# NFC chips.



## Art Vandelay (Jan 4, 2012)

Hey guys, I keep reading posts where people bought NFC chips and they have them in various locations, then when they come in contact with the phone, the phone executes an action.

I would love to know how to do this, does anyone have a guide or can you point me in the direction for this info?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## Snow02 (Jun 14, 2011)

Use nfc task launcher (paid) to write the tags. You can buy tags at many different sites. I got mine here: http://www.tagstand.com/pages/catalog

Using the app should be self explanatory once you open it up and poke around.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.jwsoft.nfcactionlauncher


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## esoomenona (Nov 2, 2011)

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1359057


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## RMarkwald (Oct 19, 2011)

I get mine from tagstand.com, pre-formatted NDEF tags for $15. I received them in two days, work great!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## busterbrown77 (Aug 31, 2011)

I also got my tags from TagStand.

They are awesome. They aren't pricey, and they ship quick.

I use NFC Task Launcher as well, but depending on what you want the tags to do, you should get NXP Tag Writer. It's free, and It allows use of unformatted tags, which no other app will, due to a bug in ICS that they got around. It also has some more in depth options, and backs up all tags that it reads.


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## bawb3 (Nov 20, 2011)

Do the nfc tags automatically initiate the actions you have them programmed to do when they get in range, or do you have to do something - like open the app that reads them or use a widget?


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## RMarkwald (Oct 19, 2011)

Pretty much touch them to the back of the phone, it executes whatever the tag was programmed to do. You just need to unlock your phone, and as long as NFC is enabled you never need to open an app, it'll just read it.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## Barf (Sep 26, 2011)

Just wondering, what do you guys use these for? Examples? I'm curious, sounds intriguing.


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## RMarkwald (Oct 19, 2011)

Barf said:


> Just wondering, what do you guys use these for? Examples? I'm curious, sounds intriguing.


I get to work, that tag does: Vibrate, Auto Brightness, LTE on via Tasker, GPS/Bluetooth off, open Touchdown for Exchange.

In car: Turn on 3g, turn off Wifi, GPS on, bluetooth on, open Vlingo, turn on Normal at max volume.

I have one by my bed, turning on Silent, setting/turning on my alarm.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## strongergravity (Jul 22, 2011)

In car: BT on, WiFi off, ringer on
at work: BT off, WiFi on, vibrate mode
at home: BT off, WiFi on, ringer on

Other options:
in bedroom: dim lights, play Barry White, blink LED, audrino to pour wine, camera OFF!


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## darkrom (Jul 30, 2011)

strongergravity said:


> In car: BT on, WiFi off, ringer on
> at work: BT off, WiFi on, vibrate mode
> at home: BT off, WiFi on, ringer on
> 
> ...


Camera off? You have nothing better to do with that 1080p camera and you know it.

I also have a work and bedside tag. I'll add one to my car when the pro clip shows up.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


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## Sonicmax2k2 (Jun 19, 2011)

I was thinking about getting an NFC tag and putting it in my unofficial car dock and have it launch Car Home, but I was wondering how often the nfc signal would be sent if I have the phone and the tag constantly in contact. Would it send every few seconds/minutes, or would it only accept the signal once?


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## Art Vandelay (Jan 4, 2012)

Another question. If you have one in your car to turn on BT, does it automatically turn off BT when it is away from the NFC chip? Or are the actions only 1 way?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## RMarkwald (Oct 19, 2011)

Sonicmax2k2 said:


> I was thinking about getting an NFC tag and putting it in my unofficial car dock and have it launch Car Home, but I was wondering how often the nfc signal would be sent if I have the phone and the tag constantly in contact. Would it send every few seconds/minutes, or would it only accept the signal once?


Every time you wake/unlock phone. If screen is on and doesn't lock, it scans it the first time and that's it.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## RMarkwald (Oct 19, 2011)

Art Vandelay said:


> Another question. If you have one in your car to turn on BT, does it automatically turn off BT when it is away from the NFC chip? Or are the actions only 1 way?
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


When on it's on, until you turn it off or scan another tag that turns it off.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## mentose457 (Aug 26, 2011)

RMarkwald said:


> When on it's on, until you turn it off or scan another tag that turns it off.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


You can program the tag to reverse the action by taping it again.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus


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## RMarkwald (Oct 19, 2011)

mentose457 said:


> You can program the tag to reverse the action by taping it again.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus


Learned something, thank you!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## Phaze08 (Jun 13, 2011)

A friend of mine owns a small local shop and he set it up so that anyone who swipes over the nfc tag will automatically connect to his wifi. The shop is also a popular hangout. It turns of wifi, connects, and types the 10 digit numeric code to authenticate with the network. Pretty sweet.


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## UnfedBear67 (Jul 31, 2011)

strongergravity said:


> Other options:
> 
> in bedroom: dim lights, play Barry White, blink LED, audrino to pour wine, camera OFF!


Let's see an iPhone do that, +1 for Nexus

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## linuxmel (Jan 5, 2012)

UnfedBear67 said:


> Let's see an iPhone do that, +1 for Nexus
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


+1


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## Barf (Sep 26, 2011)

RMarkwald said:


> I get to work, that tag does: Vibrate, Auto Brightness, LTE on via Tasker, GPS/Bluetooth off, open Touchdown for Exchange.
> 
> In car: Turn on 3g, turn off Wifi, GPS on, bluetooth on, open Vlingo, turn on Normal at max volume.
> 
> ...


Wow. I'm gonna get down on these. Thanks!


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## RMarkwald (Oct 19, 2011)

Barf said:


> Wow. I'm gonna get down on these. Thanks!


Well worth the $17 ($15 for 15 NDEF tags, $2 for NFC Task Launcher)!


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## Nandrew (Jun 12, 2011)

Pardon the noob question: What is the difference between "blank" and "NDEF" formatted?


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## Marathonman (Sep 10, 2011)

Either my NFC sucks in my phone....or the tags are not that great. It will work.....just have to move the phone around in front of it for 30 minutes or so!(slight exaggeration) My nfc worked great at a store.....so I dunno.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Blue Tapatalk


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## RMarkwald (Oct 19, 2011)

Nandrew said:


> Either my NFC sucks in my phone....or the tags are not that great. It will work.....just have to move the phone around in front of it for 30 minutes or so!(slight exaggeration) My nfc worked great at a store.....so I dunno.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Blue Tapatalk


I usually touch the tag to the back of the phone directly about 2/3's to the bottom of it, kinda take the phone and move it in a circle motion. The phone has to be awake and screen unlocked before it'll scan it as well.


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## Nandrew (Jun 12, 2011)

Thanks! Ordering them now!


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## mentose457 (Aug 26, 2011)

RMarkwald said:


> Blank means they can be formatted, but due to a bug in ICS the GNex cannot format blank tags, so getting them pre-formatted NDEF means you don't have to format them first, you can just use an app like NFC Task Launcher to program them right away.


There is an app on the market that fixes the bug and allows you to format tags.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.nxp.nfc.tagwriter&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5ueHAubmZjLnRhZ3dyaXRlciJd


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## busterbrown77 (Aug 31, 2011)

Marathonman said:


> Either my NFC sucks in my phone....or the tags are not that great. It will work.....just have to move the phone around in front of it for 30 minutes or so!(slight exaggeration) My nfc worked great at a store.....so I dunno.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Blue Tapatalk


I get that too sometimes. It's because the tag is simply too small. TagStand notes that on their site, that the smaller it is, the less distance the signal. If you want it to work about 99% of the time, get one of the big rectangle Mifare Classic tag such as this one:

http://www.tagstand..../nfc_rec_86mm_w

I got some of every kind of tag and this one is pretty solid at reliability. However it's a Mifare tag so while you get like 715 bytes of space, you can't make it read only. It's supposedly a prototype tag and may not work with future versions of android.

I personally don't use the smaller tags that much because they don't always register unless your exact, and they sometimes don't hold enough. If you plan on doing tasks with tags, Make sure they are 144 bytes or larger, and Don't get them NDEF formatted. I can confirm that the TagWriter app fixes the bug with empty tags, and i can format them just fine.

Also, I'll just note this to help some one who makes the same dumb mistake as me.
DO NOT MAKE IT READ ONLY UNLESS YOUR ABSOLUTELY SURE. IT'S PERMANENT AND CANNOT BE REVERSED OR ERASED.
Because of this, i have a tag that permanently goes to a rick roll... could be worse, but really... who can i troll when nobody has NFC?.... wait...
those new i*hones will be getting trolled... Who wouldn't tap it to try their new "magical feature" then... NEVER GONNA GIVE NEVER GONNA GIVE. *grins*


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## busterbrown77 (Aug 31, 2011)

Nandrew said:


> Pardon the noob question: What is the difference between "blank" and "NDEF" formatted?


NDEF is a newer dara format that works with more NFC devices, mainly android i believe. (could be wrong). I personally would go blank. If you want to use the tag for anything more than a url or text, NDEF tags have less space compared to blank formatted tags. Something like 46 to 144. You can't do much with a 46 byte tag.


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## Nandrew (Jun 12, 2011)

Ordered up some NDEF formatted already. Am I wrong to assume that these will have adequate space required to to turn BT on/off, Wifi.. etc? Once I play around a little with these, I may order up some large blank ones given they are dirt cheap. Thinking of sewing up my pants with these inserted behind my pockets..









Thanks for that useful link Mentose457!


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## RMarkwald (Oct 19, 2011)

Nandrew said:


> Ordered up some NDEF formatted already. Am I wrong to assume that these will have adequate space required to to turn BT on/off, Wifi.. etc? Once I play around a little with these, I may order up some large blank ones given they are dirt cheap. Thinking of sewing up my pants with these inserted behind my pockets..
> 
> Thanks for that useful link Mentose457!


I'm able to do everything I previously listed without issue.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## micro23 (Sep 1, 2011)

Alright I'm finally taking the plunge and ordering some of these. Thanks for all the info guys.


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## ljungberg3 (Jan 28, 2012)

I did a video on the mifare chips available of amazon.






ive been using them for wifi/alarms. they are non formatted but its easy to format using nfc task launcher


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## krohnjw (Sep 8, 2011)

busterbrown77 said:


> Ordered up some NDEF formatted already. Am I wrong to assume that these will have adequate space required to to turn BT on/off, Wifi.. etc? Once I play around a little with these, I may order up some large blank ones given they are dirt cheap. Thinking of sewing up my pants with these inserted behind my pockets..
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Simple operations within NFC Task Launcher take 4-5 bytes each (Manipulate wifi, bluetooth, airplane mode, set ringers, etc). Launching applications, configuring wifi/hotspot, launching URLs take more space (a variable amount) as they need to store package names or variable length text as entered by the user.


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## TheJ0hnman (Oct 6, 2011)

RMarkwald said:


> I get to work, that tag does: Vibrate, Auto Brightness, LTE on via Tasker, GPS/Bluetooth off, open Touchdown for Exchange.


How are you (or anyone) getting GPS to toggle through Tasker? I can only, through widgetsoid plugin, open location settings then manually toggle.

Edit: Found something that works: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.intangibleobject.securesettings.plugin

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## drparty (Jul 27, 2011)

So I'm getting tired of typing in my unlock code, but I hate the idea of leaving my phone unlocked in case I lose it (happened once, seekdroid saved the day).

I hate face unlock because it doesn't work in low light conditions and its really easier to just type in a password which has led me to this forum.

Is there a way to use an NFC tag to unlock your phone? I found a program by googling, NFC unlock but it looks like its been removed from the market.

What size NFC tags are available? Could I glue one inside my wedding band? Perhaps under my watch would be better? Most of the tags I've found are stickers with a few token style or wristband style, the wristbands look awful though.

Anyone tried something similar?


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## ljungberg3 (Jan 28, 2012)

havent seen anything smaller than the usual sized tags, sorry


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## Nandrew (Jun 12, 2011)

Stickers everywhere.. NFC is awesome!


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## TheJ0hnman (Oct 6, 2011)

drparty said:


> Is there a way to use an NFC tag to unlock your phone? I found a program by googling, NFC unlock but it looks like its been removed from the market.
> 
> What size NFC tags are available? Could I glue one inside my wedding band? Perhaps under my watch would be better? Most of the tags I've found are stickers with a few token style or wristband style, the wristbands look awful though.
> 
> Anyone tried something similar?


Tasker apparently has the ability to perform an automated pattern unlock, as well as enter a PIN or passcode, so you could trigger that Tasker task with NFC Task Launcher. I have not seen a tag small enough to put inside a wedding band, unless you are exceptionally large-handed. A quick test with both watches I have handy results in the tag not being successfully read when between the watch housing and my arm. Perhaps you should blaze a trail in merging the worlds of Android nerdiness and body modification and implant a tag somewhere


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## drparty (Jul 27, 2011)

Ha thanks! I think I'm probably a big enough nerd it wouldn't be a problem to just laminate a sticker onto something small like a 3x5, and then just stick it into a pocket. I'm kind of surprised someone hasn't come up with this yet because security is actually very important depending on what you do, people in the healthcare industry often have HIPAA protected info on their mobiles but typing in a password is really a slow way to go.

But I think I'll just end up trying the Tasker/laminated NFC sticker trick and see how it works.


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## djxkxoz (Sep 22, 2011)

So I actually took the plunge after reading this post when it was first started - completely loving it! I purchased the starter kit from Tagstand (NDEF formatted), launcher and tasker. For those of you concerned about available space on the tags, I seriously suggest purcahing Tasker as it stores the actual tasks on you phone and the tag is used to just kick off those tasks. You can perform a hell of a lot more functions this way. Be forewarned that Tasker is a lot more complex than launcher and I've barely scratched the surface of it's capablites.

I do have a couple question to those experts out there: Has anyone figured out how to toggle 4G, if so how? Has anyone else experieneced an issue with toggle on BT and music not playing through the BT device? I have to reboot everytime after I use the tag to get it to work. I have tried turning it on through Launcher and Tasker both with the same issue. Maybe the ROM? AOKP build 25


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## RMarkwald (Oct 19, 2011)

djxkxoz said:


> So I actually took the plunge after reading this post when it was first started - completely loving it! I purchased the starter kit from Tagstand (NDEF formatted), launcher and tasker. For those of you concerned about available space on the tags, I seriously suggest purcahing Tasker as it stores the actual tasks on you phone and the tag is used to just kick off those tasks. You can perform a hell of a lot more functions this way. Be forewarned that Tasker is a lot more complex than launcher and I've barely scratched the surface of it's capablites.
> 
> I do have a couple question to those experts out there: Has anyone figured out how to toggle 4G, if so how? Has anyone else experieneced an issue with toggle on BT and music not playing through the BT device? I have to reboot everytime after I use the tag to get it to work. I have tried turning it on through Launcher and Tasker both with the same issue. Maybe the ROM? AOKP build 25


For toggling LTE, use Team BAMF's LTE toggle, ihtfp69 even wrote up instructions, works great for me!

http://www.teambamf.net/f52/%5Blte%5D%5Btasker%5D-bamf-lte-widget-v0-4-%5B01-12-2012%5D-3676/

As for as the bluetooth issue, I am not sure and don't have an answer for you.


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## djxkxoz (Sep 22, 2011)

RMarkwald said:


> For toggling LTE, use Team BAMF's LTE toggle, ihtfp69 even wrote up instructions, works great for me!
> 
> http://www.teambamf....2-2012%5D-3676/
> 
> As for as the bluetooth issue, I am not sure and don't have an answer for you.


Worked like a charm! Thank you! Now to just figure out the BT issue and mess with turning Wifi on and off based on cell tower identification.


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## esmier (Oct 7, 2011)

RMarkwald said:


> For toggling LTE, use Team BAMF's LTE toggle, ihtfp69 even wrote up instructions, works great for me!
> 
> http://www.teambamf....2-2012%5D-3676/
> 
> As for as the bluetooth issue, I am not sure and don't have an answer for you.


I just got my NFC tags in today. I tried using the instructions here to get 4g on or off but it didnt work. I created both tasks, but they didnt toggle anything after writing. Do I have to assign them to a profile to get it to work?


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## RMarkwald (Oct 19, 2011)

esmier said:


> I just got my NFC tags in today. I tried using the instructions here to get 4g on or off but it didnt work. I created both tasks, but they didnt toggle anything after writing. Do I have to assign them to a profile to get it to work?


To answer your question, yes.

Here's the Profiles I created: LTE_On and LTE_Off.

The LTE_On profile: Select State - Net - Mobile Network - I checked 4G only. Then in the Task Selection window, select whatever Task you created that turns on LTE.

The LTE_Off profile: Do the same, but check only 3G.

Then in NFC Task Launcher, go to write a new tag, select Tasker Task and enter the name of the Profile you created in Tasker. There may be different ways to do it, but that's how I got it working for me.


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## djxkxoz (Sep 22, 2011)

esmier said:


> I just got my NFC tags in today. I tried using the instructions here to get 4g on or off but it didnt work. I created both tasks, but they didnt toggle anything after writing. Do I have to assign them to a profile to get it to work?


Actually, I didn't have to create profiles, just tasks and then in Launcher just add a tasker task for each. Silly question but did you install the zip from the link as well?


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## esmier (Oct 7, 2011)

djxkxoz said:


> Actually, I didn't have to create profiles, just tasks and then in Launcher just add a tasker task for each. Silly question but did you install the zip from the link as well?


no i didnt, i assumed that was just for the widget considering that my ROM has the CM9 pulldown widget, i thought i wouldnt need to install it. Ill try and get back to you


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## esmier (Oct 7, 2011)

djxkxoz said:


> Actually, I didn't have to create profiles, just tasks and then in Launcher just add a tasker task for each. Silly question but did you install the zip from the link as well?


Still no go, the widget doesnt even work









Even the GPS toggle that i tried making with secure settings and tasker doesnt like me


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## mentose457 (Aug 26, 2011)

esmier said:


> Still no go, the widget doesnt even work
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Could be your tags. I bought some from tagstand that only work 10% of the time.


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## realmike (Dec 23, 2011)

Would the mods consider making this thread a sticky? Really good info in this.


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## esmier (Oct 7, 2011)

mentose457 said:


> Could be your tags. I bought some from tagstand that only work 10% of the time.


No, I bought a few of them and they all work for other options. I am only having issues getting Tasker tasks to work. I think I am just doing it wrong. Any chance i could get a detailed setup for the GPS or 4G toggle? I was able to get the 4G toggle working under a profile, but once it goes to NFC launcher, i cannot get it to work. 
GummyNex 0.7.6 with Leankernal 2.2.0


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## djxkxoz (Sep 22, 2011)

esmier said:


> No, I bought a few of them and they all work for other options. I am only having issues getting Tasker tasks to work. I think I am just doing it wrong. Any chance i could get a detailed setup for the GPS or 4G toggle? I was able to get the 4G toggle working under a profile, but once it goes to NFC launcher, i cannot get it to work.
> GummyNex 0.7.6 with Leankernal 2.2.0


Ok I had some issues as well. The 4G toggle instructions were posted earlier and those do work. I think the problem may lie elsewhere with getting Tasker tasks to work. When adding a Tasker task to Launcher, it specifically states the following and it is very important: "Note: Tasker *must* be installed before this app and the preference Misc / Allow Exteranal Access must be set in Tasker's UI. If you are having issues with the tasks not firing please uninstall both apps and reinstall Tasker prior to installing NFC Task Launcher."

If you have already done what is listed above, I suggest uninstalling both apps. Then reinstall Tasker and check the 'Allow External Access' before even installing Launcher. I could not get most of the tasks to fire in Tasker until I did exactly that. It seems trivial but it fixed all of my issues. Let me know if this works for you.


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## micro23 (Sep 1, 2011)

My tag stand ones came today. Little disappointed with the quality to be honest. Strength of the chips are pretty low and the build quality is also quite low. They do work tho. Well most of them worked... Some of them simply don't even register. Might wanna look elsewhere. The ones with the thicker black stripping in them and the token work great tho.

http://dl.dropbox.co...dragged%29.tiff


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## Jubakuba (Sep 8, 2011)

Getting mine in Monday (I'd assume...ordered a couple days ago.)
I've got it set up already though!
Just have to write the tags:
Bed:
Ringer Vibrate
Alarm Full
Alarm Set 8:25
Tasker task that auto-replies to text messages saying I'm asleep.

(Took a bit of dicking about to get that to work...if anyone wants help I'd be happy to.)
I basically downloaded the NightSMSReplier from Tasker's online list.
Deleted the time portion.
Changed the Reply Value.
Made a task that turns it on (Tasks>Tasker>Profile Toggle [Same name as profile])]
Made a task that turns both sms repliers off to place on another sticker (I'd prefer not having a toggle...as "Did I tap that sticker already?" would constantly be on my mind.)

Work:
Ringer Vibrate
Tasker task that auto-replies to text messages saying I'm at work.

Defaulter (I'll copy this down to a few tags and keep wherever I need them):
Full Ringer
Full Media
Full Alarm
Disable All Auto-Reply Options

Heading Out:
Full Ringer
Full Media
Full Alarm
Weather Spoken to me (Via tasker)

(Again, a bit of a work-a-round.
Took the Spoken weather download from tasker...
Imported it...
Deleted the profile all-together (just wanted the tasks).
Edited the task to search for weather in my city.
*Instructions at this tasks download section.
Merged the Voice into the actual fetching of weather task.
Deleted the text message option.


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## micro23 (Sep 1, 2011)

Just wanted to report back that Tagstand contacted me to check on my order status and upon hearing that I had an issue with some tags they were incredibly helpful and happy to resend tags or refund my money.

Their customer service is excellent and I would actually highly recommend them. My previous comments stand except the fact that they are willing to make it right.

Any company that tried to make something right is good in my opinion.


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## UnfedBear67 (Jul 31, 2011)

Jubakuba said:


> Getting mine in Monday (I'd assume...ordered a couple days ago.)
> I've got it set up already though!
> Just have to write the tags:
> Bed:
> ...


Heads up unless you have Tags with a lot of memory you won't be able to do nearly as much as you want. I can only put maybe 4 at the most from my experiences.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## Jubakuba (Sep 8, 2011)

UnfedBear67 said:


> Heads up unless you have Tags with a lot of memory you won't be able to do nearly as much as you want. I can only put maybe 4 at the most from my experiences.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


Only problem I had was on the 3 little quarter-sized ones.
They'd register my StopAllSMSRepliers+Ringer Max+Media Max just fine though...which is actually perfect.
Use them as "Defaulters" that I've tagged on my doorframe at home/work =]

I actually doubled up a few of these.
Improvised and improved to my liking.
I'm OCD about my Alarms (although not so much since I have the X as backup in case one or the other breaks down during the night).
So I have it to set those on tap one with an auto replier...
And Turn off auto reply + reboot in the AM for tap 2.
Just another few ideas for you guys.


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