NFC uses

[J V]

Hello,

I just got a new mobile phone that supports NFC. I like the idea of NFC, as on paper it looks nice and it made me consider to buy a pack of NFC tags. On the internet, always the same examples come back: switch on/off wifi, switch bluetooth, set an alarm...

What other uses for NFC tags (involving or not involving the Loxone system) do people have here?
And more importantly: do you really use it as you planned it or does it turn out to be more a gimmick that looses its attraction?

Jörg

[Benjamin Jobst]

Hi Jörg,

well, we have a pack of Loxone-NFC-Stickers lying in our office... I tested them once or twice and it seems to be a nice gimmick. In the App you can learn in a sticker and define your own function that will be run by "using" the NFC-Tag. That could be switching a light or something like that. But you can also do more sophisticated stuff up to whole scenes like "welcome home" or so - as far as I remember from my last tests.
My favourite scenario was a tag at our garage door to open both garage door and the gate, maybe even switch the lights in dependence of the brightness. This would have worked well I expect.

But there are also some reasons I never ended up using the NFC-function. I think the main problem is that NFC with loxone works like this:
You fumble around to find your phone in your pockets, place it over the NFC-tag. If you managed to activate the unlock-function, your phone will unlock, open the Loxone-app, connect to your miniserver and start the function. If you have no password on your lockscreen you have to unlock the phone yourself.
This takes about 5 seconds... and it does almost the same I could also do myself - so I can't se any real benefits except it's looking a lot more decadent =)

Another con it's not working with iPhone because Apple does not release the NFC-function of their devices

But hey, maybe you got me back to this idea and I will start testing this all over again =)

[J V]

Thank you for your comments. I feel it is this type of thing that people keep trying, but never use fully....

But there are also some reasons I never ended up using the NFC-function..... so I can't se any real benefits except it's looking a lot more decadent =)

This is actually the main reasons why I started the thread: on paper it looks nice... but at home I normally don't run around with my phone and I wondered how people use it. I also did not know that the Loxone app still requires unlocking... I thought if you set it to an action (e.g. lights on) that it works immediately (I'll have to try that - luckily my work badge is NFC based, so I have one to mess around with :-))

I first thought of adding a tag to each room, but started realizing that that is actually quite pointless: there are switches near every entry. And there is more risk of dropping the phone or scratching the wall... Going to my car, I usually have the phone in some bag or pocket, so having to tap some tag in the car to e.g. switch on bluetooth is pointless: I use a built-in navigation with bluetooth handsfree, so I don't need to have the phone anywhere visible. I could save some battery by not leaving bluetooth on, but that is about it.

I am now thinking of the following tags:
- near my desk, to switch on the pc and lights
- near every media device (Squeezebox, Kodi) for which the Loxone had controls: it could switch on the device and switch the app to the correct page so the phone immediately works as a remote for this device (and maybe also set the lights, different for e.g. watching a movie).
- one in the corridor near the front door, to switch wifi (and maybe 4G, although I tend to switch that one manually when needed) and synchronize (?)

But that is about it... only situations where you would basically continue to use the phone to control something...

[Toolate]

Isn't the other issue that Loxone recommended a tree extension per NFC reader.

This made it an expensive idea decision in the end for me.