There are certain things you do on your phone every day, like launch navigation when you get in your car or set your alarm when you go to bed. With a few NFC tags and almost no effort, you can automate these processes and never fiddle with your phone again.


This process uses Near Field Communication (NFC), a feature we've talked about once before. You've probably even seen it in commercials, where people share playlists and perform other actions just by touching their phones together. Those uses haven't really caught on, but NFC tags will work anywhere—they're basically tiny stickers, keychains, and other trinkets that perform tasks when you tap them with your phone.


Not all phones have NFC capabilities, but many of them do, including most newer Android phones from manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, and even Google's Nexus line. Before you continue, Google your phone to see if it has NFC built-in. We're going to focus on Android phones in this post, but some Windows phones might also have NFC built-in, so you can use this post as inspiration. Sadly, the iPhone currently does not have NFC, so iPhone users are out of luck.

What You'll Get

When you're done, you'll have a few small stick-on tiles placed strategically around your house, car, office, or anywhere else you want. Holding your phone up to one of these tags will perform a simple action right away, so you don't have to constantly fiddle with settings. For example, you could:

Turn on your ringer and Wi-Fi when you return home

Turn off the ringer and set your alarm when you go to bed

Start the Maps app and turn on Bluetooth when you get in your car

Launch your remote control app when you sit down on the couch to watch TV

Set a timer for 30 minutes when you put your clothes in the laundry

Start playing music or skip tracks

Check in to Foursquare, Facebook, or Google Latitude at your current location

...all with a quick tap of your phone. No need to open any menus, or tweak any settings yourself.

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Some of you Android fans may recognize some of these ideas as things you can automate with Tasker, and that's true. Apps like Tasker can do similar things based on location, what networks you're connected to, the time of day, and more. What's great about NFC tags is that they allow you do perform similar tasks in situations where Tasker isn't as good at automating. For example, Tasker doesn't always know when you're in your car, or when you sit down to watch TV. In those cases, these little NFC tags are perfect. In fact, with this method, you can even launch a Tasker task by placing your phone next to an NFC tag, so the two work phenomenally well together.


Step One: Get Some NFC Tags

To start, of course, you'll need to pick up some NFC tags (usually for a dollar or two apiece) that you can program with your desired actions. You'll find a number of differen brands out there, but both TagsForDroid tags and Samsung TecTiles are very popular and come highly recommended. We used the Samsung tags for this tutorial, but you can use another brand if you so choose. Most tags come in a number of forms, too, like stickers, keychains, and more.


Step Two: Download NFC Task Launcher

Some tags (like Samsung's) will come with their own app, but we're going to use a better, third-party app called NFC Task Launcher. It's powerful, easy to use, and completely free, so once you've got your NFC tags, grab a copy of Task Launcher for your phone of choice.


Step Three: Create Your Tasks


Assigning tasks to your NFC tags is incredibly easy. Here's what you need to do:

1. Open up NFC Task Launcher and tap "Create a New Task."

2. Choose NFC as your task Type.

3. Tap "Add Actions" to create your task. You have a number of categories and actions to choose from. For example, if you wanted this tag to turn Wi-Fi on, you would tap "Wireless & Networks" and check the "Wifi On/Off" box.


4. Click Next when you've chosen your actions, and configure them if given a prompt to do so.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for any additional tasks you want this tag to perform. When you're done, tap "Save & Write." Put your phone on top of the NFC tag you want associated with these actions. Your phone will make a sound and notify you when it successfully writes the tag. Press Done to finish.


Repeat this process for all your tags, then peel them off and stick them wherever you perform those actions most often. Here are a few examples of tasks you could perform.

Turn On Wi-Fi and Your Ringer at Home

Let's say you keep your phone on vibrate when you're out of the house, and you turn Wi-Fi off to save a bit of battery. This action will turn those features back on when you get home. Create a new task with these actions:

Wireless & Networks > Wifi On/Off > Enable

Sounds & Volume > Sound Profile > Normal

Then, just stick an NFC tag on your front door and you can tap it as you return home.


Silence the Ringer and Set the Alarm at Night

If you're tired of manually setting the volume and alarm every night, create a new task with these actions:

Sounds & Volume > Sound Profile > Silent

Alarms > Set Alarm > (Whatever Time You Want)

...and throw an NFC tag on your night stand. Every night you can just stick your phone on your night stand to get the desired result.


Launch Maps and Turn On Bluetooth in Your Car

Whenever I get in my car, I turn on Bluetooth and start up the Maps app. With an NFC tag on the dashboard, I can do all this in just a second by using these actions:

Wireless & Networks > Bluetooth On/Off > Enable

Applications & Shortcuts > Open Application > Maps

You can even open specific menus or functions through "App Activities" if your app supports it


Start a Tasker Task

Already got all these functions built into Tasker? You don't need to waste your time creating them again in NFC Task Launcher. Just create a new task and choose "Tasker Task" as your action. You'll be able to launch them by tapping your phone to an NFC tag, giving you one more easy trigger for all those great Tasker automations.


This is just a smattering of ideas, but they give you a good idea of how to use the app and what kinds of things you can do with it. Any time you find yourself doing something on your phone over and over again, just create a task and add it to an NFC tag. You'll never have to deal with those settings again.


Photo remixed from Abdurahman .

Music by LASERS .