This week marks an important milestone in the evolution of NFC technology. Apple’s launch of the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR models was accompanied by news that these groundbreaking devices will feature an important enhancement to the iPhone NFC experience: a background tag-read capability that allows users to launch NFC-based mobile experiences without requiring a mobile app.

Thinfilm congratulates Apple on its new generation of iPhones and looks forward to helping brands, retailers, and industrial clients create amazing user experiences that will be enhanced by streamlined NFC tag reading. Previous iPhone generations require the user to open a mobile application and initiate a scan for NFC tags. While the new models maintain the freedom to read NFC tags via native apps whenever desired, they – importantly – can also launch URLs (and several other data formats) directly from NFC tags – even from the phone’s home screen or lock screen.

This means that brands, retailers, and industrial users can now take advantage of a simplified user experience across all major mobile operating systems, making NFC-enabled experiences more compelling and consistent than ever. With a single touch of an NFC smartphone, a consumer can research a brand, read the latest product reviews, post to social media, or even place an e-commerce reorder when a product is depleted.

Just as Apple focuses on streamlining the user experience, Thinfilm is dedicated to simplifying the creation, deployment, and analysis of NFC campaigns around the world. Thinfilm’s wide portfolio of NFC tags and integrated form factors, combined with the power and flexibility of the CNECT Cloud Platform, provides the ultimate turnkey platform to link the physical and digital worlds via a direct, always-available consumer communication channel.

With hundreds of registered companies and more than 30 in-market deployments, Thinfilm’s CNECT Cloud Platform powers innovative NFC mobile experiences in a wide variety of markets, including over-the-counter pharma, wine & spirits, beauty & personal care, and supply chain applications.

To read more about Apple’s enhanced NFC tag reading functionality, check out the following article from 9to5mac: https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/12/iphone-xs-and-iphone-xr-can-read-nfc-tags-without-having-to-launch-an-app/


 About the author: Dr. Davor Sutija is Thinfilm’s CEO.