NFC Launch App¶

Overview¶

The NFC Launch App sample shows how to use the NFC tag to launch an app on the polling smartphone. It uses the NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) library.

When the sample starts, it initializes the NFC tag and generates an NDEF message with two records that contain the app Universal Link and Android Application Record. Then it sets up the NFC library to use the generated message and sense the external NFC field.

The only events handled by the application are the NFC events. The Red LED turns on when an NFC field is present.

Requirements¶

Before you start, check that you have the required hardware and software:

• 1x nRF52840 MDK USB Dongle
• A 13.56MHz NFC Antenna
• A smartphone or a tablet with NFC support
• A computer running macOS, Linux, or Windows 7 or newer

Wiring the NFC antenna¶

Building the sample¶

Before you start building, remember to set up the environment first.

Use the following steps to build the NFC Launch App sample on the command line.

1. Open a terminal window.

2. Go to my-workspace/ncs-playground directory created in the Setting up the environment section.

   1	cd my-workspace/ncs-playground

3. Build the sample using the west command, specifying the board (following the -b option) as dongle_nrf52840:

   1	west build -p always -b dongle_nrf52840 samples/nfc/record_launch_app

   Tip

   The -p always option forces a pristine build, and is recommended for new users. Users may also use the -p auto option, which will use heuristics to determine if a pristine build is required, such as when building another sample.

4. After running the west build command, the build files can be found in build/zephyr.

Flashing the firmware¶

The sample is designed to work with the UF2 Bootloader, so that you can easily flash the sample using the UF2 Bootloader. The firmware can be found in build/zephyr with the name zephyr.uf2.

To flash the firmware, complete the following steps:

1. Push and hold the button and plug your dongle into the USB port of your computer. Release the button after your dongle is connected. The RGB LED turns green.

2. It will mount as a Mass Storage Device called UF2BOOT.

3. Drag and drop zephyr.uf2 onto the UF2BOOT volume. The RGB LED blinks red fast during flashing.

4. Re-plug the dongle and the sample will start running.

Testing¶

After flashing the firmware to your dongle, complete the following steps to test it:

1. Plug the dongle into the USB port of your computer.
2. Touch the NFC antenna with the smartphone or tablet and observe that Red LED is lit.
3. Observe that the smartphone or tablet launches the nRF Toolbox application.
4. Move the smartphone or tablet away from the NFC antenna and observe that Red LED turns off.