Apple NFC Feature Is Getting Better

By Louie Manalo Blog, NFC Apple, NFC, NFC Products, NFC Tag 0 Comments

Apple NFC Feature

iPhone models 10 and 11 now supports background reading of NFC tags. If the data programmed in the tag is within Apple’s scheme (see below), you don’t need an app.

Older iPhone models may still need an app to read NFC tags. These are models 7 and 8.

We recommend having the latest iOS software update.

Reading An NFC Tag With Your iPhone

The NFC reading device in an iPhone is at the top. Tap your iPhone above and NFC tag to read it. It is a similar gesture when paying with your phone. Optimum read range is between 0-2 cm. Allow a few seconds to read a tag.

Things To Keep In Mind

There are a few things to keep in mind when reading NFC tags with your Iphone. To avoid unintentional reading, Apple only read NFC tags when the phone is in use. Below are phone activities that prohibits background reading.

The device has never been unlocked
A Core NFC reader is in progress
Apple Pay Wallet is in use
The camera is in use
Airplane mode is enabled

Apple background reading supports only a limited URL schemes at this time.

Website URL (http/https) – httpss://www.example.com
Email – mailto:user@example.com
SMS – sms:+6198761234
Telephone – tel:+6198761234
Facetime – facetime://user@example.com
Facetime Audio – facetime-audio://user@example.com
Maps – http://maps.apple.com/?address=Apple%20Park,Cuperino,California
HomeKit Accesory Setup – X-HM://12345

(Source: Apple Developer Documentation) See the full documentation here.

If there are multiple records in the tag, Apple only reads the first one. The record must contain a universal link or is a supported scheme as shown above. What this means for businesses thinking about using NFC is that it can service both Apple and Android users. The downside is providing only one type of information.

So how are you able to take advantage of this? Put the most important record first and all others behind. This means you can provide more records for Android users while keeping Apple users engaged.

The increasing support of NFC by Apple is welcoming. Maybe future iOS updates will make it easier for an iPhone to interact with NFC tags.