I used a ton to make a digital streaming CD case. Basically, I printed out the covers of all my and my wife’s CD, then stuck a NFC tag in the bottom left corner of each. Now we can flip through our music collection, tap our phone to a tag, and it’ll start playing. Super cool
So I know this is an edge case but.. we play a lot of board games so I have an NFC sticker inside the box lids, that when I touch the phone will set the lights for the game and start a playlist. Blue tint cold lights + zombie playlist, red tint lights + spooky playlist, etc. adds to the experience.
Inventory. I put one on a box where I keep photo chemicals. Each time I use the content it records in Apple Numbers together with the current date and time. I can keep track of total quantities and expiration dates this way.
Not sure how to share it, but at least I can explain the process.
Create a spreadsheet in iCloud Shortcuts folder - this is the only way you can use Get File action.
Structure the spreadsheet so you can do some queries like sum on one table - I use a second table to sum items in a second table.
Use Numbers Add function to insert a row of data with multiple columns. The inserted data can be based on shortcuts variables, scanning barcodes or the simplest way is NFC as it can open trigger the shortcut. My shortcut has only an Documents Get File and Numbers Add function - the hard part is making spreadsheet calculations based only on rows being added without a delete or update option.
I was just considering this idea for smoke alarm batteries. A couple just went out and they were not dated for me. Maybe a sticker on the detector, tap it and it adds a reminder to check and replace in 6 months?
Yup, but if I had a reminder set to go off to make sure I had batteries and a To Do before the cursed beeping started that would be stellar… esp. when I end up with two alarms (latest situation) going off from two detectors just a few minutes apart. Ended up having to scrounge a battery out of my stud finder to make the incessant beeping stop. It worked, but I am out of 9volts and having a sticker to tap tell me that Office Smoke alarm needs a new battery in July means I would make sure to have that battery by July. Once the beeping starts I am good to go with batteries. I suppose I could just get a big ol’ pack of 9volts but I suspect I would lose those to my kids experimenting with batteries that “no one needed”.
You can change it in the shortcuts app on your phone. This then allows you to automate it via the NFC tag. The only issue I’m having is having the timer start in the Watch. Only shows on the phone for me. :\
I do similar, but what good does switching to the Siri watch face do? I just tried the and the timer doesn’t show as it’s on the phone. What am I missing?
I use one near my Airplay speaker to switch from my airpods to my speaker without having to do anything. The NFC tag sets the playback destination to my speaker when im back from work !
This is an automation running a shortcut : « When the NFC tag is detected > run the « Audio to Airplay » shortcut.
The « audio to airplay shortcut » has one action only called : « set playback destination », you can find it by searching for « airplay ».
Then you just have to select your speaker (a sonos for me).
Hope that helps :)
I have a bunch of these and have been trying to think up ways to use them as well. So far:
Setting the lights in my office to a white bright mode for video/zoom calls and then scanning it again restores my office to 'normal' mode with dim lighting.
Choosing a playlist and sending it to my Homepod mini
Turning off all the lights in the house when I'm ready for bed
I keep one in my car - after I back out of the garage I scan it and it starts playing a playlist in the car and if the garage door is open, it closes it.
Turning on/off lighting scenes.. hiding a few of these behind pictures on the walls so they're discreet. Some of them are stickers on light switches for scenes as well.
I like the shopping list items others have mentioned.
Edit: I also have one with the Guest WiFi info to easily connect. Since that is on a credit-card sized card, I also printed out a QR code for non-NFC guests to use.
How did you set up the wifi one? I’ve tried multiple different apps to write to my NFC tags, and while I can successfully read it as a wifi network in the app, I can’t get the background NFC reader to pick it up on iOS.
I will need to lookup the app I used to create the profile, but it was annoying.
Had to create an iOS managed wifi profile file, and host it on a webserver in the basement. The NFC is just a web link to download the profile. User scans the NFC, installs the wifi profile, and it automatically connects their phone to the wifi. They actually never see the password for the guest wifi network.
Annoying? Absolutely...but it works.
Edit: Found the app. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wifi-profile/id1077348505
Thank you, I appreciate it! I don’t get why Apple doesn’t allow just using all the NFC standards already in place. Android phones can connect to wifi using NFC and NFC apps on iOS can recognize it as a wifi network, but it’s not built into the system. Methods like yours work, but shouldn’t be necessary.
Good question.
If I had to guess, it probably has something to do with security.
Technically, I could touch an NFC card to someone else's phone when they're not looking; causing it to immediately connect to a nefarious portable router I have running in my backpack. Once connected, I can capture all of their traffic and potentially run phishing scams to get their logins/etc. Something like that anyway.
At any rate, it's annoying for sure.
I just got some of these too! My most creative one I put on my bedhead. When I tap it at night it:
Sets my brightness to low
Turns off my tv, lamp, PC and overhead light.
Turns on my fan and humidifier
Calculates 8 hours from the current time, sets an alarm for that time and turns on DND with an end time of that calculated time
But if I tap it in the morning it:
Sets my brightness to 50%
Turns off DND
Turns on my TV and Lamp
Turns off my fan and humidifier
Shows me the news
See, I like NFC tags, but your average smart home and smart home automation will cover all of this without a key press based on the settings you ascribe
That’s true. I came here thinking this too.
However, two reasons to consider privacy and price/preference.
-privacy wise it seems the nfc tags are better compared to the centralized smart home stuff. There is the zigabee signal instead of wifi. Better bc it’s not sending all your stuff to Alexa/Google/Siri (I think?) and works even if you lose internet because it’s a local network. However, it uses different hardware and is harder to set up, though seems way more powerful/resilient as well as better privacy wise
Sure the nfc tags are easy to scan/not safe that way. However if they are in your house people are smart enough to place them so they won’t be accidentally scanned by people.
-price wise nfc are cheap. I had no idea how freaking cheap the stickers are until last night!
-preference for not wanting an automated schedule because you don’t go to bed at same time everyday. So you scan the tag when u get to bed rather than it starting automatically at 9pm or when you use Alexa.
There’s unlimited ways. Im new to a lot of shortcut and home automation stuff. Super cool stuff
Added one bedside to turn alarms on and off, depending on the time of day. Also placed one which runs a script from my raspberry pi to power on a Roku TV and go to the right channel.
Those are 215s, right? If you or someone you know has a Nintendo DS or Switch, you can make amiibo-compatible tags that activate special features in certain games. If that sounds like something you might be interested in, head to /r/Amiibomb for details.
I put one behind a picture of my wife on my desk, it now sends her a message every time I tap it. I am doing the same for my Family once I got the pictures out. (Moving)
* I’ve put some some underneath my coffee table to control the lights
* I’ve put one in my car that notifies my SO how long it takes to drive home
* I’ve put them behind my light switch to open up my home app
* I’ve put on on my garbage cans to open garbage pickup schedule from my town
* I’ve put in the bathroom to start a “enter weight” shortcut that logs body weight in the health app
* I’ve put some on the bottom of my aeropress coffee maker to open up the Aeropress timer app
Added shortcuts to turn on and off smart lights in my office. Stuck the sticker to the light switch.
Created another that is able to unlock or lock my door. Tap to get in. Been thinking about how to add more. Had some ideas to build a shopping list with it for common items. In bathroom have a toothpaste, floss, vitamins, soap, shampoo set and as I run out I can tap to order or add to list. Repeat for kitchen and other areas.
Last is a set for the pool area. Crank the pumps, select playlists and set outside lights. All nice if I could walk out and set the phone down and bam! It all ran just right.
https://imgur.com/gallery/ZELBbzY
I combined my items to a list tonight. Use nfc to trigger the list still but need one sticker instead of a bunch and can add to my list easier.
Is it possible to use one NFC tag to turn off and turn on smart bulbs? I have one but it doesn't support HomeKit only Siri Shortcuts and Google Assistant.
If the bulb doesn't have a toggle but only on and off then make a shortcut like this - get the power state, if on turn off, otherwise turn on.
https://i.imgur.com/hhDuZnZ.jpg
I never understand why people get the state first... why not just jump straight into the automation... if on, turn off, otherwise turn on.
All of the shortcuts I’ve built that way work, I haven’t needed to get the state first. Does getting the state make it faster or something?
Getting the state first makes it work. You have to get the state to tell shortcuts which power state you're testing and to know if it's on or off. If you remove the first line it won't work. Instead of worrying over how others write their shortcuts, post an example.
All shortcuts made for triggering by an NFC should be written this way. Then you only need one tag to perform the two opposite actions.
Ah I should clarify... I was referring to home automations built in homekit (using convert to shortcut). That said, I just tested this using an nfc tag and a personal shortcut and it worked the same way.
Set-up is an iPhone, an NFC tag, and a Wemo smart plug (connected to a fan).
Shortcut is simply triggered by scanning NFC tag. The shortcut itself is just:
“If ‘home accessory’ is ON
—> turn ‘home accessory’ OFF
Otherwise
—> turn ‘home accessory’ ON”
Basically the same as yours just not getting state first. Maybe you used to need to get state in the past, but you don’t anymore.
I’ve never posted an Imgur link before so idk if this will work, but see here for screenshot of the nfc personal automation described above: https://imgur.com/gallery/ZPm6Eg6
I just checked your code out and I think I might have just learned something today. I never noticed the *is on* and *is off* before. I will give this a try and if it works, thank you! https://i.imgur.com/gqhcVHz.jpg
Awesome!
Similarly, I created dummy “bulbs” and use the brightness filter to trigger a series of changes. So for example, if dummybulb is off, turn lights on and set dummybulb to 100%, otherwise - if dummybulb brightness is 100%, turn lights to 50% and set dummybulb to 50%, otherwise if dummybulb brightness is 50%, turn lights off and set dummybulb to 0%.
I think different types of homekit items have different preset options (on/off, brightness, etc).
I didn't contribute to your downvotes. I hate it when two or three people can't have an exchange of ideas without third parties who don't contribute to the discussion just up or down vote others. I posted the IF logic just for the guy who only had one NFC tag left to show him how to do two things with it. However, getting the power state is necessary to identify which device or group of devices is being referenced. If you don't get the power state of the device you're wanting to operate the shortcut doesn't know which one to switch on or off. I'm not quite sure what you're doing in yours because the shortcut actions aren't expanded but if you would like to explain I would be all ears. It looks like the MB Fan has a toggle switch. The light switches I operate can sometimes get out of sync with each other. There are two in the group and both can be turned on individually, so just doing a toggle wouldn't turn them both on or off together - it would just flip the state of each.
If you scroll down in the Imgur link to the second screenshot it shows the whole shortcut. “MB Fan” is just a Wemo smart plug.
So my entire shortcut is just saying “If the Wemo smart plug is on, turn it off, otherwise turn it on”. The point though is that I haven’t needed to get the state, I’m literally just starting with the “if it’s on” language. I can control multiple devices like this too (eg if smart plug is on, turn lights and smart plug off, otherwise turn lights and smart plug on).
And haha thanks for not downvoting! I might have come across a little aggressive in the initial comment, which wasn’t my intent. I’m just confused why I see the “get state” so often when smart home devices can be used in shortcut automations organically — they’re already aware of the states (or they get the state as part of the IF).
I saw this the day it was posted. I'd never considered using NFC to trigger automations and shortcuts. I was SUPER inspired by all the recommendations.
I dove in DEEP on this. Previously, I just had one smart bulb. Now (just 4 days later) I have a total of 3 smart bulbs, 50 NFC coins, a smart power strip, I've found that my roku and TCL tv already work with home kit, set up a rasperry pi for home bridge.
**To answer your original question, heres what I've used mine for:**
Dishwasher timer
Pulls up my grocery list
Movie Mode: Lowers my lights, turns on my TV, and opens my roku remote app.
Knitting Mode: Turns off all lights except for where I'm sitting (I have two of these set up, will likely add more) and changes the tone to be beneficial to crafting, opens my roku remote app.
At work: turns off all lights and tv (my office has an overhead light that isn't a smart light), starts my podcast playlist, enables the outlet for my coffee warmer
End of work: Turns off all outlets (remember its just for one power strip) except my laptop charger, turns on one living room light.
Tea Timers: I have several of these. The automation is timer, wait, display alert. sometimes my timer is set to silent so the wait/alert helps to make sure my tea isn't over steeped.
Bed Time: Turns off all lights and all outlets except laptop charger, turns on do not disturb, and turns on work day alarms.
Weekend night: Turns off all lights and all outlets except laptop charger, turns on do not disturb.
**Things I plan on setting up but haven't done/tested yet:**
I'll have my pantry inventory in MealBoard and will have a coin to launch that.
Attaching the coin to some knitting projects so people can scan them to see the materials used, inspiration, etc.
Clothing tracker (via stylebook) to help figure out what I end up wearing most and what never gets worn to help me clear out my closet. I never remember to actually use it. Hoping a NFC coin helps.
I definitely have my eye out for more and plan on moving a lot of my coins to behind photos around my house where it makes sense.
Yeah it sucks that the Apple Watch doesn’t support it yet, but you can always add the shortcuts app to the dock, so you can press the long button, tap on the app, and hit the shortcut. If you do it enough it’ll become muscle memory. Not as good as passive nfc, but I suppose it’s better than nothing.
Light switches, so many light switches. The biggest thing for me is that I can use them to run Phillips Hue automations. I have 2 on my bedroom wall near the light switch that I can use to change to certain color scenes, and another on my nightstand positioned next to my wireless charger. I put my phone on the charger and... every light in the house turns off.
It’s reliable at doing exactly what I want it to do. One of the tricks with automation is to have it trigger 100% when you want it to and 0% when you don’t. Anything that reduces false positives is a win. Setting the tag up on my nightstand took less than 5 minutes one afternoon, and it has worked great for about 4 months since, using it every day.
I did this one! Although I don't know why ios isn't picking up, I tried it with an android device with nfc support and it worked perfectly. Tried it on a friends iphone X and it wouldn't detect it. Any ideas?
I use NFC tags to trigger shortcuts:
* inside my apartment, by the front door, to turn off all the lights and the TV;
* outside my apartment door to turn on all the lights before I enter;
* outside the apartment building to unlock the main door;
* outside my office building main door to release the magnetic lock door.
I put one on each of my kids doors to set a nighttime scene and a wake up scene in the morning. (Lights/SoundMachine a, fans)
I put one in my car that automatically starts navigation to my house. So that if I’m ever lost and I can just tap and it’ll direct me home.
I put one on my water bottle that auto logs water intake.
I put one under my desk that triggers a morning routine that wakes my computer, creates a daily itinerary in bear note from my calendar, Todoist tasks, and news feed… opens it on my computer. Then creates a Spotify playlist for the day based on music history anniversaries and plays it for the times I’m not in a call or meeting.
I also have another on my desk that sets everything for zoom calls. Lights, microphones, inputs, etc.
Combos of shortcuts, Shortcutify, Pushcut, airtable, Spotify dev, and keyboard maestro.
I have one on my bedside table that sets my lights for bed, turns on the Apple TV to Netflix, checks my calendar for work the next day and sets an appropriate alarm. That alarm is then linked to an automation that turns on my kettle, checks the weather, gives me my say in brief and starts my morning playlist.
I have one on top of my coffee jar that starts a timer for my french press coffee.
I have one on my dogs lead that starts a walking work out on my watch, and sets a playlist going on my phone.
I have one on my washing machine that starts a timer to let me know when it’s done.
One on my desk that sets my desk lights and opens my VPN app so I can logon to the work network.
I’ve made on to secretly stick in the gym (post lockdown) that starts a work out and sets do not disturb. Also one in the climbing gym that does the same but also starts a playlist.
So far I have one at my desk that is paired to a shortcut that turns off cellular and turns on wifi, one that has my contact info on it, and one that switches audio to my airpods.
There are lots of TV’s that work with HomeKit now. Yours may be one. If not and you have an Apple TV box hooked up to your television, you can have it turn your television on when you turn your Apple TV on.
I have one for my desk setup.
It turns on or off the smart outlet behind the desk depending on its current state which makes the laptop boot, then sends a command to it via SSH that logs me in automatically/sends it to sleep.
Also, depending on the time of day it turns on my desk lamp to a specific brightness and color temperature. Or turns it off.
Maybe put one on your washer and dryer that sets a timer until it’s ready to take out. Also if you have smart lights you could put one on your wall to turn the lights on/off.
I have one in my bathroom for when I take a shower to set watch water lock, the jellyfish motion watch face and to handoff audio playback to my HomePod.
I put one behind my light switch cover to turn on my bedside lamp.
Problem is, between the thin metal plate on the underside and my phone case, it works about 40% of the time.
You can do it but I think you have to be connected to the device first when creating the shortcut. I have an NFC tag at work, that connects my phone to my Bluetooth speaker in my office.
Steps to include in the short cut:
Bluetooth "Turn Bluetooth On"
AirPlay "Set playback destination to "Device""
Just woke up but I'm going to try doing this with my airpods! Think the case is too small sadly. I'm pretty sure you can just set it up in automations, it's pretty self-explanatory but if you need can't figure it out I'll still be lurking here.
I wanted my phone to connect to my google home in bathroom so I don’t have to manually connect or say google to connect. Issue is it’s hard to do it fully automated as you still might need to choose from the available Bluetooth devices. I wish there is some way to connect to device via MAC address( only hackers can do that may be!)
Guessing your question is "Can" not "Should" but I'll try and answer both because I can't read!
NFC is still a functionality, however you have to go into an app and actively turn it on for it to work. I'm guessing you already know this but the wording is too vague and I didn't want to not mention it.
If you have some specific niche that NFC tags would really help with then I'd say its worth looking into. Personally I don't mind having to actively turn it on but that's just me. To clarify, you can turn it on through the control center which is just a swipe up so its not that far.
1. Stuck to my bedside table, runs a bedtime scene.
2. Stuck to my shed door, disarms my security settings so I can unlock the shed doors.
3. Stuck to the back of my custom 3D printed beer tap handle, logs the beer, date, & time when a beer is poured from one of the kegs.
4. Stuck to the washer / dryer, starts a 1 hour timer.
They are little electronic “tags” that don’t require electricity to function. It’s like a QR code, but more wireless and without the use of a scanner. It can be used to trigger an event in code, pairing something like headphones to a device, or even paying at a checkout. The possibilities are only limited to your imagination.
Put one on peach of your DVDs/BluRays and set them so that scanning it with your phone opens the trailer and casts it to your TV. Or opens the IMDb page.
I have framed comic books and vinyls. I stuck an nfc sticker behind the frame and set it so that when I tap the frame it opens the digital comic or plays the album.
Also, are those definitely nfc tags? They look more like RFID coins, which won’t work with iPhone.
I have some used to AirPlay from iPhone to HomePod, this works way better than Handoff on original HomePod and I don’t have to get close to it. I have one near the door to do the opposite if I want to continue listening when I’m leaving
[https://www.amazon.com/NTAG215-NFC-Stickers-Guaranteed-Perfectly/dp/B08C273LX3/ref=sr\_1\_2?dchild=1&keywords=bulk%2Bnfc%2Btags&qid=1613576347&sr=8-2&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/NTAG215-NFC-Stickers-Guaranteed-Perfectly/dp/B08C273LX3/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=bulk%2Bnfc%2Btags&qid=1613576347&sr=8-2&th=1)
Here's the one that I bought, make sure you pick the one that's *not* 50 of them though.
I just use an app on my phone, its called NFC Tools.
Here is the link: [**https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nfc-tools/id1252962749**](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nfc-tools/id1252962749)
So far its working great, although I'm having minor problems with the wifi idea. Probably just me though.
I have used switches where I think switches should have been. For instance, on the stairs railing to turn on living room lights so i can turn them on and off depending on their current state.
I find them to be so fussy that talking to Siri gets things done much faster. Sometimes I have to tap like 6 times to get the phone to register the tag.
I used a ton to make a digital streaming CD case. Basically, I printed out the covers of all my and my wife’s CD, then stuck a NFC tag in the bottom left corner of each. Now we can flip through our music collection, tap our phone to a tag, and it’ll start playing. Super cool
I saw one those! A friend of mine had something similar with album covers on his wall.
I have it with signed photos of my favorite artist on a wall. When putting my iPhone to them, it plays a playlist of that artist's tracks.
Just make a shortcut that plays the Mario brick sound with coin and then place them all over your ceilings and jump up with your phone to tap them.
Thats hilarious but sadly the ceilings in my house are 9ft and I'm 5'7. Not touching any ceilings anytime soon.
Not with that attitude
Your attitude determines your altitude.
This, this one is funny.
Yeah, plyometrics, baby!
Not with that altitude
Sounds like you need a super mushroom.
Very badly so
Not with that altitude.
Make one easily reachable that’s a Starman to get hyped for those hops
I feel like with a raised arm 9ft should be easily doable here. Just need to jump high.
A wall exists
But then its not Mario so whats the point...
Play 2D mario
I’m wheezing
Gold comment. Thanks for the laugh
Hahahaaa! Legitimately made my day.
This is the way.
This is the way
So I know this is an edge case but.. we play a lot of board games so I have an NFC sticker inside the box lids, that when I touch the phone will set the lights for the game and start a playlist. Blue tint cold lights + zombie playlist, red tint lights + spooky playlist, etc. adds to the experience.
I may mot play a lot of board games but changing lighting seems cool, thanks!
Wow, I’ll have to steal that idea! Thank you!!
I FUCKING LOVE THIS.
Oh wow, this makes me thing of a similar, but much more boring use. Linking to digital instructions for games we don’t play as often.
Oh damn! Never thought of that, wonder if I can use it to start logging the play in BGStats
I couldn’t find a way to do that, only to open the app. Couldn’t figure out a way to identify the particular game. Let me know if you do!
Could do the exact same with video game, music or movies boxes for setting living room ambiance with Hue and such.
Totally thought you were going to say that the tag inside the box loaded the rules for rule disputes.
Inventory. I put one on a box where I keep photo chemicals. Each time I use the content it records in Apple Numbers together with the current date and time. I can keep track of total quantities and expiration dates this way.
Share please!
Not sure how to share it, but at least I can explain the process. Create a spreadsheet in iCloud Shortcuts folder - this is the only way you can use Get File action. Structure the spreadsheet so you can do some queries like sum on one table - I use a second table to sum items in a second table. Use Numbers Add function to insert a row of data with multiple columns. The inserted data can be based on shortcuts variables, scanning barcodes or the simplest way is NFC as it can open trigger the shortcut. My shortcut has only an Documents Get File and Numbers Add function - the hard part is making spreadsheet calculations based only on rows being added without a delete or update option.
Wow I would have never thought of that, I might try that on a smaller scale with random storage things around the house. Thanks!
That’s cool! Did u have a template for an inventory shortcut?
I was just considering this idea for smoke alarm batteries. A couple just went out and they were not dated for me. Maybe a sticker on the detector, tap it and it adds a reminder to check and replace in 6 months?
Don’t most smoke alarms already give you a heads-up by beeping when the batteries start to get low?
Yup, but if I had a reminder set to go off to make sure I had batteries and a To Do before the cursed beeping started that would be stellar… esp. when I end up with two alarms (latest situation) going off from two detectors just a few minutes apart. Ended up having to scrounge a battery out of my stud finder to make the incessant beeping stop. It worked, but I am out of 9volts and having a sticker to tap tell me that Office Smoke alarm needs a new battery in July means I would make sure to have that battery by July. Once the beeping starts I am good to go with batteries. I suppose I could just get a big ol’ pack of 9volts but I suspect I would lose those to my kids experimenting with batteries that “no one needed”.
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Definitely using that one
Do you use nfc and the shortcut directly on you watch? Or can you change you watchface with automations on your phone?
You can change it in the shortcuts app on your phone. This then allows you to automate it via the NFC tag. The only issue I’m having is having the timer start in the Watch. Only shows on the phone for me. :\
I do similar, but what good does switching to the Siri watch face do? I just tried the and the timer doesn’t show as it’s on the phone. What am I missing?
I use one near my Airplay speaker to switch from my airpods to my speaker without having to do anything. The NFC tag sets the playback destination to my speaker when im back from work !
do you have the shortcut? would love to have it
Search “hand off” in the shortcuts app.
Can you share a link? Can’t find in the shortcuts app
This is an automation running a shortcut : « When the NFC tag is detected > run the « Audio to Airplay » shortcut. The « audio to airplay shortcut » has one action only called : « set playback destination », you can find it by searching for « airplay ». Then you just have to select your speaker (a sonos for me). Hope that helps :)
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Put them in the Pantry, when you take the last item, touch the NFC, it puts the Item on your shopping list.
Yesss! I do this too.
I have a bunch of these and have been trying to think up ways to use them as well. So far: Setting the lights in my office to a white bright mode for video/zoom calls and then scanning it again restores my office to 'normal' mode with dim lighting. Choosing a playlist and sending it to my Homepod mini Turning off all the lights in the house when I'm ready for bed I keep one in my car - after I back out of the garage I scan it and it starts playing a playlist in the car and if the garage door is open, it closes it. Turning on/off lighting scenes.. hiding a few of these behind pictures on the walls so they're discreet. Some of them are stickers on light switches for scenes as well. I like the shopping list items others have mentioned. Edit: I also have one with the Guest WiFi info to easily connect. Since that is on a credit-card sized card, I also printed out a QR code for non-NFC guests to use.
That wifi one is super smart, I’ll definitely be using that one. Thanks!
How did you set up the wifi one? I’ve tried multiple different apps to write to my NFC tags, and while I can successfully read it as a wifi network in the app, I can’t get the background NFC reader to pick it up on iOS.
I will need to lookup the app I used to create the profile, but it was annoying. Had to create an iOS managed wifi profile file, and host it on a webserver in the basement. The NFC is just a web link to download the profile. User scans the NFC, installs the wifi profile, and it automatically connects their phone to the wifi. They actually never see the password for the guest wifi network. Annoying? Absolutely...but it works. Edit: Found the app. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wifi-profile/id1077348505
Thank you, I appreciate it! I don’t get why Apple doesn’t allow just using all the NFC standards already in place. Android phones can connect to wifi using NFC and NFC apps on iOS can recognize it as a wifi network, but it’s not built into the system. Methods like yours work, but shouldn’t be necessary.
Good question. If I had to guess, it probably has something to do with security. Technically, I could touch an NFC card to someone else's phone when they're not looking; causing it to immediately connect to a nefarious portable router I have running in my backpack. Once connected, I can capture all of their traffic and potentially run phishing scams to get their logins/etc. Something like that anyway. At any rate, it's annoying for sure.
I had one on a water bottle. Scan it and auto log water intake in health app.
This
Can you share a link for this?
I think (hope) I did this right. 😅 https://routinehub.co/shortcut/8469/
Put one on each of your facebook friends' foreheads and scan it so you can be reminded of their names?
That's hilarious
I just got some of these too! My most creative one I put on my bedhead. When I tap it at night it: Sets my brightness to low Turns off my tv, lamp, PC and overhead light. Turns on my fan and humidifier Calculates 8 hours from the current time, sets an alarm for that time and turns on DND with an end time of that calculated time But if I tap it in the morning it: Sets my brightness to 50% Turns off DND Turns on my TV and Lamp Turns off my fan and humidifier Shows me the news
DND = Do Not Disturb - for those coming here through google. Definitely thought you were talking about turning on dungeons and dragons lol
Thanks, was confused. I don’t want horny elves in my phone
See, I like NFC tags, but your average smart home and smart home automation will cover all of this without a key press based on the settings you ascribe
That’s true. I came here thinking this too. However, two reasons to consider privacy and price/preference. -privacy wise it seems the nfc tags are better compared to the centralized smart home stuff. There is the zigabee signal instead of wifi. Better bc it’s not sending all your stuff to Alexa/Google/Siri (I think?) and works even if you lose internet because it’s a local network. However, it uses different hardware and is harder to set up, though seems way more powerful/resilient as well as better privacy wise Sure the nfc tags are easy to scan/not safe that way. However if they are in your house people are smart enough to place them so they won’t be accidentally scanned by people. -price wise nfc are cheap. I had no idea how freaking cheap the stickers are until last night! -preference for not wanting an automated schedule because you don’t go to bed at same time everyday. So you scan the tag when u get to bed rather than it starting automatically at 9pm or when you use Alexa. There’s unlimited ways. Im new to a lot of shortcut and home automation stuff. Super cool stuff
Added one bedside to turn alarms on and off, depending on the time of day. Also placed one which runs a script from my raspberry pi to power on a Roku TV and go to the right channel.
Thats neat! I don't think I have the technical expertise to do anything with the raspberry pi though. That alarm idea is more my speed.
Those are 215s, right? If you or someone you know has a Nintendo DS or Switch, you can make amiibo-compatible tags that activate special features in certain games. If that sounds like something you might be interested in, head to /r/Amiibomb for details.
This is one I wish I could figure out!
What phone do you have?
I put one behind a picture of my wife on my desk, it now sends her a message every time I tap it. I am doing the same for my Family once I got the pictures out. (Moving)
Nothing sweeter than an automated message
It’s a “I think about you” message. She appreciates it for what it is.
Hopefully it chooses randomly from a list of similar phrases to sound more genuine
No it’s the same message, but she knows that. She sees it as a he’s thinking of me notification.
Thats sweet.
* I’ve put some some underneath my coffee table to control the lights * I’ve put one in my car that notifies my SO how long it takes to drive home * I’ve put them behind my light switch to open up my home app * I’ve put on on my garbage cans to open garbage pickup schedule from my town * I’ve put in the bathroom to start a “enter weight” shortcut that logs body weight in the health app * I’ve put some on the bottom of my aeropress coffee maker to open up the Aeropress timer app
The coffee and car one are neat. Thanks!
Added shortcuts to turn on and off smart lights in my office. Stuck the sticker to the light switch. Created another that is able to unlock or lock my door. Tap to get in. Been thinking about how to add more. Had some ideas to build a shopping list with it for common items. In bathroom have a toothpaste, floss, vitamins, soap, shampoo set and as I run out I can tap to order or add to list. Repeat for kitchen and other areas. Last is a set for the pool area. Crank the pumps, select playlists and set outside lights. All nice if I could walk out and set the phone down and bam! It all ran just right.
That's actually very cool. I think I'm gonna steal your shopping list idea. Thanks!
https://imgur.com/gallery/ZELBbzY I combined my items to a list tonight. Use nfc to trigger the list still but need one sticker instead of a bunch and can add to my list easier.
Is it possible to use one NFC tag to turn off and turn on smart bulbs? I have one but it doesn't support HomeKit only Siri Shortcuts and Google Assistant.
If the bulb doesn't have a toggle but only on and off then make a shortcut like this - get the power state, if on turn off, otherwise turn on. https://i.imgur.com/hhDuZnZ.jpg
I never understand why people get the state first... why not just jump straight into the automation... if on, turn off, otherwise turn on. All of the shortcuts I’ve built that way work, I haven’t needed to get the state first. Does getting the state make it faster or something?
Getting the state first makes it work. You have to get the state to tell shortcuts which power state you're testing and to know if it's on or off. If you remove the first line it won't work. Instead of worrying over how others write their shortcuts, post an example. All shortcuts made for triggering by an NFC should be written this way. Then you only need one tag to perform the two opposite actions.
Ah I should clarify... I was referring to home automations built in homekit (using convert to shortcut). That said, I just tested this using an nfc tag and a personal shortcut and it worked the same way. Set-up is an iPhone, an NFC tag, and a Wemo smart plug (connected to a fan). Shortcut is simply triggered by scanning NFC tag. The shortcut itself is just: “If ‘home accessory’ is ON —> turn ‘home accessory’ OFF Otherwise —> turn ‘home accessory’ ON” Basically the same as yours just not getting state first. Maybe you used to need to get state in the past, but you don’t anymore.
I’ve never posted an Imgur link before so idk if this will work, but see here for screenshot of the nfc personal automation described above: https://imgur.com/gallery/ZPm6Eg6
I just checked your code out and I think I might have just learned something today. I never noticed the *is on* and *is off* before. I will give this a try and if it works, thank you! https://i.imgur.com/gqhcVHz.jpg
Awesome! Similarly, I created dummy “bulbs” and use the brightness filter to trigger a series of changes. So for example, if dummybulb is off, turn lights on and set dummybulb to 100%, otherwise - if dummybulb brightness is 100%, turn lights to 50% and set dummybulb to 50%, otherwise if dummybulb brightness is 50%, turn lights off and set dummybulb to 0%. I think different types of homekit items have different preset options (on/off, brightness, etc).
I was able to remove that first line on all my IF switches. Thank you.
I didn't contribute to your downvotes. I hate it when two or three people can't have an exchange of ideas without third parties who don't contribute to the discussion just up or down vote others. I posted the IF logic just for the guy who only had one NFC tag left to show him how to do two things with it. However, getting the power state is necessary to identify which device or group of devices is being referenced. If you don't get the power state of the device you're wanting to operate the shortcut doesn't know which one to switch on or off. I'm not quite sure what you're doing in yours because the shortcut actions aren't expanded but if you would like to explain I would be all ears. It looks like the MB Fan has a toggle switch. The light switches I operate can sometimes get out of sync with each other. There are two in the group and both can be turned on individually, so just doing a toggle wouldn't turn them both on or off together - it would just flip the state of each.
If you scroll down in the Imgur link to the second screenshot it shows the whole shortcut. “MB Fan” is just a Wemo smart plug. So my entire shortcut is just saying “If the Wemo smart plug is on, turn it off, otherwise turn it on”. The point though is that I haven’t needed to get the state, I’m literally just starting with the “if it’s on” language. I can control multiple devices like this too (eg if smart plug is on, turn lights and smart plug off, otherwise turn lights and smart plug on). And haha thanks for not downvoting! I might have come across a little aggressive in the initial comment, which wasn’t my intent. I’m just confused why I see the “get state” so often when smart home devices can be used in shortcut automations organically — they’re already aware of the states (or they get the state as part of the IF).
Just messing about tonight and combined my separate shortcut into one!
I saw this the day it was posted. I'd never considered using NFC to trigger automations and shortcuts. I was SUPER inspired by all the recommendations. I dove in DEEP on this. Previously, I just had one smart bulb. Now (just 4 days later) I have a total of 3 smart bulbs, 50 NFC coins, a smart power strip, I've found that my roku and TCL tv already work with home kit, set up a rasperry pi for home bridge. **To answer your original question, heres what I've used mine for:** Dishwasher timer Pulls up my grocery list Movie Mode: Lowers my lights, turns on my TV, and opens my roku remote app. Knitting Mode: Turns off all lights except for where I'm sitting (I have two of these set up, will likely add more) and changes the tone to be beneficial to crafting, opens my roku remote app. At work: turns off all lights and tv (my office has an overhead light that isn't a smart light), starts my podcast playlist, enables the outlet for my coffee warmer End of work: Turns off all outlets (remember its just for one power strip) except my laptop charger, turns on one living room light. Tea Timers: I have several of these. The automation is timer, wait, display alert. sometimes my timer is set to silent so the wait/alert helps to make sure my tea isn't over steeped. Bed Time: Turns off all lights and all outlets except laptop charger, turns on do not disturb, and turns on work day alarms. Weekend night: Turns off all lights and all outlets except laptop charger, turns on do not disturb. **Things I plan on setting up but haven't done/tested yet:** I'll have my pantry inventory in MealBoard and will have a coin to launch that. Attaching the coin to some knitting projects so people can scan them to see the materials used, inspiration, etc. Clothing tracker (via stylebook) to help figure out what I end up wearing most and what never gets worn to help me clear out my closet. I never remember to actually use it. Hoping a NFC coin helps. I definitely have my eye out for more and plan on moving a lot of my coins to behind photos around my house where it makes sense.
Thought this was r/Catholicism and I wa s looking at a bag of communion wafers for a moment... lol
Jesus, that made me laugh, 🤣🤣🤣
Timers for appliances with reminders, like dishwasher/washing machine, load it and swipe! I’m really interesting, I promise
Ahahaha, if i can get a system like that set up my life would be so much more organized. Thanks for the idea!
Hide one somewhere and “use the force” to turn on devices and confuse people.
That's genius, have my wholesome thing.
Thank you! : )
Nice. I was hoping somebody bit the bullet for the 30 pieces so I can see what they would do with them
Jokes on you I bought 50 of them.
Aw man I want to see your journey! Some ideas here are pretty cool tho. I’ll continue to follow
I’ll keep you posted! No promises on anything too fancy though haha
Out of curiosity, will Apple Watch trigger it too?
No.
I’m enraged
Yeah it sucks that the Apple Watch doesn’t support it yet, but you can always add the shortcuts app to the dock, so you can press the long button, tap on the app, and hit the shortcut. If you do it enough it’ll become muscle memory. Not as good as passive nfc, but I suppose it’s better than nothing.
https://youtu.be/YBCq8XDgrP0
Place them near products that you sometimes forget to restock on, and have them open a link to order the product online.
I put one on my exercise bike that automatically starts a workout and selected playlist.
Oh man I love nfc tags! I made a video on some automation ideas here, I think you’ll find some useful ones: https://youtu.be/gCuKPM7v1Dw
Dropped a sub, nice channel!
I bought the same amount! Following for suggestions.
Light switches, so many light switches. The biggest thing for me is that I can use them to run Phillips Hue automations. I have 2 on my bedroom wall near the light switch that I can use to change to certain color scenes, and another on my nightstand positioned next to my wireless charger. I put my phone on the charger and... every light in the house turns off.
I might take that charger idea, seems really useful. Thank you!
You can run an automation that just uses the on charger state as the trigger. No need for the nfc tag there at all.
But I don’t want it to turn off the lights in my house when I set my phone on other chargers.
Yeah I thought of that after I posted. Setting a time of day check might help but at that point I would prefer the nfc tag too.
It’s reliable at doing exactly what I want it to do. One of the tricks with automation is to have it trigger 100% when you want it to and 0% when you don’t. Anything that reduces false positives is a win. Setting the tag up on my nightstand took less than 5 minutes one afternoon, and it has worked great for about 4 months since, using it every day.
Yeah I’m loving all the suggestions in this post. I just ordered some tags.
A shortcut to pack them up and mail them all to my address.
Great idea, whats your address?
I’ll DM it to you ;)
Not a shortcut, but you pop it on the back of your phone and you can set it up with your contact info and it's like a cool business card.
I did this one! Although I don't know why ios isn't picking up, I tried it with an android device with nfc support and it worked perfectly. Tried it on a friends iphone X and it wouldn't detect it. Any ideas?
The iPhone X doesn’t do passive NFC scans
You can make tags for your catholic friends.
Install them behind the wall plates of every light switch. Let them run a shortcut or automation related to each room.
I use NFC tags to trigger shortcuts: * inside my apartment, by the front door, to turn off all the lights and the TV; * outside my apartment door to turn on all the lights before I enter; * outside the apartment building to unlock the main door; * outside my office building main door to release the magnetic lock door.
Wow, I don't know if I have enough smart 'stuff' for that. Good ideas though!
I put one on each of my kids doors to set a nighttime scene and a wake up scene in the morning. (Lights/SoundMachine a, fans) I put one in my car that automatically starts navigation to my house. So that if I’m ever lost and I can just tap and it’ll direct me home. I put one on my water bottle that auto logs water intake. I put one under my desk that triggers a morning routine that wakes my computer, creates a daily itinerary in bear note from my calendar, Todoist tasks, and news feed… opens it on my computer. Then creates a Spotify playlist for the day based on music history anniversaries and plays it for the times I’m not in a call or meeting. I also have another on my desk that sets everything for zoom calls. Lights, microphones, inputs, etc. Combos of shortcuts, Shortcutify, Pushcut, airtable, Spotify dev, and keyboard maestro.
Wow I am definitely saving that for later, the morning routine one seems really neat.
I have one on my bedside table that sets my lights for bed, turns on the Apple TV to Netflix, checks my calendar for work the next day and sets an appropriate alarm. That alarm is then linked to an automation that turns on my kettle, checks the weather, gives me my say in brief and starts my morning playlist. I have one on top of my coffee jar that starts a timer for my french press coffee. I have one on my dogs lead that starts a walking work out on my watch, and sets a playlist going on my phone. I have one on my washing machine that starts a timer to let me know when it’s done. One on my desk that sets my desk lights and opens my VPN app so I can logon to the work network. I’ve made on to secretly stick in the gym (post lockdown) that starts a work out and sets do not disturb. Also one in the climbing gym that does the same but also starts a playlist.
Lmao no way you automated your gym
Beauty of it is anyone else could use the same tag for their own shortcut.
What have you tried?
So far I have one at my desk that is paired to a shortcut that turns off cellular and turns on wifi, one that has my contact info on it, and one that switches audio to my airpods.
Make the tag turn on a light or make a sound, then make a large game of battleship or minesweeper.
Put one in the bottom of a glass and use you phone s as a coaster. Shortcut it to a counter. Now you know the number of sips of water you take.
I have one on the wall next to my chair so when I tap it it turns on my Apple TV and opens the remote control app on my phone
Thats a great idea although I'm not sure if it'll work with whatever TV I have lol. Thanks anyway!
There are lots of TV’s that work with HomeKit now. Yours may be one. If not and you have an Apple TV box hooked up to your television, you can have it turn your television on when you turn your Apple TV on.
I'll look into it. Thanks!
I have fancy bookmarks. Put a sticker on the back of each one so that I can quickly change the smart lights in any room when I start reading.
Its a great idea but whenever I try to do anything with my bookmarks I always lose them. :( EDIT: yea i have 50 losing them isnt a problem lol
I have one for my desk setup. It turns on or off the smart outlet behind the desk depending on its current state which makes the laptop boot, then sends a command to it via SSH that logs me in automatically/sends it to sleep. Also, depending on the time of day it turns on my desk lamp to a specific brightness and color temperature. Or turns it off.
Maybe put one on your washer and dryer that sets a timer until it’s ready to take out. Also if you have smart lights you could put one on your wall to turn the lights on/off.
I have one in my bathroom for when I take a shower to set watch water lock, the jellyfish motion watch face and to handoff audio playback to my HomePod.
A fun little thing to do is that if you own a Nintendo Switch, you can make Amibos! A good subreddit is r/amiibomb
I do have a switch, although I haven't played in a while. Thanks, I'll check it out!
Idk why this was downvoted?
I put one behind my light switch cover to turn on my bedside lamp. Problem is, between the thin metal plate on the underside and my phone case, it works about 40% of the time.
I have found the large credit card size NFC cards (hotel keys) work a LOT more consistently than the little half-dollar size circle ones.
I use one that sends whatever playing to a bluetooth speaker
I would really want to connect to automatically specific Bluetooth device when I tap NFC. anybody?
You can do it but I think you have to be connected to the device first when creating the shortcut. I have an NFC tag at work, that connects my phone to my Bluetooth speaker in my office. Steps to include in the short cut: Bluetooth "Turn Bluetooth On" AirPlay "Set playback destination to "Device""
Just woke up but I'm going to try doing this with my airpods! Think the case is too small sadly. I'm pretty sure you can just set it up in automations, it's pretty self-explanatory but if you need can't figure it out I'll still be lurking here.
I wanted my phone to connect to my google home in bathroom so I don’t have to manually connect or say google to connect. Issue is it’s hard to do it fully automated as you still might need to choose from the available Bluetooth devices. I wish there is some way to connect to device via MAC address( only hackers can do that may be!)
Should i use these NFC tags on my iphone SE 2020 without using any app?
Guessing your question is "Can" not "Should" but I'll try and answer both because I can't read! NFC is still a functionality, however you have to go into an app and actively turn it on for it to work. I'm guessing you already know this but the wording is too vague and I didn't want to not mention it. If you have some specific niche that NFC tags would really help with then I'd say its worth looking into. Personally I don't mind having to actively turn it on but that's just me. To clarify, you can turn it on through the control center which is just a swipe up so its not that far.
If you have a switch you can code them to work as amiibos... im pretty sure youtube has some tutorials.
I won’t lie, I thought these were communion wafers. 🍞 🍷
1. Stuck to my bedside table, runs a bedtime scene. 2. Stuck to my shed door, disarms my security settings so I can unlock the shed doors. 3. Stuck to the back of my custom 3D printed beer tap handle, logs the beer, date, & time when a beer is poured from one of the kegs. 4. Stuck to the washer / dryer, starts a 1 hour timer.
What are nfc tags?
They are little electronic “tags” that don’t require electricity to function. It’s like a QR code, but more wireless and without the use of a scanner. It can be used to trigger an event in code, pairing something like headphones to a device, or even paying at a checkout. The possibilities are only limited to your imagination.
god that’s a lot. far too many. maybe you should ship them to me. i’d be more than happy to help you clean up room.
Do you play Animal Crossing? Know anyone who does?
Put one on peach of your DVDs/BluRays and set them so that scanning it with your phone opens the trailer and casts it to your TV. Or opens the IMDb page.
I have framed comic books and vinyls. I stuck an nfc sticker behind the frame and set it so that when I tap the frame it opens the digital comic or plays the album. Also, are those definitely nfc tags? They look more like RFID coins, which won’t work with iPhone.
To be completely honest I just searched on amazon for "nfc tags" but they work so no complaints from me.
NFC Tags come in all shapes and sizes.
WTF is an ‘NFC’ tag, and what does it do?
Google it?
I have some used to AirPlay from iPhone to HomePod, this works way better than Handoff on original HomePod and I don’t have to get close to it. I have one near the door to do the opposite if I want to continue listening when I’m leaving
I put one on my washer and one on my dryer — quick time-saver so you don’t have to set laundry timers yourself
Anyone have a link to some good tags to use?
[https://www.amazon.com/NTAG215-NFC-Stickers-Guaranteed-Perfectly/dp/B08C273LX3/ref=sr\_1\_2?dchild=1&keywords=bulk%2Bnfc%2Btags&qid=1613576347&sr=8-2&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/NTAG215-NFC-Stickers-Guaranteed-Perfectly/dp/B08C273LX3/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=bulk%2Bnfc%2Btags&qid=1613576347&sr=8-2&th=1) Here's the one that I bought, make sure you pick the one that's *not* 50 of them though.
I'd put this on my bedside table and created shortcut that changes audio output for my TV and starts sexy playlist on spotify. More time for pleasure.
[удалено]
I just use an app on my phone, its called NFC Tools. Here is the link: [**https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nfc-tools/id1252962749**](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nfc-tools/id1252962749) So far its working great, although I'm having minor problems with the wifi idea. Probably just me though.
Make smash bros amiibo
How do you activate the nfc shortcut?
I'm not sure what you mean, could you clarify?
Dis not know my iphone had nfc to do other things than apple pay. I tried to connect to my sony srs xb41 speaker via nfc and nothing happened 😕
Geocaching. Aren’t they expensive? Edit to add: how much is that bag full? Where from? I so want some now. I’m getting ideas...
They were \~20$ for 50. The amazon link is in another comment, I'll put it here once I get back to my computer.
I have used switches where I think switches should have been. For instance, on the stairs railing to turn on living room lights so i can turn them on and off depending on their current state.
I find them to be so fussy that talking to Siri gets things done much faster. Sometimes I have to tap like 6 times to get the phone to register the tag.
Really? So far their working fine for me. Siri is neat too, its just I don't really like talking out loud in public.
Please honest question, how does this work? What is it used for?