Open the settings.

Second step. Go to the settings section wireless networks, tap “More...”.

Third step. If there is an NFC chip, we see its settings section.

Turn on NFC

First step. In the NFC settings menu (the path was indicated earlier), activate the line “allow data exchange when combined...”.

Second step. Click on Android Beam and tap “Yes”. We do this if Beam does not turn on on its own.

Important! If Android Beam is disabled, your ability to interact with other NFC devices and tags will be limited.

Instructions for transferring content via NFC

First step. Open the file (for example, a photo) that you want to transfer.

Second step. We lean smartphones/tablets back covers to each other. Some removal is allowed (no more than 7-10 cm).

Third step. We are waiting for the devices to find each other. A notification about this will appear on the display of the sending device. It looks like this:

Fourth step. We tap on the screen. Content transfer starts.

Typically, the system issues sound notification at the start of information transfer and after its completion.

You cannot transfer:
applications;
videos broadcast from YouTube;
web pages.

When you try to transfer the listed content, the recipient will receive a link to it in the corresponding service.

Interaction with NFC tags

The NFC chip has an extremely modest size, which allows it to be embedded anywhere. For example, a price tag, headphones, a business card, etc. Such a chip can contain both information and commands that the device must execute upon contact with the tag (for example, turn off Wi-Fi, turn on wireless headset etc.).

To read information from such tags or write your data to their chips, you need to install the appropriate application on your smartphone or tablet. For example, the Yandex.Metro program will allow you to find out the remaining number of trips on your metro card via NFC. Having established NFC app App Launcher, you can configure your Android gadget to perform a number of actions by programming the NFC tag accordingly.

Well, I believed it and ran to the operator to change my SIM card. I changed it, connected the service, topped up my balance, and went to the subway so happy. I didn’t go straight to the turnstile, I decided to check the balance. Fortunately, on Arbatskaya, unlike Altufyevo, there is a terminal. Works! Reads!

Happy, I go to the turnstile, but it doesn’t let me in. And the second one won’t let me in. And none of them are allowed in at all. Sausages it, the inscription “apply again” blinks, but it costs death. The guards and the policeman look unkindly. That is, it reads from the phone normally, but cannot write off. This is it high technology. On the Troika website you can also find a list of supported devices, of course, it does not coincide with the previous one, but that’s okay. The shit is that the Department of Transport, which cheerfully reports on its successes, forgot to tell us before buying the device at the price of used Zhiguli that not everything is as smooth as it tells us in its press releases.

Another thing that I don't understand at all is how this can be: Galaxy Edge in supported ones, but Galaxy Edge+ is not. More precisely, I can come up with an explanation, but as a consumer, I absolutely don’t understand, I don’t want to understand, and I’m absolutely sure that it shouldn’t be this way. It is clear that some firmware will fix the problem, but why not do this BEFORE the device goes on the market? Today I downloaded another update - no, they haven’t fixed it.

The next morning I checked it on my Sony Z3+ dual - absolutely everything works: it reads the card, e-wallet refills, writes down tickets and, most importantly, lets you into the metro without question, regularly writing off thirty.

Yesterday people wrote to me that a lot of common phones do not support any of the listed services. With a huge number of smartphone models and all sorts of no-name devices, with constantly updated firmware, all these lists are meaningless and never completely correspond to reality. All this, with cheerful reports from the capital’s officials, creates the impression of some kind of amazing mess, in which device manufacturers are also taking an active part.

P.S. The funniest thing, but quite in the spirit of chaos, is that on the Mosgtrtrans website there is not a word at all about paying with mobile phones or topping up the universally accepted Troika. But there is a page about paying with PayPass cards, which is valid on as many as 6 (SIX) bus routes and nowhere else.

P.P.S. Muscovite readers, if you use or have tried to use transport mobile services, please write down in the comments whether your phone reads the Troika card and whether it supports the Mobile Ticket.

The NFC tags I ordered arrived and I started experimenting with them. I’ll try to describe here what NFC tags are and my first experience of using them on a phone.

NFC (Near Field Communications) is a fairly new, but already widely used method of communication over a very short distance - 3 - 5 cm. Maximum speed information exchange - about 400 Kbps, full-duplex data exchange is supported, that is, in both directions, operating frequency is 13.56 MHz, connection establishment time does not exceed 0.1 s, operating mode is point-to-point. You've probably seen NFC in action using the example of subway or public transport turnstiles.

NFC controllers are now often integrated into smartphones; for example, most Lumia or Android phones have had them for quite some time. But the “most perfect” phone, designated by a gnawed apple, traditionally lags behind - it seems that NFC is in the iPhone 6, but its capabilities are greatly reduced, because it was apparently considered “unnecessary” in Cupertino. Therefore, let’s put the iPhones aside and try on normal devices.

So, NFC can be either active (the controller in the phone) or passive, they are called labels or tags. This is usually a very thin chip with an antenna imprinted directly into paper or plastic. It does not have a power source (battery); it receives energy from the field induced by the active controller. Subway cards contain just such chips. They are very cheap, the retail price for “clean” tags is 20 - 30 rubles, and if you buy in large quantities. even 3-5 times cheaper.

Various information can be written to this chip many times, but not very much: from 140 bytes to 512 bytes. They say there are more, but I didn’t specifically look for them and they are much more expensive.

To record you need a special program on your phone, for example:

The recording process itself is extremely simple: you need to select the type of message, you can enter additional options and attach the tag to the phone. The phone beeps and that’s it - the tag is recorded!

There are quite a few types of messages, but many depend on the specific OS. For example, in Android you can write down the Wi-Fi access key, and the phone will immediately set up and connect, but in Windows Phone This trick won't work! The maximum can be written text message With Wi-Fi key and the opening command desired page settings. Apparently, the developers considered this full customization on someone else's Wi-Fi the network is unsafe. You can write down any URL that opens in the browser, check in social networks, phone number to call or SMS.

But what I liked more was the ability to open almost any application on the phone. That is, I brought the phone to the tag, it immediately opened required program(if you check the box “I trust this program” for the first time). For example, it is often advised to stick a label to wireless charging in the car. That is, you insert the phone into the holder on the windshield, it starts charging and the navigator opens on it.

For now, I pasted the mark into the notepad and now, when I come to work, I take out my phone and put it on the notepad, the list of tasks for today opens on the phone.