NFC tags and business cards

Any dynamic QR code can also go on an NFC tag. You write the code's NFC link to a tag, sticker or card, and a phone that touches it opens the same place the QR code does. Taps show up in the code's analytics next to QR scans, counted separately. It works on every plan.

QRdx doesn't sell, print or ship tags or cards. Buy blank ones from any NFC supplier and write them yourself from the code's page.

The NFC linkCopy Anchor Link

A code's NFC link is its short link with ?nfc on the end, like https://qrdx.dev/q/aB3dE5f?nfc, or https://go.example.com/menu?nfc on a custom domain. It goes through the same redirect as the short link, so smart routing, passwords, schedules and scan limits apply to taps as well. The ?nfc ending only tells analytics the visit was a tap. The QR code keeps its own link, and codes you've already printed work exactly as before.

To find it, open the code in the dashboard and choose Use with NFC on its Overview tab. The REST API returns it as nfcLink on every code.

Write a tag on AndroidCopy Anchor Link

Chrome on Android can write tags straight from the code's NFC page:

1. Turn on NFC in the phone's settings.
2. Open the code in Chrome, choose Use with NFC, then tap Write to NFC tag.
3. Hold the tag flat against the back of the phone until the page says Written.
4. Tap the tag against the phone to test it. It should open the link.

Writing from a web page needs Web NFC, which only Chrome on Android has. On a computer, the NFC page shows a QR code instead: scan it with the Android phone, sign in, and write the tag there.

Locking a tagCopy Anchor Link

After a tag is written, the page offers to lock it when the browser can. A locked tag can never be changed or erased again, by anyone, including you, so lock only tags that sit where strangers could rewrite them, such as a sticker on a café table. The tag holds the code's link rather than its destination, so you can still change where a locked tag leads from QRdx.

Write a tag on iPhoneCopy Anchor Link

Safari can't write NFC tags, so use any NFC writer app from the App Store:

1. Copy the NFC link from the code's NFC page.
2. In the app, add a URL record (some apps call it Link or URI) and paste the link.
3. Choose Write and hold the top of the iPhone against the tag until the app says it's done.

Writing needs an iPhone 7 or later on iOS 13 or later.

Which tags to buyCopy Anchor Link

Look for an NTAG213, NTAG215 or NTAG216 chip. They come as stickers, cards, key fobs and wristbands.

An NFC link on qrdx.dev takes about 30 bytes, so all three hold it. Links on long custom domains or with long back-halves take more; the NFC page shows how many bytes yours needs and which chips it fits.

Android phones with NFC turned on, and iPhone XS or later, open a tag's link as soon as it touches the phone, with no app.

NFC business cardsCopy Anchor Link

A vCard Plus page is a contact page with a Save contact button, and it makes a good NFC business card. For a code that opens one, the Overview tab shows Put this card on NFC, and the page editor has a Put on NFC button. Both open the same NFC page with a guide for cards.

1. Buy blank NFC business cards, or NFC stickers for cards you already have.
2. Print the code's QR code on the card too. Phones without NFC, or with NFC turned off, scan it instead.
3. Write the NFC link to each card from the code's NFC page.

Because each card holds the code's link, editing the vCard Plus page in QRdx updates every card you've handed out.

Taps in analyticsCopy Anchor Link

A code's Analytics tab shows QR scans and NFC taps for the dates you picked, and the totals above it count both. The workspace's Analytics page and shared analytics pages show the same split.

The CSV export has a source column with qr or nfc for each scan. In the REST API, scan analytics include sources with both counts and a source on each listed scan, and webhooks for scan.created carry source too.

Scans from before NFC links existed count as QR scans. Taps follow the same rules as scans: bots and link previews aren't counted.