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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 Green LED turns on when an NFC field is present.

Requirements

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

  • 1x nRF54L15 Connect Kit
  • 1x U.FL cabled 13.56 MHz NFC Antenna (included in the box)
  • 1x USB-C Cable
  • A smartphone or a tablet with NFC support
  • A computer running macOS, Ubuntu, or Windows 10 or newer

Attaching the NFC antenna

Before applying power to the board, ensure the U.FL cabled NFC antenna is properly installed.

Building the sample

To build the sample, follow the instructions in Getting Started Guide to set up your preferred building environment.

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

  1. Open a terminal window.

  2. Go to NCS-Project/nrf54l15-connectkit repository cloned in the Getting Started Guide.

  3. Build the sample using the west build command, specifying the board (following the -b option) as nrf54l15_connectkit/nrf54l15/cpuapp.

    west build -p always -b nrf54l15_connectkit/nrf54l15/cpuapp 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 building the sample successfully, the firmware with the name merged.hex can be found in the build directory.

Flashing the firmware

Connect the nRF54L15 Connect Kit to the computer with a USB-C cable:

Then flash the sample using west flash:

west flash

Tip

In case you wonder, the west flash will execute the following command:

pyocd load --target nrf54l --frequency 4000000 build/merged.hex

Testing

After programming the sample, test it by performing the following steps:

  1. Open up a serial terminal, specifying the primary COM port that your computer uses to communicate with the nRF54L15:

    1. Start PuTTY.

    2. Configure the correct serial port and click Open:

    Open up a terminal and run:

    screen <serial-port-name> 115200

    Open up a terminal and run:

    screen <serial-port-name> 115200

  2. Press the DFU/RST button to reset the nRF54L15.

  3. Once the sample starts running, you should see the following output:

    Terminal
    1
2
3
4
    *** Booting nRF Connect SDK v3.1.0-6c6e5b32496e ***
*** Using Zephyr OS v4.1.99-1612683d4010 ***
Starting NFC Launch App sample
NFC configuration done

  4. Touch the NFC antenna with the smartphone or tablet and observe that the Green LED blinks.

  5. Observe that the smartphone or tablet launches the nRF Toolbox application.