Level-Up Your Smart Home Experience with NFC

If you’re a fan of smart home devices, smart plugs, or setting routines using your Amazon Alexa or Google Home, you’re going to love NFC. 

This semi-recent evolution of the RFID technology, found in everything from hotel key cards to gaming consoles, has the potential to take your home from basic to high-tech with just a few minutes of setup. 

What is NFC? 

Near-Field Communication, or NFC, is a technology that allows your devices such as smartphones to trigger a wide variety of actions by tapping them against an NFC contact point. These contact points are most commonly a nickel-sized flat sticker, called a “tag,” that can be placed on nearly any surface and programmed to, for example, connect your guests to your home WiFi or satisfy a reminder on your phone once you’ve completed a task. 

Think of it this way – When you or someone else in your household taps the NFC tag, you can trigger just about anything to happen between apps on your phone, smart home devices like Alexa or Google Home, smart plugs, smart lights, etc. Your NFC sequences can create calendar events, alarms, timers, lists, and more simply by tapping your phone!

Because the NFC tags do not need to be plugged in or powered with batteries, these stickers can be placed all around the home to streamline day-to-day tasks like never before. As an added bonus they’re very inexpensive, so you can try all kinds of smart sequences as you figure out how NFC can best suit your needs. 

How Can NFC Make Your Home “Smarter?” 

This is a nearly impossible question to answer because the options are truly limitless! Once you understand how to program your NFC tags – and we’ll provide a few resources below – the only limit is your creativity and a bit of tech-savviness. 

Here are some of our favorite uses: 

• Tap an NFC tag when you start laundry, and it will set a timer to remind you to move the contents from the washer to the dryer. 

• Tap an NFC tag when you take your vitamins, medication, supplements, etc. and have it check off your digital to-do list. 

• Place an NFC tag on your containers of necessities (toilet paper, paper towels, basic food staples, etc.) and have it add those items to your shopping list when the tag is tapped. 

• Tap an NFC tag in your bedroom that triggers your smart lights to turn off when your family goes to bed. 

• Tap an NFC tag when you set your garbage and/or recycling bins outside or by the road, and it will trigger your alarm to be canceled until the next week. 

• Tap an NFC tag and trigger a specific playlist to play on Spotify or Amazon Music

• Tap an NFC tag in your car when you’re on your way home, and have it send an automatic message to a loved one with your estimated arrival time at home. 

Getting Started

There are so many great resources out there about getting started with NFC, sequences you can copy and paste verbatim, and excellent explanations to help you get started! 

To begin, we recommend checking out YouTube for a more visual explanation and a plethora of ideas and ways that these incredible devices can make your life easier, more productive, and generally more fun! 

If you’re ready to take your home to the next level of smart home compatibility, follow along with our blog! We publish content related to all things homeownership including the best ways to improve your experience in your home as well as its value when the time comes to sell.