Slides we used for the NFC Workshop Exchange @mobilecamp in Dresden 2013 #mcdd13

1. NFC
Exchange
Dirk Spannaus (@dirk_s of @twentyZen)

2. NFC as „Info Launcher“
(…its just like QR, only different)

3. Beware non-standard tags e.g.
„Mifare Classic“
„Mifare Classic tags make use of proprietary
protocols developed by NXP; they are not NFC
Forum compliant.
As a result, phones with non-NXP NFC controllers
are unable to communicate with the tags.”
http://www.nfcbrief.com/2012/11/nexus-4-and-10-incompatible-with-mifare.html

4. Typical goals of an NFC based
marketing application
▪ Should work with different platforms
▪ Should work with most phones
▪ Should be quicker than manual interaction
▪ Should not have to many prerequisits
Yes, there are some cases, that require special apps.

5. NFC Apps – „…where the trouble
begins“
Some apps write proprietary data to tag
1. NFC Phone reads data
2. If app is not installed, it leads customer to App Store!
3. Customer needs to install app first
4. Only this one app can handle the desired action

6. A more open way…
Tag only holds a specific URL.
Apps register for URLs to watch for.
1. NFC Phone reads URL from Tag.
2. User gets presented a choice of apps to possibly use.
3. All apps can handle action, possible fallback to
webbrowser.

7. Explicit vs. Implicit Intent (Android)
Explicit Intent
“have specified a component (via setComponent(ComponentName) or
setClass(Context, Class)), which provides the exact class to be run. Often
these will not include any other information, simply being a way for an application
to launch various internal activities it has as the user interacts with the
application.”
Implicit Intent
„have not specified a component; instead, they must include enough information
for the system to determine which of the available components is best to run
for that intent.”
Read more: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/Intent.html

8. http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/nfc/nfc.html

9. iOS?
▪ Only some implicite intents (defined by Apple)
▪ Apps should check first, whether required App is
installed
▪ But: no easy fallback for webapps

10. Launching apps in iPhone
“These custom URLs also work with the native Android
and Blackberry clients, but may behave unexpectedly if
the client is not installed on the user's phone.”
▪ Show a venue foursquare://venues/VENUE_ID
“We recommend that you attempt to link to these URLs
only if the user has the foursquare application installed
on their device.”
https://developer.foursquare.com/resources/client#iphone

11. Checkin to foursquare via URL
▪ Find the „venue ID“ of a location (example is for „MobileCamp 2013“)
▪ Search for your location, copy the link within the search results:
▪ https://de.foursquare.com/v/4dce231cfa7664b7c6a0e125
▪ Create this URL and write it to the tag / create the QR code
▪ http://m.foursquare.com/venue/4dce231cfa7664b7c6a0e125
▪ You might add some analytics by using a shorturl
▪ Write this URL to your NFC Tag and block it / print the QR Code

12. „Don‘t require users to install
proprietary NFC apps
if there is no real need!“

13. Thanks!
Dirk Spannaus (@dirks of @twentyZen)