Is it possible to use NFC on the iPad?

Question

everybody,

I am currently developing an iOS application. This application should make it possible to read NFC tags with an iPad. The NFC has already been successfully tested on an iPhone 7 / 8.

As soon as I test this function on an iPad (2017), the NFC dialog will not open and it is not possible to read NFC tags. The implementation was carried out under Swift with the CoreNFC.

Development environment:

• xCode 9.4.1
• iOS 11.x.x
• Signing debug certificate available

Do you have any ideas?

Solution

Near Field Communication is not supported on any iPad models at the moment. CoreNFC on iOS is supported on iPhones from iPhone 7 onward.

An NFC accessory reader such as the FloBLE Plus can enable NFC functionality on the iPad.

Disclaimer: I work for Flomio, an NFC, BLE, and RFID company that specializes in helping developers integrate these technologies in their apps.

Comments

[wider-spider]

Hi @Scott , so I would need to write the NFC tags with an iPhone, but could read them with FloBLE Plus on an iPad as well, correct?

[wider-spider]

Hi again @ScottCondron, did you get my question?

[Scott Condron]

You can write NFC tags with any NFC reader as well, it’s the same functionality (sending APDUs). Some SDKs may not include writing though so you’d have to format and send the data manually which can be somewhat difficult. Newer iphone models can read and write NFC, iPads don’t support either yet without an additional reader like the one mentioned above.

[wider-spider]

Thanks, @ScottCondron. But the Flomio Docs state iOS support as deprecated?

[Scott Condron]

Yeah, they’re moving away from iOS support but it’s still a good product. I’m not currently working with them so you can reach out to them for advice yourself if needed.