NFC Limited Use

[KrankyKoder]

I like the idea of NFC. I especially think NFC tags could have great potential. However the limited access to WP8 functionallity give is limited use.

Let's take for example the following scenerio: An NFC tag by your front door that switches off your Wi-Fi; switches on your bluetooth, and switches on your cellular data.

Because MS has limited (or forbidden) access to the APIs that actually to all this, one can only program an NFC tag to start the WP app with the various switches.

How does an NFC tag opening these settings pages for ME to flip the switch make it any easier or more convenient than using an app like ConnectivityShortcuts?

Bringing up a web page is nice. But there are other ways to do this, more recongnizable & more universal. QR or DataMatrix codes, for instance.

There's a lot of potential for NFC tags but Microsoft locking down the API like it has, has limited that potential.

 

[pvcleave]

Agreed. I was quite disappointed in Microsoft's implementation of NFC.

 

[zokstar]

yep i'd love to do this with tags... shame we cant

 

[jhguth]

I haven't even messed with it on account of this. Awesome on Android, useless for this.

 

[hopmedic]

I'd love to put a tag in my car that turns off the wifi and turns on the BT, and another that does the reverse to use when I get out. I'd love to have one on my nightstand to silence just the "other notifications". How about one on the doorpost at church so people could silence their phones (like they'd use it anyway)?

As a developer, I understand the reasoning for not allowing apps to change system settings without user input. Security. We don't want this to become the wild west that we know as Android. But come on - there has to be a way of doing this while maintaining security. Big difference between turning WiFi on or off, and sending out premium texts and all the other fun things that are Android.

On the really fun side, my boss has a little Christmas tree on his desk, and I have one on the top of the bookshelf over my cube. We've been stealing each other's ornaments, giving each other a hard time, and I give him a hard time about his iPhone (actually I told him to get iPhone, because he's on Sprint, and he needed to get off of that Virus Phone Android, and this was before Sprint said they were going to get a WP8. So today I made a tag, and used NFCInteractor, and the same developer's NearSpeak, and have been harassing my boss with it.

I've programmed tags to say:

"Your iPhone is jealous of me because I am awesomely privileged to be a Windows Phone."
"I'd program an NFC tag to give you a map, but your iPhone can't read NFC tags OR maps."
I put a tag on his tree, "Oh, Christmas tree, Oh, Christmas tree, how embarassing to have a song about me, such a pathetic tree."​

Yes, I'm having a bit of fun at his expense....