Control Your Smart Home with NFC Tags! 

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Closing on a house this week and for the past month or so I have watched over 100 hours of smart home tutorials/reviews on RU-vid. You are by far THE BEST I have seen. It's like night and day. The amount of info you give and the ease at which you break it down is wild. You are doing God's work my dude! Keep em coming.

Looks like I'm going to take some time to change my existing NFC tags to run shortcuts, great suggestion. And the vibrate starter is really a great idea, especially for an outdoor NFC tag where the sun might not make it easy to see the screen. Thanks!

Shane you just opened up a whole new world of possibilites with my Smart Home project and NFC's, man I had no idea these things could do so much. Thank you.

That’s cool Shane. The NFC thing is pretty handy. Good stuff. Per usual.

Another awesome useful video Shane! I have just moved house and whilst I’m building my SmartHome back up I have started to place NFC tags around me house. The tip with making a shortcut first is a brilliant idea so I can share it with the wife. Also the vibrate option is a great tip. 👍🏼

Awesome video! NFC Tags are amazing. The vibration action is a must know tip! It's good to get that physical vibration to know for sure that the shortcut ran instead of wondering if it did. Being able to unlock your garage door with a small sticker is sweet!

People, if this comes easily for you. You should consider in going into programming. This can be a full time job that pays very well. This guy is smart! . He makes these tags seem casual. It is the future!

YOU ARE A GENIUS! The vibration add-on is AMAZING

Definitely going to use this. My tags should arrive tomorrow. The tip to make a shortcut, then automation by attaching the NFC trigger to it will be a lifesaver.

Thank you, Shane... when I saw the video title I thought, "Meh, I think he already did a video on this." I was wrong. This is the best description of conditional automations that I've seen. I'm going to switch some of my automations around.

I have the little NFC disks with small clear plastic enclosures (probably collector coin holders). I use picture frame putty to stick them on the walls around the home, and I print small round labels that indicate what they do (e.g., an iOS on/off toggle icon with “Deck Lights”). To be honest, about 30% of the time, they’re stubborn to activate. The iPhone sweet spot seems to be next to the camera array near the top edge. And the iPhone screen has to be lit up but not neccessarily unlocked. The reminder to add the vibrate action is really good. I have a couple of water leak detectors, and I have leak detection shortcuts that make my phone go off the hook with vibrations so I don’t ignore it if a leak ever occurs. Great video, as always!

Thank you. Have been struggling with different methods to use shortcuts and NFC tags. Yours is simple, quick and easy.

Because of your video in have just gotten some NFC Tags. I plan on putting one at work, I ride a motorbike a lot and my wife likes me to let her know I have arrived safe at work or when i am heading home etc. The intention with the tag is to run either the arrived shortcut, that sends her an SMS, changes my focus mode to work and selects a particular watch face for me to use at work, or, turn the work focus mode off, change my watch face to my preferred personal face, send an sms with my ETA home and turn on my Waze app so I can avoid traffic jams on the way home. This will be my first NFC automation so here goes nothing.😇😉

thank you for this clear and straightforward explanation, kudos.

Now that I know about the existence of this little things I have a lot of ideas in my mind to do. Thanks, dude!:)

The tip about creating the Shortcut first, then setup the automation to run the Shortcut is gonna save me a TON of time setting up 4 phones to scan the same tag

I subscribed when you added the vibrate. clever

Superb tutorial Shane! Can’t wait to get some NFC tags and try out some of these tips for my own shortcuts!

Using vibrate with nfc is brilliant! Thx.

The vibrate tip is genius!

You have just helped me solve an annoyance I’ve had with my Aqara Wireless Remote. All these while I had to set single click to turn on a few lights and double click to turn them off. Never thought of using shortcuts as a toggle so that single click turns on and single click again turns off. THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!, Also, waiting for the day when the Apple Watch can scan these NFC stickers as I’ve been wanting to get a smart lock. Scanning the NFC will unlock and disable alarm and vice versa. Imagine coming home with both hands carrying stuffs it would be so convenient to just press the watch against the NCF to unlock.

Hi, Thanks for your videos !👍🏻 When recording the label, sensitivity is excellent. On the other hand, once the shortcut has been created, it works much less well. You have to be up against the tag and sometimes move closer several times for it to work. Do you also notice a lack of sensitivity? The same applies to an iPhone of a different generation and a different label model.

We need an update video with even more ideas for 2023 :-)

NFC tags are a super affordable way of controlling your HomeKit home and they're pretty damn stealthy. Nice shirt by the way!

This is sick! Worked for me. Thanks for sharing!

Great video. The tip about the shortcut is really helpful. I will definitely dig into this now. 👍🏼

Thanks Shane. Just Configured an automation with a NFC tag thanks to your video. It does work with my iPhone, but not with my watch. Is it because it's a first generetion? Don't know...

Nicely done Shane. Excellent tips four sharing your NFC action

I’m very new to this stuff and that was very helpful. Thanks.

Can you create shortcuts to scenes in home kit for NFC automation? I feel like it’s possible but I can’t seem to figure it out.

I just wish Apple Watch worked with NFC tags. It would be the most slick form of smart home control. I still don’t understand why they don’t since they support Apple Pay.

Can you have more than one tag for different locations, like at the door and inside the house?

Always well done Shane, thank you. I also share your views on EVE.

Hey Shane, is there a trick to getting NFC tags to trigger with iPhone? It seems very hit or miss. I bought a very similar tag to the one you’re using in the video.

Excellent video as usual. I would have never thought of the vibrate part. Also I need a video on best way of resetting my HomeKit and starting over if you have any suggestions.

One word: Wow!

awesome channel....will be joining shortly..any chance you may add screenshots of your shortcuts as you complete them..sorry Parkinsons and hard to keep up sometimes thx

Super informative, good job. Cheers from italy

Great videos Shane. Following you to make a smart home. Question is, can I control my NFC tags with my Apple watch. Touch with my watch rather than having to have a phone with me all the time? Cheers.

Hi Shane, everything is super but which App ls are you using on phone? This one you skip very fast at the beginning

Great video Shane! Love the ideas and I wanted to try this out. The only thing is I bought the same tags from your link in the description and maybe just the batch I got, but they suck at scanning on mine and my gfs phone. :( They work maybe like 20% of the time with a lot of effort on moving the phone around trying to get them to pickup on my phone.

Thanks for the clear explanations. Does the iPhone need to be unlocked before the automation is executed? I noticed that you put the Vibrate before the actual shortcut routine. If the iPhone is locked (or at least mine!), then it vibrates but the Shortcut is not run. Perhaps placing the Vibrate after the Shortcut makes more sense? Keen to hear your thoughts.

Thank you so much for this video :)

This is so awesome! Thanks for the cool trick!!

Great video man thanks for the ideas I was wondering if you can put instructions in the about section also

Found another use for my NFC tags - not in my home. I added one to my car. It turns off the phone's Wi-Fi (to save battery), starts the dash cam recording, and sets the focus to "Car" (or Do Not Disturb), and finally opens Google Maps. I have another inside my door at home that turns Wi-Fi back on and connects to my router and BT speaker. The focus I've left on manual.

Awesome - just the video I have been waiting for :-) I have not tried it yet but hope that the automation works on my Apple Watch as well.

Great video as always!!… Too bad it doesn’t work with the Apple Watch

Hi can you do automations using Iphone and google home/assistant with nfc and how do you do that?

In my experience, it might run with one tap. Or it might take 3 or 4. Or it just might not work until I get frustrated enough that I just open Shortcuts and run the shortcut myself.

So If you tab Is a 2nd time, It will automatically close the garage door?

Hi Shane. It’s possible to read NFC tags with locked iPhone and screen off?

Thanks for helping me get started with NFC tags and shortcuts! I set up a garage door NFC shortcut also. Oddly my iPhone (ios 16.2) won't vibrate when I add in that variable as you did in your lesson. Any thoughts? Thanks again, David E

Thank you so much for these tutorials, very informative, btw what are the lights you use on the background?, they look fantastic!

Pretty cool.

Hi, love your videos. I wonder, is there a way to set that an automation will only run if the iPhone is unlocked? A bit of a breach if anyone can unlock with NFC even with a stolen phone. Can this be set up in the shortcuts app?

Thanks for doing this video, appreciate it…… it worked like a charm….😊🍻🙏🏻

What happens if you put the vibrate function after the nfc thing ?

I’m being funny right now but it’s hilarious. What’s the difference Between this elaborate switch sticker that’s right inside the garage versus just hitting the actual garage door opener switch that’s right on the wall probably like 2 feet away in the same area??!! You got to admit it is pretty funny

Great viewing however my home is smart by Alexa and Go Smart. Do you have a video on setting NFC to work with these?

Great video Shane. I already use nfc tags, but I'll be enhancing my automations with your vibrate trick, as my garage routine is sometimes a bit slow due to the wifi not being great. Thanks!

How do I set it so that one nfc tag will turn something "on" or "off" depending on the situation- such as for a light or a "do not disturb" feature? So far I can only set one nfc tag for either on or off. I don't have apple home kit products. I do have alexa, smartthings, NFC tools & the siri shortcuts app.

Hi Shane, I bought nfc tags to try what you explained here. Your video help a lot. Thanks for that. I have one question. Do you need to use quite a good or expensive nfc tag? My nfc tag seems to work, but iphone frequently fails to read the tag. I'm thinkg to buy other one..

Awesome info, tx! If an automation is set up with Home +5, can they be added to an NFC tag?

do you push the button? no nfc?

Hey Shane, Are apple watches also able to trigger an NFC tag?

Thus is the 3rd video in a row that is for iPhone users only... wish it was in the title

Con el Apple Watch ⌚️ también se puede escanear etiquetas NFC para ejecutar automatizaciones y atajos (Apple Shortcut)? O solo es posible con un iPhone ?

What garage door are you using cause I have a chamberlain MyQ brand and can’t seem to use it other than their app

Is there anyway to use NFC tags in iphone with devices not supported by Home app of iphone? Maybe using the app Automator?

Can a NFC tag be placed in your car to operate the garage door or does it have to be in a wi-if signal area?

This is cool. I hope this can be use for Android (wait a minute, does all Android phone have NFC Feature?).

Been working hard on converting my wife to the idea of a smart home. Just talked about garage opening with nfc the other day. Now I can do what I said was possible for the low price of a tag. Curious will it penetrate through siding if I put inside my garage and want to activate through the siding. Thanks for the great content.

Can you use your apple watch to trigger as the iphone does?

By the way, great videos!!👍👍

So to do this do you not need a hub? You just need an iPhone + NFC tag + smart plug?

Any nfc tags work better than others?

So you just reinvented switches?

Great tutorial. Love it. Thanks for sharing. Can I ask about NFC tags types and quality? for example below: 1. NFC TAG Sticker NTAG 213 Universal Label RFID Tag Android Apple NFC phone 2. NFC TAG Sticker NTAG 213 Universal Label RFID Tag for Android NFC 3. NTAG215 NFC PVC Coin Card Tag For TagMo Forum Switch Type2 Tags Chip Amiibo Any differences in 1. tag quality? any brand ok? 2. type, e.g. NTAG 213 vs NTAG 215? 3. tags for Android NFC vs Apple NFC phones?

But what hardware do you need for the garage door? Like does it require smart plugs? Is it wired into something that requires connection to a HomePod?

Hi Shane, nice information on doing that. However, there is NO plus symbol anymore. ONLY: Next Action Suggestions: (If, Text, Get Variables). How do I get further?

Hi Shane! Great video But my iphoneX does not show nfc in personal automation What should i do Really eant to use this feature Thanks

Awesome channel Shane, I’m spending a fortune pimping my HomeKit at the moment, keep them coming!! Just hope my wife doesn’t divorce me with all the money I’m spending 😬 Dave 🇬🇧

Can you use a NFC tag to control your deadbolt?

Can I use the NFC with my Apple Watch or just with my iPhone?

I wonder if the nfc tag still works when our phone is out of battery.

What app are you using

Hi shane, what commands do i use to stop my wifes phone alarm going off using an NFC tag

Letting the Apple Watch use NFC tags would be so nice, maybe one day

I have iOS but mostly google assistant smart home devices. Is there a way to have my iPhone use my nfc to activate things on my Google home? The lights and such don’t work with HomeKit, only google home

Hey Shane, thanks for this helpful video! Question: Can I create a Shortcut for an NFC tag which will toggle two different Scenes? That is, if a particular Scene (say Scene1) is currently active when I touch the NFC tag, I want it to set Scene2; otherwise I want to set Scene1 when I touch the NFC tag.

Hi Shane, I love your videos. Could you post a video for the same action but using IOS 15. The menu's have changed and I can't work it out. Thanks.

can I make a DIY homekey lock with it and unlock the door with it?

Could this work with android?

Hi Shane, Great channel, thanks. Maybe you can help me sort out some stuff, I mean I can see that NFC tag are great, but aren't they more like a gimmick? Why not just place a small button to control the garage door or light or.. That would be easier than taking your phone out to control the garage?

I’m on a older iPhone 8 iOS 16.77 but since I’m on a older phone the shortcuts doesn’t show the nfc option because It’s only available for iPhone XS or newer but is there anyway I can turn on my lights it’s not frkm  it’s a smart bulb from Lenovo but it’s comparable with google home so any way? Pls reply it will be so good

If my family members tap their phone n this nfc, the garage door ill open and closed? Or i need to setup the nfc all of their phones?

Hi. I don't find any of the apps you are using! I have an Android phone! Thanks

Hey Shane, after updated to iOS 15 I have to confirm that NFC automation despite of I set do not ask confirmation. Got any idea please? Thx a lot