?What is NFC & how does it work

NFC stands for Near Field Communication. Essentially, it's a way for your phone to interact with something in close proximity. It operates within a radius of about 4 cm and provides a wireless connection between your device and another. This allows for two-way communication, with both devices involved being able to send and receive information. This NFC connection does not rely on Wi-Fi, 3G, LTE, or otherwise, and it does not cost anything to use.

How do I know if my Android smartphone has NFC

It's very simple. Just open Settings > More and see if there's an NFC option hiding there. Most smartphones that have NFC place a small NFC logo on their rear panels, too

If you’ve looked at the hardware specifications for a top of the line handset at any point in the last few years, there’s a good chance that you’ve seen NFC listed on the spec sheet. But despite the age of NFC, it hasn’t yet become the norm for all smartphones. If you’re content with an older handset, or can’t quite justify springing for the latest top of the line model, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about. So here’s a rundown of what NFC is, how it works, and what it can be used for.

NFC stands for “Near Field Communication” and, as the name implies, it enables short range communication between compatible devices. This requires at least one transmitting device, and another to receive the signal. A range of devices can use the NFC standard and can be considered either passive or active, depending on how the device works.

Passive NFC devices include tags, and other small transmitters, that can send information to other NFC devices without the need for a power source of their own. However, they don’t really process any information sent from other sources, and can’t connect to other passive components.  These often take the form of interactive signs on walls or advertisements.

Active devices are able to both send and receive data, and can communicate with each other as well as with passive devices. Smartphones are by far the most common implementation of active NFC devices, but public transport card readers and touch payment terminals are also good

.examples of the technology

?How does NFC work on Android

NFC transmits or receives data via radio waves. It's an established standard of wireless communication, so if devices stick to the NFC protocols, they can communicate with each other. It differs from Bluetooth in that it functions through electromagnetic induction. What this means is that there can be a passive device, such as a poster or sticker, requiring no power source of its own, that can transmit data when an active device, like your smartphone, comes into contact with it.

As an active NFC device, a smartphone can send and receive data over NFC. It encompasses the full range, three modes, of NFC:

• Reader/writer (e.g., for reading tags in NFC posters)
• Card emulation (e.g., for making payments)
• Peer-to-peer (e.g., for file transfers)

What can I use NFC for

Connecting with NFC tags

NFC tags are small physical “tags” or “stickers” containing NFC chips that can be programmed to provide any kind of information to your smartphone. Typically, an NFC tag contains links to a web address, but it can also be set to perform certain actions with your smartphone, like turn on the Wi-Fi, or turn down the ringer.

In the future, these tags could be embedded into just about anything. For example, an NFC tag could be used in a restaurant menu to make the most up-to-date version of it available immediately on your phone. All you would need to do is bring your smartphone into proximity with the physical menu, and you could potentially browse more detailed information of certain menu items, like nutritional values or ingredients. Where NFC presents an advantage over current QR technology is that there is no need for a “scanner app”: the information is available

instantaneously

?How it works

Just like Bluetooth and WiFi, and all manner of other wireless signals, NFC works on the principle of sending information over radio waves.  Near Field Communication is another standard for wireless data transitions, meaning that there are specifications which devices have to adhere to in order to communicate with each other properly. The technology used in NFC is based on older RFID (Radio-frequency identification) ideas, which uses electromagnetic induction in order to transmit information.

This marks the one major difference between NFC and Bluetooth/WiFi, as it can be used to induce electric currents within passive components as well as just send data. This means that passive devices don’t require their own power supply, and can instead be powered by the electromagnetic field produced by an active NFC component when it comes into range, but we’ll talk about that in greater detail some other time. Unfortunately, NFC technology does not command enough inductance to be used to charge our smartphones, but QI charging is based on the same principle

?How to send files via NFC on Android

First you need to enable NFC and Android Beam on both devices (Settings > More), then all you need to do is go to the file you wish to send, say, a photo, and tap the devices together. That’s right, you don’t even need to select any “send via” options, just put the devices back to back, and when it asks to confirm the transfer hit "touch to beam". You can also do this with the help of a dedicated app such as File Beam, and the result is a much simpler and faster way of sending files between two neighboring handsets.