"New tag collected" on Nexus 5
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Hi,
Not sure where best to put this but I don't yet have an NFC ring to test this with so I'm currently just testing with the Asus NFC tag that is supplied with the NFC Express.
The issue is that whenever I put it against my Nexus 5 I get "New tag collected" screen which I don't want to show up, but I still want to be able to unlock my phone with it, so I obviously can't turn off NFC.
What I've found so far by searching for it is to go to settings > apps > Tags and disable that app, problem is that the app in question seems to be missing from Android 6 (Marshmallow) and instead it seems it's handled by "Nfc Service" which doesn't show up in "Apps" ... So.. How the F am I supposed to turn this off?
"Just don't hold the tag against the phone all the time?"
Well it isn't as much about the asus tag as it is for the ring when it arrives, I mean, the ring will be on my finger which will be against the phone.. so if I can't fix this issue then my phone will just pop up "New tag collected" every f*ing second...Any ideas?
Edit: Found that "NFC ReTag Free" could take precedence and could be set up to "do nothing" for the tag, problem is that it still interrupts things, for example if you have the keyboard up then it'll close the keyboard.. If I can't fix this then I think the ring will be largely useless for me and I'll have to reconsider. =(
Sanya
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I'm guessing that your phone is telling you that there's a blank tag - if you reprogram it that shouldn't happen every time.
I've found that if I register the tag as a trusted agent for unlock, then brush it past the sweet spot in the phone without lingering long enough for a proper read then it'll work without the popups.
It takes a little practice, but once you get used to it, it's easy.
When you have a ring you find that it's even easier to bring the ring in and out of the read area on purpose. That way you're not getting popups while you're doing something.
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It does have things written to it, although it's text from Asus NFC Express.
What could I write to it in order for it not to do anything? All I can find is for it to do x or y but not nothing.. So either I can choose a pop-up of "New tag collected" or.. a url.. an e-mail.. but not nothing, it always pops up with something, interrupting whatever I'm doing.
Also considering the way I hold my phone, the ring would literally be against the back of the phone the whole time I hold it, tried it position wise with the Asus NFC tag and it read the tag over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and.. you get the idea.
Edit: This seems like an illogical design choice, they could at least let us disable the "New tag collected" bs. <_<
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Yeah, I don't think you're going to be able to turn the notifications off short of disabling NFC. Try what I said, with a short sweep through the sweet spot so that the phone reads the ID of the tag without reading the tag itself.
The rings are only going to work where the antenna is located, especially on the Nexus 5. There are dead spots that won't read the ring.
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I'm talking about the 2016 model NFC Ring which are supposed to have a longer range, if it's anything like the NFC tag I'm using now then it'll be registering like crazy when simply holding my phone.
Not sure why I want to sweep through the sweet spot when the tag would be over the spot when I simply hold the phone, I mean, are you suggesting I don't hold my phone? o_O The issue isn't when unlocking the phone, but rather when holding the tag against the back when the phone is already unlocked, which would happen frequently with the ring.
Edit: For what it's worth, I made a feature request for AOSP (I think) .. Not expecting much or really anything at all, but have to try at least..
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You can suppress system notifications of specific NDEF records. That's what we do w/ NFC Ring Unlock :)
It's easy!
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Hi John,
I'm not all that knowledgeable when it comes to NFC, just started learning a few days ago.
- What is NDEF records?
- Can I set that up for pre-existing records? (those used by Asus for NFC Express, login and launch)
- In that case, how can I set that up?
Edit: Tried the NFC Ring Unlock app and while it doesn't show a pop-up, it still interrupts the keyboard, so if I have the keyboard up and then hold the tag against the back of my phone then the keyboard will go away. =/
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@SanyaIV said:
I'm talking about the 2016 model NFC Ring which are supposed to have a longer range
So am I!
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Okay.
So I just got a response from NFC ReTag and it seems like the issue with keyboard being closed is probably an issue on the firmware level, so even if the tag or an app on the phone treats the tag as "Do nothing" then it'll still close the keyboard as if it was to do something. =/
Guessing this is a dead end, I'm still going to back the ring and hope it gets funded, but I still fear it'll cause issues with everyday usage of the phone.
This is where I give up trying to find a solution to the problem and instead think of ways to work around it, like wearing the ring on my other hand or perhaps getting the inlays and making a necklace or bracelet with them.. Hmm.. possibilities..
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You might be surprised how quickly you become used to the ring and then stop doing accidental reads - even when you're not thinking about it.
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I hope so, well foremost I hope it gets funded to begin with..
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Random idea that might work in this instance (for the tag reading over and over) - but I might have misunderstood the problem...
Perhaps you could use the app 'tasker' to set up a task that goes something like this:
- Detects your ring being read
- after reading ring turn off nfc
- turn on nfc when screen goes off (or some other specific occurance)
Ive not played with it too much, but you might be able to make something similar work for your use case.
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@Chris I searched for "Tasker" and got many results, is there one in particular you're referring to? I'd like to test this to see if it works.
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This is the app Chris is referring to:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm
Though I can't locate the setting to turn off NFC. Probably will need a third party plugin. Give me some time to explore.
Going back to the issue where the keyboard is interrupted - I can't seem to recreate the issue on the Samsung S4. I tried the "NFC ReTag Free" (which I do not like the notification which appears after every read), and the "NFC for Tasker" (which I found while exploring the Tasker plugins, totally silent. Tasker not required if you just wish to test it. Nothing to configure as well). Looks like different phone react differently to the NFC tag?
Edit: Turning on and off NFC requires a rooted device. If your Android is not rooted, Tasker will not be able to help much in this case.
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@SwordFire My device isn't rooted so I guess that's a dead end too. =(
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I'm getting this message if my ring comes within reading range after I unlock the screen. It is clearly reading the "private" NFC tag because it shows the contents of the private tag. This will be a problem given the new ring's extended range. Moto X running Marshmallow.
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So I have a nexus device too, I can use any tag to open the phone, once the tag is registered as a trusted unlock device. If my finger with the ring on gets too close to the reader again whilst using my phone i get the exact same prompt as you do.
I have had to learn how to hold my phone so this doesn't happen. but as far as I know this is normal android behaviour.
I wont know if this will become more of a problem or not with the new ring until it arrives. Cross that bridge when we get to it i guess.
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This will definitely not be a solution for everyone, but if you:
- only use the tag for unlocking the phone,
- do not require to store any data on the tag,
you can try erasing all data on the tag to avoid this issue. I had tried using NXP Tag writer to erase the tag after I did the test earlier in this post. The trusted unlock will still be intact.
But if you need to keep the data in the tag, you can give NFC for Tasker a try. Install (but do not run the app), read the tag, and if Android asks you for default app, set "NFC for Tasker" as the default. It should just read the tag and sort of "ignore" the content. It does not apply to all tag contents though (for example - Contacts).
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Just a heads up, the Tags app is still there in Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, but to see it you have to go to Settings -> Apps, tap on the menu icon (three dots on the upper right) and select "Show system". From then on, Tags will appear on the apps list and you'll be able to disable it from there.
Also, with NXP TagWriter, you can completely format a tag to factory defaults, which is a step beyond just erasing the content. That might help to ensure it reports nothing but its ID to unlock.
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Thanks for the tip on that Tags app, I didn't know about that, now my phone still makes a noise when I hold it wrong and it reads the tag but nothing pops up, that's awesome :)
I can probably also just disable that noise easily enough too :)
