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Is wifi required for NFC?

A

anewfoundsin

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 20, 2009
60
0
I was wondering, do you need wifi or 4G for NFC to work?

I was thinking about getting a Nexus 7 tablet (wifi only) that has NFC. Will NFC work in environments where I don't have wifi?
 
anewfoundsin said:
I was wondering, do you need wifi or 4G for NFC to work?

I was thinking about getting a Nexus 7 tablet (wifi only) that has NFC. Will NFC work in environments where I don't have wifi?
Click to expand...

No to your initial question, yes to the second question. NFC stands for "Near Field Communications". It's a chip that interacts with other NFC chips in close proximity. Not attached to any other communication methods.
 
jrswizzle said:
No to your initial question, yes to the second question. NFC stands for "Near Field Communications". It's a chip that interacts with other NFC chips in close proximity. Not attached to any other communication methods.
Click to expand...

Ok Great! Thanks

----------

JRS - I notice you have a Nexus and iPad Mini in your sig. Are you using both at the same time? I want to get an iPad Mini w/ Retina but want to try out the Nexus 7. What are your opinions towards the Nexus? I currently have the iPad Air but want something smaller.
 
anewfoundsin said:
Ok Great! Thanks

----------

JRS - I notice you have a Nexus and iPad Mini in your sig. Are you using both at the same time? I want to get an iPad Mini w/ Retina but want to try out the Nexus 7. What are your opinions towards the Nexus? I currently have the iPad Air but want something smaller.
Click to expand...

I have a Nexus 5 as my personal phone, an iPhone 5S for work and my iPad rMini for play.

I've owned a Nexus 7 before and the things that turn me off to it are as follows:

-terrible tablet app options: everything is essentially a smartphone app scaled up. iPad versions of apps (there are over 400,000 iPad specific apps) often add functionality.

-display size: I much prefer the display size on the mini. To me its the perfect fit between my smartphone and Macbook Air.

-form factor: the mini is SO much nicer looking and feeling to me than the N7....bezels are massive on the Nexus.

-I prefer iOS: The reason I have a Nexus 5 is because I have two phone lines and figured I might as well try something different rather than have two iphones. I do like Android, but ultimately most of the people I communicate with use iPhones, I have all Apple devices in my house and I prefer being in one ecosystem. So if it weren't for having two phone lines, I wouldn't have an Android device - even after having used one since February.
 
jmebbk said:
What is nfc for?
Click to expand...

It can be used for all sorts of things. Payments for one. Another are the use of NFC tags that can you can put places that will cause your phone to react in certain ways. For example, you could put one by your bed and it would turn down volume, enter airplane mode, etc.
 
ucfgrad93 said:
It can be used for all sorts of things. Payments for one. Another are the use of NFC tags that can you can put places that will cause your phone to react in certain ways. For example, you could put one by your bed and it would turn down volume, enter airplane mode, etc.
Click to expand...

Wow i am confused/
Sorry i am new to android lol?

Do i need to leave it on? Also what do you mean payments?
 
jmebbk said:
Wow i am confused/
Sorry i am new to android lol?

Do i need to leave it on? Also what do you mean payments?
Click to expand...

Yes, just always leave it on.

I use NFC a lot for sharing photos with wife, friends & between other devices. Sometimes we share links that way and other things. Any time you want to transfer "anything" from one phone to another, you tap them together and press on the screen to "beam" whatever it is that you're looking at.

Android figures out which app to launch and what to transfer. So if you're viewing a website, it'll launch Chrome and go to the same website. If you're looking at a picture it'll transfer the picture.

Simple, try it... both phones have to be on for this to work. Just touch them together and you'll see the beam screen pop up right away.
 
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