So I've just flashed the factory image for lollipop on my Nexus 5 and was initially disappointed that the trusted device functionality didn't seem to be working.

I'd added both sides of my ring and also a credit-card sized tag as trusted NFC tags, hoping they'd bypass the lockscreen. But on turning on, swiping up to reveal the lockscreen, and then tapping a tag I was getting nothing, nada, zilch. I didn't even get the familiar 'bad read' sound. Cue sad face.

A bit of research however revealed how it is supposed to work, and will hopefully save someone that disappointment time. The tag must be touching when you turn the phone on, and when you then swipe up the lockscreen will be non-existent. Happy days.

It may just be me, but it seems to read better too. My ring is on my index finger and it is easy to hold the phone naturally with the ring over my sweet spot, so as soon as I turn the phone on it is just unlocked ... no more waving, sweeping, tapping or trying to activate across a small sweet spot.

Alright then @johnyma22 , you asked for it ...

@mrbrown said:

1. the constant updates with bad news basically put me off the whole thing to be honest.
2. which is why I believe I probably missed any email regarding what to do about my changing my ring order again. Glad everyone grouped together to decide for me!

So help me to understand why I ended up with two rings being black/transparent and the other having both sides transparent?

I am NOT ungrateful, I am somewhat happy something has finally arrived, problem is its not what I agreed too, nor did I agree for anyone else to decide for me. So is it possible to get some control on what I want?

I don't mind about the colours not being available due to QA, but can I at least choose from what is available?

If another form was sent out asking this, I apologise for missing that, but I would of rather not received anything... to then have me then contact you complaining to then find I missed another change request because then I could of had the opportunity to change it again.

Yes, basically, when you got put off by the updates you missed a number of emails detailing what was happening with substitutions (because of the high QA fail rates).

You would specifically also have missed a **personal **email asking you directly how you wanted to deal with any rings in your order that were causing the delay. I can only assume if you didn't take that opportunity to engage in dialogue with support then they would just have given you what was readily available. So yes, you could have had control. You could have made the decision yourself rather than have others decide for you. And yes, you could have chosen from what was available. Maybe now you're engaging finally you can go through a returns process, but that isn't for me to say.

Out of all the ring options given at the start of the project, the ones shown on the current NFC Store are really the only ones that made it through the development process. I've got my fingers crossed that some more options appear (like a silver inlay) but time will tell.

Prefer pictures to words? Watch a video here.
The real-quick getting started guide

Because you don't want to read more than is needed, and just want it to work.

Having trouble registering your app? See the section below.

Very first thing: go and disable your existing lock-screen (Settings > Security > Screen Lock > None) because you're intending to use the NFC Unlock App as your lock-screen.

1. Start the 'NFC Ring Unlock' app
2. Tap 'Device Security' section
3. Tap 'Manage Keys' section
4. Tap the icon in top-right which is a key with a + sign
5. Scan the ring-inlay you want to use as unlock key
6. Give it a name, description, picture or whatever. Make sure 'enable' is on, and 'save'
7. Repeat steps 4, 5 and 6 with another NFC tag so that you have a backup! Either use one of the extra inlays if one came with your ring (and keep it in your wallet), another ring inlay (if you have more than one ring) or a different kind of NFC tag if you have one.
8. Go back to 'Device Security'
9. Toggle 'Enable/Disable' in the top bar.
   Note as of time of writing this is not an intuitive UI and if you see the text 'disable' that doesn't mean the security is disabled, it means 'click here to disable'. Likewise 'enable' means 'click here to enable', and doesn't mean security is enabled
10. Check the 'Use with No Lockscreen' option
11. Go back to the homepage of the NFC Ring Unlock app
12. Tap 'Application Security'
13. Tap 'Manage Application Passwords'
14. Enter a pin
15. You're done

Extra Info

• You can't store information on a tag and use it as an unlock tag

• Even though 'Check Security Level' gives a warning about using a pin, setting a pin in the 'Manage Application Passwords' is useful for two very good reasons: (1) you don't have to use your Google account password in an app you may not trust, and (2) Google account authentication can not take place in Airline mode, because it needs to contact Google servers. Without a password you could lock yourself out of your phone if you enter Airline mode

• To remove a key from the 'Manage Keys' section just swipe it off the screen

• Once you have your basic functionality working you can play with the 'Manage Call Behaviour' section to decide how the phone should be locked/unlocked when making or receiving calls

• If you don't set a pin as backup then you will use your Google account login to bypass the unlock screen. If you have 2-Step Verification enabled this can be problematic. You can go to [Google security page] 1 to disable 2-Step verification

• For information on how to use 2-Step Authentication with the NFC Ring Unlock app see [this post by Lokki] 2

Registering the app

• Original backers will have received a registration code for the app by email with a subject line of Your NFC Ring Unlock App Access Code. This contains the verification code you need to enter once you've installed and opened the app for the first time, along with the email address you registered with (also contained in that email)

• If you've lost that email you can [reset your validation code] 3 and get a new code to use

• You can also get an unlock code by using the NFC Ring Control App. Tap the 'Register' option and follow the instructions

Change the 'Device Security' enable/disable toggle back to the standard UI toggle widget, which is clearer. Like this ...

Current text is ambiguous and not obvious it is a piece of UI that should be clicked on.

Remove the picture of a ring from the unlock screen, or make it optional.
I tried to change my unlock wallpaper, to something more cryptic that people wouldn't guess ("Scan retina now") and also has custom message asking 'what's the magic word' to throw people off the scent - but it still sticks a picture of a ring on the wallpaper. Kind of gives the game away about what to do to unlock.
I want people who steal my phone to be holding it up to their eye and talking bollocks to my phone :)

@johnyma22
The post here ...
http://blog.nfcring.com/unicorn/with-pride-of-lion-kickstarter-update
... seems to have an over-eager spam catcher in place. I've been able to comment before without problem, but it seems no-one is able to comment on this particular post.

Anyway, the point of the post: you asked for feedback on whether the 8% of backers who are still waiting fulfillment should be able to have a conversation with you guys and possibly change rings (if that is what is causing the delay).

My view is yes, because if some of the backers are like me then they'll be held up by a ring that wasn't one they actually ordered anyway! Two of the three rings I'm waiting for have been auto-swapped because of production problems (a double silver-CF ring and a Stealth Bomber), so if the replacements for them are what is causing the hold up then I'd gladly swap for anything else that is available. I doubt the SB replacement is the problem as that was just a grab-bag anyway, so my suspicion is that the auto-swapped white+white is the problem - especially after your post pointed some blame at white inlays. I wouldn't have chosen double-white (or even single white!) so to be held up by that doesn't make sense.
Also, while we're having a conversation about swapping a ring before fulfillment I might be able to request a size change on at least one of those rings. After having received a QA fail ring I think the sizes I chose in the order will be 0.5 too small ...

@Nas said:

I thought it was already decided that replacements would be sent out to those who ordered rings causing delays, in order to get at least some kind of rings to backers. Then vouchers would be made available at a later date to get a ring that is "more to your liking"

No, only for certain production-problem rings. So far the problems have been (a) CF rings get a replacement because CF failed (b) plated rings get a replacement because factory can't polish them (c) one-off or uncommon ring designs may get replaced (e.g. wood + purple inlay) as the factory has been crap at following their order list.

The latest update is more of a catch-all - and to deal with the remaining few percent. Of those few percent there may be just one ring causing the delay (from John's update the white inlay now seems to be the cause of QA fails) and so John was wandering whether people would want to swap out their problem ring for something that is in stock.

So which one is it now? Do I need to get in touch, or do I wait for my dispatch email with one of the replacements?

John asked for comments on the blog post, but people have been commenting on the update post and also in forum posts such as the one here.

Fact remains, its been almost a year since initial shipping date. And yet I have no clue on where my ring is and whats happening.

You'll see in the thread I linked to that someone has proposed a template of how they'd like this conversation to be structured. It seems pretty sensible and would answer things like 'what was my original order', 'what does my order look like now' (because of auto-replacements for CF/plated), 'what is holding up delivery' and 'what can I change to make it happen quicker'.

I also have a Nexus 5, and I've been running a QA failed SB for around a month now as a day-to-day unlock ring: it sits on my finger 24/7 and I expect it to unlock my Nexus 5.

To begin with it was very hit and miss and for maybe 2 weeks half the time I'd give up in frustration and just use the PIN, or swipe on the tag in my slip case. With time though I've learnt:
(a) it is very sensitive to the tag being square on my finger. If the ring has rotated even a couple of mm it makes a read impossible. Fortunately my SB has now had some wear and the underside of the metal has some bare metal where the plating has worn off, so I can tell which tag is 'down' and whether it is in the right position.
(b) my sweet spot is small and can benefit from a slow movement of the ring through the field if I don't get an immediate read.
(b) Rings works best at a 45' angle (i.e. tag not horizontal or vertical to horizontal axis of phone, but at 45'). Fortunately I wear the ring on my left index finger and so it is easy to hold the phone in my left hand with the ring on the exact spot and at that angle without effort.

Now my success rate is probably around 95%, and I don't often need to reach for the emergency tag or use the PIN.

@leftyfb So did you get one black+silver and one transparent+silver? Feel lucky you got silver at all, it seems the factory is only capable of polishing black or transparent (speaking as someone who ordered a ring with silver inlay but was told it wasn't possible to get one).

Lokki answered your question about the PN532, and also gave some pointers as to why yours might not work ... does yours match the description given by Lokki and you're confident it isn't a clone? Does your ring work with other NFC devices such as Android phones?

And one more thing ...

So you purge your users every 2 months?

No, as Lokki said, there was a change in the website backend that would have caused the need to register AND then at a later date there was a change for SSO. So either of those could have caused you to reregister, depending on how long you've been gone. See? Simples, no purging or malicious culling involved at all. Occams Razor at it's finest.

Forget the coloured rings problem, that was a red herring. Your AFAIK is not correct. As I said there were also problems with inlays, wood, purple, rainbow and silver are all ones that spring to mind as having problems.
RE: board problems. So the ring does work then just not on the board you've got...

@leftyfb You're a really hard person to try and help with constantly ignoring questions asked of you, completely (purposefully?) misunderstanding what has been told to you, and then you're quick to come back with something snide or accusatory because you've completely failed at some basic level of comprehension.

Let me be extremely clear for you, and try and spell out this discourse in easy-to-follow points. You came here with 3 problems:

1. Order was wrong
2. Rings don't work on your board
3. You had to reregister your forum account

1. Order was wrong

• You said "it was supposed to be classic black like mine and not transparent". Unfortunately this lead to some confusion and you were then given info about black plated rings, which isn't your problem at all.
• You then gave your desired order as two rings both black+silver, but said "2nd ring as mentioned above, doesn't have a colored inlay like the first and is transparent".
• I asked if this meant you received 1 ring in black+silver and one in transparent+silver (because the word 'coloured inlay' might mean the black one or the silver one, but from your first post I assumed you meant black and tried to clarify what you actually received. I also mentioned that the factory wasn't producing all the coloured inlays originally required of it, maybe I should have gone into more detail on that and linked to the actual updates posted on Kickstarter that cover this.
• Unhelpfully you then said "As posted above, they are titanium rings with black inlay and transparent inlay". But earlier you said "it was supposed to be classic black like mine", so did you get two different rings or not? If you got both rings with black then why did you start by saying "it was supposed to be black ..."? If you received black+transparent then surely it is the silver that is missing? This thread would be a lot quicker if you left out the attitude and just gave the bloody facts.
• You then said "AFAIK ... these should be the rings with the least amount of issues". I pointed out that it's not just the plating (i.e. black or blue rings) that has been a problem, and that there have also been production problems with inlays. I listed some of the ones that have been an issue. These have been mentioned in updates, along with the fact that the team have been substituting rings affected for ones they have in stock, and detailed what they're going to do to remedy it. Presumably you've been ignoring the Kickstarter update emails about this.
• You then blur the inlay production problems into the problems you are having with the board you bought, which are completely unrelated. Throwing in a 'is there any ring that doesn't have problems' doesn't help people help you.

tl;dr

Read the Kickstart updates to find out why your inlays may not match those you ordered.

2. Rings don't work on your board

I don't really have much to add to this except you've shown that the ring works with

1. A phone
2. Another board

... but doesn't work with a particular board. It seems your beef is about the recommendation post here rather than the ring, because obviously the ring works just fine. From that recommendation, the user who recommended it didn't have your problems. I don't know what to say. Unfortunately you pissed off the one user who might have spared time to help you get to the bottom of this.

3. Forum account deleted/purged

That's all cleared up now, I believe.

@johnyma22 Aaaargggh, you're making me look at javascript ... I told you what I thought about that!

So looking at the code (you bad man you), it seems that yes - what is being rotated is the camera. Which means the lights/envmap will remain pointing at the same place on the model. Kind of like here ... http://threejs.org/examples/webgl_loader_stl.html ... note how the shadows move with the objects, and the dark part of the meshes is always the dark part.

It isn't so obvious on your ring version though because there isn't a background/floor and so no shadows cast to get reference.

I know nothing about three.js though but assume this is the culprit:

controls = new THREE.OrbitControls(camera);

Ideally the controls would rotate the ring model rather than the camera. In that way the fixed light positions would hit different parts of the ring as you moved the ring.

As for the envmap, something really neutral or maybe even just removed would show off the ring better IMHO.

@NFCringTom Ok Tom, thanks for the clarification - I got the email today. Cheers.

@MrStein B.S that's the same distance

From 11-12 secs on your video that read looks like it is sub 50mm, and maybe as low as 40mm. But perspective is tricky and maybe you have fat sausage fingers. The read at around 7 secs does look better, at around 50mm. But none of those reads appear to have the distance shown in Lokki's image, and from 10-13 secs in your video you're definitely not getting a good read at what is considered a normal read distance for that board and the card NFC.

Anyway, not my problem, but I respect the opinion of those who have used the rings in demonstrable fashion on a range of projects. It seems you've had real bad luck with your boards, or how you are using them.

Just to add to what @Lokki and @jasok2 have said, tapping rarely works for me. What you need to do is move the ring through the sweet spot. Have a look at Lokki's recent video of a home-made sweet spot detector for a visible demonstration of this difference.

With a larger tag it may look like you are tapping, but in fact you are sweeping in a plane perpendicular with the phone. Being a small antenna in the phone you generally won't have enough of a field to sweep perpendicular so will need to do the parallel sweep.

@johnyma22 It's like you're not reading the messages @jasok2 has been posting in this thread, even though you're replying to them.

RE #10921 I personally replied on the 8th of October and you didn't reply, you haven't replied to this ticket since then.. Am I missing something?

His first message says that he emailed back the same day. Then the 30th October. Then the 12th November. So yes, you're missing something, he says he has emailed but obviously you guys haven't received them if they're not in your queue.

As I mentioned in the ticket you really need to get to a jewellers to get your proper ring size.

Twice in this thread he said he took it to a jeweller for sizing, and one of his emails to support was a photo of it being sized in a jewellers!

Sorry to butt in, but I understand the frustration from providing details and then having to restate them when someone comes along and starts responding without actually reading what you've written.

• Show the version number somewhere in the unlock app. Otherwise you get the situation where customer is asked 'which version of the app are you using' and they just say 'the latest', without knowing if they're on the beta version or the 'release' version.

@Zombiehug Yes, I believe you can. It is just an NFC tag, so you can write whatever you like to it within the memory limits of the tag.