Did you know that the NFC (Near Field Communication) feature on your Android device can be used for more than just Android and Samsung Pay? It’s true! Near-field communication technology has been around long before Google, Apple and Samsung decided to start making use of the technology. There are many different things users can do with NFC!
In this list we’ll go over some great uses for NFC on Android that have nothing to do with contactless payment. Each of these apps bring cool and unique uses to NFC. Here are five additional ways to make good use of the NFC apps for Android!
Note: to use these apps, your Android phone must first be equipped with the NFC feature.
1. App Beam
If you’re savvy with Android, you probably want to export an APK (Android app) from your phone to give to someone else. Doing this takes a while. First, you have to get an APK extractor. Then you have to determine how to send the APK and then upload it. With App Beam, sending apps from your phone is way easier.
All the user needs to do is select an app to transfer, then use NFC to transfer the app directly to the other device. There is no messing with third party upload sites or anything like that. If you extract and send APKs frequently, consider this tool.
2. SuperBeam
Want to send a file to someone but don’t feel like messing around with file-transfer websites or cloud storage links? If your Android device has NFC, you may want to give SuperBeam a try. With this app users can easily send and receive files by tapping two devices together to create a direct connection.
Additionally, Superbeam supports file transfer via QR codes, download history and more.
3. Puzzle Alarm Clock
Often times, alarms get ignored because it is so easy to just click the “snooze” button. This makes waking up on time hit or miss. Introducing Puzzle Alarm Clock, an alarm clock that forces you to solve puzzles to turn off your alarm. However, an interesting feature in this alarm clock is its support for NFC stickers. With NFC stickers enabled, users will be forced to wake up and tap their phone against an NFC sticker to end the alarm.
If you’ve tried regular alarm clocks and need something new, try this app.
4. Insta WiFi
Giving guests the wireless code can be tiring. With every house guest you’re forced to either remember the key or dig around the house to find the single piece of paper with the access key written on it. With InstaWifi, this problem goes away. Using this app, users can easily create NFC tags (NFC stickers) to share wireless codes.
This is super useful because you could make several NFC stickers or cards and just pass them out for your guests to scan if they want to access the Internet. InstaWifi also supports QR codes for phones that do not have NFC.
5. NFC Tools
In this list, we’ve gone over apps that respond to NFC stickers. NFC Tools has similar features. Using this app, users can write and read data directly to NFC tags and stickers. This is very handy if you want to create your own smart card or something that interacts with NFC (like a message that can only be read with NFC, etc.).
If you’ve ever wanted to create your own NFC tags and write data to them or simply want a way to access NFC tags you find in the world, do check out this app.
Conclusion
Despite its reputation, NFC is more than just contactless payment. For a few years, people have been using NFC for things like NFC stickers or other esoteric functions like file transfers. The reality is that this technology is super interesting and doesn’t get enough coverage due to the fact that not many people understand just how useful it can be. Hopefully, as smartphones and NFC becomes more prevalent, the technology will become more popular.
Image Credit: Intel Free Press
Derrik Diener is a freelance technology blogger.
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