I thought I'd order some smart tags to see what the first decent NFC apication I've come across can do.
Initially I was pretty impressed. Turn on NFC, wave the phone near a tag and Smart Connect pops up asking what you want the tag to trigger. Each event in Smart Connect has begin and end actions - begin is triggered by NFC detecting a tag and end is handled on the phone when you stop the event (there is Smart Connect item in the notification bar to make this really easy.)
So far so good, it's all really easy and slick to use.
The only problem is that the NFC detection only currently works if the phone screen is unlocked and on. This means if I want to leave a tag in the car to switch on my BT and start my navigation app, then I can't just get in and swipe the phone near it... I've got to unlock the phone first! Niggle!
For a first outing, this is still good so hopefully Sony will offer the ability to use tags without unlocking the phone at some point in the future.
Just thought I'd share in case anyone else is thinking of making a purchase.
On sgs3 it was the same as far as I remember and some custom roms had option in settings to work while screen off. Hopefully, for you, it will be ported/done for Xperia T also (aokp had that option and some other cm10 derivates)
Sent from my LT30p
If you want to take better advantage of NFC's potential, I'd recommend buying some generic tags and downloading NFC Task Launcher from the Play store. Generic tags are cheaper, has higher capacity, and NFC Task Launcher can do a lot more than Smart Connect. Combine it with Tasker and you can do some seriously cool ****.
yesyesimanoob said:
If you want to take better advantage of NFC's potential, I'd recommend buying some generic tags and downloading NFC Task Launcher from the Play store. Generic tags are cheaper, has higher capacity, and NFC Task Launcher can do a lot more than Smart Connect. Combine it with Tasker and you can do some seriously cool ****.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where can you get generic tags, any link maybe?
If my phone could trigger actions without being "under my actual monitoring" (On and unlocked) in reaction to NFC tags, I 'd consider that quite unsafe.
At least, there should be some kind of restriction system, like : you can trigger actions only on this particular list of "declared secure by the user" tags.
Maybe the software Yesyesimanoob (what a funny user name, sorry) speaks of can do it, i don't know.
Nickola
yesyesimanoob said:
If you want to take better advantage of NFC's potential, I'd recommend buying some generic tags and downloading NFC Task Launcher from the Play store. Generic tags are cheaper, has higher capacity, and NFC Task Launcher can do a lot more than Smart Connect. Combine it with Tasker and you can do some seriously cool ****.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had a bit of a scare when my mate who has an SGS3 swiped his phone near one of my tags and his NFC task launcher detected and reprogrammed my tag so I couldn't use it.
Luckily Smart Tag Maker on the Play Store can fix them but it's a bit crap if just anyone can reprogramme them.
vid200 said:
Where can you get generic tags, any link maybe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get mine from tagsfordroid.com (US). I don't really know international sources well enough to suggest a reliable one, sorry, but the tagsfordroid.com ones are just rebranded "Mifare Classic" tags, so you might want to look for that. They have about 700+ bytes of usable capacity, so you can put more on a single tag than the Sony ones (48 bytes).
---------- Post added at 04:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:24 PM ----------
emuX said:
Had a bit of a scare when my mate who has an SGS3 swiped his phone near one of my tags and his NFC task launcher detected and reprogrammed my tag so I couldn't use it.
Luckily Smart Tag Maker on the Play Store can fix them but it's a bit crap if just anyone can reprogramme them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure about the Smart Tags as I don't have one, but NFC Task Launcher can make a generic tag read-only, so once you've programmed it, no one (including yourself) can reprogram it ever again.
---------- Post added at 04:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:27 PM ----------
nickola said:
If my phone could trigger actions without being "under my actual monitoring" (On and unlocked) in reaction to NFC tags, I 'd consider that quite unsafe.
At least, there should be some kind of restriction system, like : you can trigger actions only on this particular list of "declared secure by the user" tags.
Maybe the software Yesyesimanoob (what a funny user name, sorry) speaks of can do it, i don't know.
Nickola
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to be rooted to get NFC to work while the screen is off, and that's only available for certain devices right now, with a custom APK. Maybe it will come to the Xperia T eventually, who knows.
nickola said:
If my phone could trigger actions without being "under my actual monitoring" (On and unlocked) in reaction to NFC tags, I 'd consider that quite unsafe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed that blanket access for all tags would be bad so some sort of control would be required (e.g. You can enable certain tags to work without unlocking the phone - such as the Blue (car) tag.)
It is really cool but I have no idea how can it be used to make me convenient because before you scan the nfc tag, you should open your screen and unlock it.
niuzhd said:
It is really cool but I have no idea how can it be used to make me convenient because before you scan the nfc tag, you should open your screen and unlock it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works best when you want to trigger multiple actions. For example, when I get into my car, I swipe a tag to activate in-car mode, which involves:
- Maximize media volume
- Lower notification volume
- Activate gesture media controls (via a Tasker profile, or alternatively you can try the app Wave Control for this)
- Activate SMS reader/auto-responder
Swipe the same tag again before exiting car to disable car mode.
yesyesimanoob said:
Works best when you want to trigger multiple actions. For example, when I get into my car, I swipe a tag to activate in-car mode, which involves:
- Maximize media volume
- Lower notification volume
- Activate gesture media controls (via a Tasker profile, or alternatively you can try the app Wave Control for this)
- Activate SMS reader/auto-responder
Swipe the same tag again before exiting car to disable car mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using Smart Connect or NFC task launcher? (My smart connect doesn't switch the options off when you swipe a 2nd time.)
emuX said:
Are you using Smart Connect or NFC task launcher? (My smart connect doesn't switch the options off when you swipe a 2nd time.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NFC Task Launcher. It has an option to create a "switch", which will alternate between two series of tasks each time you swipe it. Of course this means you're writing more data to the tag, which the Sony Smart Tags are probably too small to contain and hence Smart Connect doesn't provide the option.
I ordered these: http://www.amazon.com/NFC-Tag-Bundl...qid=1350520268&sr=8-1&keywords=tags+for+droid
They came quickly despite not being Prime Eligible. The quality is very nice and I look forward to testing them out when I get my phone later this month,
2 pices:
Ebay link
In case anyone is interested, I worked out how to write protect my Smart tags so they can't be hijacked by anyone who wants to write to them.
First, you need to read the existing content. (I used NFC Tag Writer by NXP, as it allows you to copy the content straight to the clipboard.) I then used NFC Writer by Tagstand to write the same content again but with the write protect option set. I had to write the content twice to be able to write protect - first in the normal way (no option to protect) then again via history with the option to lock in top right of the screen.
I've now locked all mine so they will always be the correct IDs for SmartConnect.
nickola said:
If my phone could trigger actions without being "under my actual monitoring" (On and unlocked) in reaction to NFC tags, I 'd consider that quite unsafe.
At least, there should be some kind of restriction system, like : you can trigger actions only on this particular list of "declared secure by the user" tags.
Maybe the software Yesyesimanoob (what a funny user name, sorry) speaks of can do it, i don't know.
Nickola
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's called "Turn NFC Off". It's built into every Android with NFC.
dragon_76 said:
It's called "Turn NFC Off". It's built into every Android with NFC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly. If NFC is OFF (and it definitely is on my phone), there is no reaction to any smart tag.
What I meant is, that there should be a possibility to specify a list of "user tags", the same way you can declare a Mac Addresses list on your WiFi access point/ISP router.
Anyway I've given up on using NFC.
Nickola
Smart Tags are much more beautiful than general ones...But may I ask how much u spent on them?I found them very cheap in local stores and thought that they were not original ones.
nickola said:
Not exactly. If NFC is OFF (and it definitely is on my phone), there is no reaction to any smart tag.
What I meant is, that there should be a possibility to specify a list of "user tags", the same way you can declare a Mac Addresses list on your WiFi access point/ISP router.
Anyway I've given up on using NFC.
Nickola
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NFC doesn't serialise chips. Any "user tag" could be cloned, passive devices being much more difficult than active. RFID, and NFC by extension, were designed to be simple. The fact that companies or individuals have chosen to use the technology in a way that may compromise security is irrelevant to the technology. Its biggest security feature is that it requires physical access within just a few centimetres, and it requires one device to be "smart" and know what to do with any information in a tag.
You can always put a little tinfoil hat on your phone to match your own...
To be honest, I never pay much attention to Smart Tag until I saw this thread, LOL
Is there any way to use the three Skip dots with other NFC apps? Everytime I'm in NFC Task Launcher and touch one of the dots to the phone, the Motorola Skip setup pops up. When I cancel out of that, NFC Task Launcher doesn't recognize the dot. I've tried turning off the service, but it just respawns. I've got some more NFC tags on order that should show up next week. Is it going to do this with all NFC tags, or is there something about the Motorola ones that kick that setup off?
chrobb said:
Is there any way to use the three Skip dots with other NFC apps? Everytime I'm in NFC Task Launcher and touch one of the dots to the phone, the Motorola Skip setup pops up. When I cancel out of that, NFC Task Launcher doesn't recognize the dot. I've tried turning off the service, but it just respawns. I've got some more NFC tags on order that should show up next week. Is it going to do this with all NFC tags, or is there something about the Motorola ones that kick that setup off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm curious of the answer too.
Bump!
chrobb said:
Is there any way to use the three Skip dots with other NFC apps? Everytime I'm in NFC Task Launcher and touch one of the dots to the phone, the Motorola Skip setup pops up. When I cancel out of that, NFC Task Launcher doesn't recognize the dot. I've tried turning off the service, but it just respawns. I've got some more NFC tags on order that should show up next week. Is it going to do this with all NFC tags, or is there something about the Motorola ones that kick that setup off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the same question..
even i put a normal nfc tag into a moto skip, it cant be recognize too.
The skip tags have a specific header that the Moto X recognizes as a skip tag. If you open the skip app and try a non skip tag, it will find it and turn it into a skip if you choose. The problem is, the skip app will write protect the tag and it will only be a skip tag. The official tags are the same...they will always be a skip and nothing else.
Now I have an app that someone made to write the header to a normal tag, but without the write protect. So, the tag can be rewritten, but only with another NFC device...the Moto X will only see it as a Skip tag.
I can upload the app, once I find the thread and original creator. I don't want to post something without giving them props.
Apologies if it has been asked - didn't find it in a quick search. Anyone used a regular NFC sticker successfully instead of a 20 skip? I really like the idea but would easily make my own. I have tons of tectiles and NFC stickers just kicking around. Heck, even NFC keychains that I'm not using...
I haven't tried it, but if someone can scan a Skip with a phone without the Skip unlock we can make our own.
The Skip is a regular NFC chip with a code, I *think* it is '*motoskip########'
I forget the exact format, but that is close.
According to official docs, you can use non-Skip tags only if you've initially used a Skip tag to activate the app.
Sent from my Moto X
johnny grep said:
According to official docs, you can use non-Skip tags only if you've initially used a Skip tag to activate the app.
Sent from my Moto X
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suspect they aren't white listing UUIDs in the app itself so it's either a payload on the tag (which should be fairly simple to replicate in theory) or they are calling home to verify UUIDs. I may have to buy one if I keep the moto x just to find out for sure which is accurate (if someone else doesn't first).
I got a SKIP and you can't scan it with the moto x because the skip app intercepts NFC read.
When I scanned the Skip with a SGS4 the tag payload was close to '*motoskip########'
But since I don't have an non-motox to test with at the moment I can't check right now.
Let me see if I can later. And the Skip comes with 4 tages, the clip on (which I lost on the first day, right after dropping my X) and 3 stickers.
As far as I know any of the 4 can be the master so you shouldn't need anything special.
If I remember correctly the tags are 64kb NXP NFC chips.
#LearnFromMyFail Don't buy a Cellphone while on Vacation
Yoshiofthewire said:
I got a SKIP and you can't scan it with the moto x because the skip app intercepts NFC read.
When I scanned the Skip with a SGS4 the tag payload was close to '*motoskip########'
But since I don't have an non-motox to test with at the moment I can't check right now.
Let me see if I can later. And the Skip comes with 4 tages, the clip on (which I lost on the first day, right after dropping my X) and 3 stickers.
As far as I know any of the 4 can be the master so you shouldn't need anything special.
If I remember correctly the tags are 64kb NXP NFC chips.
#LearnFromMyFail Don't buy a Cellphone while on Vacation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just for reference, you don't need *any* skip tags to set up skip. When you set up the NFC lock screen you get the option to tap your skip to enable. If you use a standard tag (I used an already encoded NTAG203) it will erase this tag and over-write the data set with the appropriate data set. This will then serve as your "master" nfc tag (it's also encoded as a skip tag).
The dump looks like it's an external mime: urn:nfc:ext:motorola.com:xring with a data set that is numeric (I haven't done any sort of testing to find any correlation between the payload, device id, uuid, etc but it's a numeric data set.
Is the Moto X capable of programming NFC tags besides the skip tag that Motorola promotes. I have downloaded a few apps to do this but when I try to program a task to a skip tag the default Motorola skip tag app comes up and only allows me to do the "unlock" feature. I hope I am explaining this correctly.
tonyguy2000 said:
Is the Moto X capable of programming NFC tags besides the skip tag that Motorola promotes. I have downloaded a few apps to do this but when I try to program a task to a skip tag the default Motorola skip tag app comes up and only allows me to do the "unlock" feature. I hope I am explaining this correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it works. However the software is programmed to treat "skip" tags differently. It will intercept NFC from interacting with the "skip" tags beyond locking/unlocking. If you buy some generic (i.e. non-Motorola Skip), you will be able to program them fine.
mandrsn1 said:
Yes it works. However the software is programmed to treat "skip" tags differently. It will intercept NFC from interacting with the "skip" tags beyond locking/unlocking. If you buy some generic (i.e. non-Motorola Skip), you will be able to program them fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, thank you!
I bought some TagsForDroid NFC tags from Amazon and programmed them using Trigger. They are a snap to program.
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk
With my Moto X, I cannot seem to program an NFC tag...is there a trick to doing this.
I got a Skip and three tags with my Moto X and have quickly learned that I will not use the function the Skip is designed for.
However, I would like to use the three tags for various things.
I have tried using the app 'Trigger' to create tasks, but every time the app tells me to place my phone over a tag to program it (and I place the phone over one of the tags), it takes me directly to the Motorola Skip app to either setup or add another NFC tag to skip....very frustrating.
You need some other tags or use some other device to reprogram these ones (if they're not read-only).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2404256
Questions go in the Q&A section.
KJ said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2404256
Questions go in the Q&A section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the Q&A section... (Apologies if this wasn't here before and got moved).
To the OP : moto's skip dot NFC stickers are read-only. They've been locked.
You can find lots of different nfc stickers that are read-write enabled all around on the internet. They're pretty cheap.
If you don't want to use the skip, then it and the dots are pretty useless to you.
tapa'd on my moto x