The first major Android device that was released with NFC — Near Field Communications — was the Nexus S with Android 2.3 Gingerbread back in 2011. The technology, however, took its own sweet time to become a commonplace in Android devices with major OEMs only adopting it by the end of 2012.

While NFC still has not become mainstream, its usability in day-to-day life has definitely increased. Below, we list down the three most important uses of NFC:

Payments

If you live in a first world country like the USA or Canada then you should be probably aware of this. Just think for a moment — you walk into a store, get all the stuff you want, the cashier gives you a bill. At this point, you just take out your phone, unlock the screen and tap its back against an NFC terminal on the table. Boom! You have successfully paid for all your items. No need to carry your wallet or make sure you have enough money in change.

While payments via NFC sound really cool, they have not really become mainstream. This is mainly due to all the banks, credit card companies, carriers and Google blocking and fighting each other with their own NFC payment systems. Hence, the prevalence of this technology is extremely low outside of far-east Asian countries like Japan. Looking at the way things have been progressing, NFC Payments are still half a decade away from becoming a common piece of technology.

Sharing

Payments via NFC might not have caught on, but sharing definitely has. If you have two NFC equipped devices, simply open the file/link that you want to share and tap the back of the phones together to initiate the transfer. By default, the built-in file sharing feature in Android — Android Beam — only allows the user to share Play Store links, Chrome URLs, YouTube videos, Contacts and pictures over Bluetooth.

However, using third party apps on the Play Store, users can also transfer other files over Wi-Fi Direct using NFC. Once you start sharing files and links via NFC, you will start wishing that every piece of technology around you had built=in NFC for quick and easy sharing.

Automation

One of the most innovative ways you can use NFC is to automate tasks. By using NFC tags and third party apps from the Play Store, you can automate certain day-to-day tasks like putting your phone on silent, toggling Wi-Fi/Bluetooth and more. In fact, if you are a Tasker guru, you can simply write a Tasker profile to an NFC tag and activate it via your device. The possibilities here are simply endless!

Pairing

Another excellent use of NFC is to make pairing between devices easier. Instead of playing around with Bluetooth settings on your phone, you can simply tap it against an NFC-equipped accessory to initiate the pairing process. For example, most portable Bluetooth speakers with NFC let you pair your device with one tap and seamlessly start music playback with a second tap. NFC-equipped headphones and speakers are popping up from all major OEMs, including Sony and Nokia.

We will be talking more about NFC during the following days to show you how to make full use of the technology, so stay tuned!