Did you know that you can set entire scenes in the house with your iPhone? By using nfc tags, you can automatically turn your smart devices in your home on and off with the Assignments app on your iPhone. That is how it works!
This is how you use nfc tags
Imagine: you come home, and the lights go on automatically, the heating at 20 degrees and the television switches on. This is possible with nfc tags: small stickers that you scan with your iPhone, and then have them perform an action.
Nfc is a technology that allows you to send data wirelessly and securely. There is an nfc chip in your iPhone, which you use for Apple Pay, for example, and recently also in the DigiD app.
Automation with Homekit devices
If you use an nfc tag, you also need another chip, such as that of your iPhone, to send the data. You then have to keep both NFC chips a few centimeters from each other. So it is actually a link between your iPhone and an action that you want to have performed.
Nfc tags can be used with the iPhone 7 and newer models. Do you have an iPhone 7, 8 or X? Then you need a separate app that can read NFC tags, such as “NFC for iPhone” (the link to this app can be found at the bottom of this article). From the iPhone XS and newer you no longer need a separate app.
It is important that the lamps and other devices you use support HomeKit and are already connected in the Home app. It is also useful to already have several create zones in the Home app. It takes a little time and effort, but once you have it set up, nfc tags are really handy to use.
Automation in the Assignments app
Since iOS 13, the Assignments (or Shortcuts) app is automatically on your iPhone. The app has an ‘Automation’ tab that allows you to set up nfc tags and set certain rules. For example, you can paste the tags on devices that you want to automate, such as a lamp that is compatible with HomeKit. After setting, you can switch the lamp on or off by scanning the tag. This is how you set it up.
Link Nfc tags to your iPhone
- Open the Assignments app and go to the ‘Automation’ tab;
- Tap on ‘Personal Automation’. If you already have several automations, first tap the plus sign at the top right of the screen;
- Scroll down and tap ‘NFC’;
- Next to ‘NFC tag’, tap ‘Scan’;
- Hold your iPhone over the nfc tag and give it a name, for example ‘Night Light’;
- Tap ‘Next’ in the top right and tap ‘Add action’;
- Scroll through the list of actions and choose which action you want performed when the nfc tag is scanned.
There are different types of actions that you can have performed. For example, you can send a message, call someone, play music and so on. With an nfc tag you set certain rules yourself that are executed when you hold your phone above it. In the case of this tip, it concerns your home. In the screen with actions you can search for ‘Home’ at the top. If you scroll down, ‘Manage my home’ will appear at the bottom.
Set up a rule
- Tap ‘Manage my home’ and then ‘Scenes and accessories’;
- Then choose the device or object that you want to perform an action, such as ‘Night Light’;
- You have now set the first part of the line: “When I tap my ‘night light’ nfc tag”. Now you have to set up a follow-up;
- To set up a follow up, tap the nfc tag you just enabled in your list of automations. In this case it is “When I tap my ‘night light’ nfc tag;”
- Then tap on ‘manage my home’. Here you can set the lamp to switch on when you scan the tag, but also to switch off the lamp if it is already on. You can turn the lamp on and off by scanning the tag.
It doesn’t stop with this rule, of course. You can add all kinds of other rules, such as dim the lamp if you switch it on after 5 PM and turn it brighter when you switch it on in the morning. You can even set entire scenes with one tag. For example, if you stick the tag to your front door, you can set all the lights to turn on, the thermostat to turn on and the television to turn on when you scan the tag when you get home.
Click here to buy nfc tags
More smart home tips
Curious about other tips on how to make your home smarter? Then take a look at our tip on IKEA’s smart roller blinds or read about the different HomeKit setups that make your home as smart as possible. Keep iPhoned.nl keep an eye out for many other tips related to Apple and smart home!