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Help NFC/Android beam discussion

mistral_blue

Newbie
Apr 13, 2013
12
12
Hi guys,

Just got my HTC One last week. It rocks, but I was a little disappointed when playing with its features to discover that the NFC function didn't appear to work in terms of being able to beam things...

I tried with a mate's LG Nexus 4 and also a Galaxy (S3?) but no joy... From reading the phone's Help page it appears that you just need to turn NFC on and hold the phones together (it says if the other phone has Android Beam this should also be on). There also doesn't appear to be an Android Beam option along with the NFC stuff on the HTC One (from the Help file it looks like it doesn't need it) but no paring appeared to be talking place despite following the insructions?

Any clues anyone please/anyone been successful??
 
Hopefully someone can chime in soon, but I've heard of issues trying to send things between samsung phones and not-samsung phones. Evidently their S-beam technology (what they use on their phones) doesn't play well with others. I'm not sure whether or not HTC has it's own proprietary NFC system as well, so hopefully someone can chime in and help.
 
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With Android Beam, if you're running an app and touch another phone, it'll open that app or take take it to the Store to get it.

You can share contacts and photos.

You can make another phone open the same YouTube vid you're watching.

Samsung's s-beam will share about sort of file, but it's proprietary to Samsung.

To share anything to anything in a standard fashion, consider using a Bluetooth sharing app. (Personally, I share between our phones using FTP. It's harder to use and set up if you've not done much of it, but I started on that years back and it works for me.)

Android Beam can help the other phone over to the Store to get a comparable app.

NFC is also very cool for using NFC tags. Hang them on your keychain, sticker them by the door, use a simple setup program so that when your phone touches the tag, it changes into car mode, your home settings, whatever works for you.
 
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I thought it was only HTC to HTC, or Samsung to Samsung. I didn't think two different brands could communicate through nfc. Having said that...will the one be able to send files to the EVO LTE through nfc?

I've got two Evo 4G LTE phones and I can't send any old file between them, just as described above.

My wife and I read a lot (Moon+ Reader for the win) and get lots of free, public-domain books through Feedbooks and Project Gutenberg. Would love to be able just NFC share those books for example - but there's absolutely no way with Android Beam. Wifi and FTP to the rescue for me.

Here's all HTC offers on the subject -

https://support.htc.com/en/080-HTC_One_X/0M0/050


Here's what Android Beam is as a standard app on any Android -

How to Use Android Beam to Wirelessly Transfer Content Between Devices

Which covers what I said above.

Some devs are working on apps that use NFC to pair two devices, then hand off the actual file transfer to Bluetooth. I haven't tried any of those yet, but not sure I see I see the point. You can share via Bluetooth or wifi already with apps that work. Maybe when those others have time to mature, they'll be better, faster, easier.


Programmers only:
Android Beam is also used to name a standard, so any Android will work - to a point.

Android Beam is actually a programming standard (think: like email) rather than a standard app (think: like Gmail). This will make your eyes glaze, read at your own risk if you're not a programmer -

NFC Basics | Android Developers
 
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I've got two Evo 4G LTE phones and I can't send any old file between them, just as described above.

My wife and I read a lot (Moon+ Reader for the win) and get lots of free, public-domain books through Feedbooks and Project Gutenberg. Would love to be able just NFC share those books for example - but there's absolutely no way with Android Beam. Wifi and FTP to the rescue for me.



Here's all HTC offers on the subject -

https://support.htc.com/en/080-HTC_One_X/0M0/050


Here's what Android Beam is as a standard app on any Android -

How to Use Android Beam to Wirelessly Transfer Content Between Devices

Which covers what I said above.

Some devs are working on apps that use NFC to pair two devices, then hand off the actual file transfer to Bluetooth. I haven't tried any of those yet, but not sure I see I see the point. You can share via Bluetooth or wifi already with apps that work. Maybe when those others have time to mature, they'll be better, faster, easier.


Programmers only:
Android Beam is also used to name a standard, so any Android will work - to a point.

Android Beam is actually a programming standard (think: like email) rather than a standard app (think: like Gmail). This will make your eyes glaze, read at your own risk if you're not a programmer -

NFC Basics | Android Developers

I have two EVO ltes also. I can share pics, contacts, web sites, and YouTube vids through nfc. It would not work with my EVO LTE and my friends Samsung. My question is will these services work via nfc between the One and the EVO LTE
 
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I share mostly photos with the wife phone from my EVO LTE with her Samsung SIII. I was at the Penn & Teller show last night and got the person sitting behind us to take a photo with my EVOLTE. The wife wanted it to put up on Facebook so I transferred it to her via NFC. It took about 20 seconds to complete. You have to make sure you have NFC turned on with both phones then touch them together with the pic you want to send open. A box at the top will say touch to send and all you do is touch the pic and it starts the transfer to the SIII.

oh okay. Thanks. That's good to know. I guess my friend with the Samsung didn't have his turned off. So then the One should work with the evo LTE
 
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My One acknowledged wifey's s3 mini with nfc but not much happened when I hit 'touch to beam'. The screen image did reduce in size like it was being send over but it didn't appear to be received. It was a bookmark link I think.

Interesting...

To further clarify my first post, the Nexus 4>Samsung S3 managed to NFC (via Android Beam) a pic to each other, but the HTC One didn't show that it had even detected the Nexus 4 when placed back to back, with NFC on the One switched on (there is no AB option) and NFC & Android Beam on the Nexus 4 on also...

Here is the HTC One help article - https://support.htc.com/en/005-HTC_One/0G0/040 as far as I can see I have been doing things correctly...

My point being it seems to suggest that Android Beam needs to be switched on, on the other device, but makes no mention of AB for the HTC One... and nothing seems to happen when the phones are touched together... :thinking:
 
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Setup for the One X has an on/off for NFC and another for Android Beam when NFC is on.

The way that article is written suggests that Android Beam is on when NFC is, for the One.

Yep. Seems strange on wifey's s3 mini to have to turn on nfc THEN turn on beam. One just has nfc on/off I think.

Edit: then s beam too?!

On my One I had to hold the phone back to back but turned 90 degrees to get nfc to activate.
 
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From the User Manual:
Beaming content
Make sure that both devices are unlocked and have NFC turned on. If the other
device has an Android Beam option, make sure it is also turned on.
1. While viewing the content that you want to share, hold HTC One and the other
device back to back. When the devices connect, you'll hear a sound and both
devices will vibrate slightly.
2. Tap the screen.
The shared content appears on the other screen. For some items that you've shared
(such as contact information), additional instructions on how to save the item will
appear on the receiving device.

Any problems I have had with Beaming content with my Evo 4g LTE have been user error on the receiving party's side (i.e. them not tapping to accept the info) or pulling the phone away to quickly.
 
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From the User Manual:
Beaming content
Make sure that both devices are unlocked and have NFC turned on. If the other
device has an Android Beam option, make sure it is also turned on.
1. While viewing the content that you want to share, hold HTC One and the other
device back to back. When the devices connect, you'll hear a sound and both
devices will vibrate slightly.
2. Tap the screen.
The shared content appears on the other screen. For some items that you've shared
(such as contact information), additional instructions on how to save the item will
appear on the receiving device.

Any problems I have had with Beaming content with my Evo 4g LTE have been user error on the receiving party's side (i.e. them not tapping to accept the info) or pulling the phone away to quickly.

Yeah, same as https://support.htc.com/en/005-HTC_One/0G0/040

The problem I had was that there was no sound/vibration or any other sign that they had connected. Tapping content to share did nothing... I have followed the above instructions correctly (I am a tech geek so I'd like to think I know what I am doing...?! ;) I played around with both phones for about 5 minutes) but it didn't work, am therefore wondering if there is a problem with my phone/HTC One in general/Android version or HTC vs other makes...:thinking:
 
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Yeah, same as https://support.htc.com/en/005-HTC_One/0G0/040

The problem I had was that there was no sound/vibration or any other sign that they had connected. Tapping content to share did nothing... I have followed the above instructions correctly (I am a tech geek so I'd like to think I know what I am doing...?! ;) I played around with both phones for about 5 minutes) but it didn't work, am therefore wondering if there is a problem with my phone/HTC One in general/Android version or HTC vs other makes...:thinking:

Every manufacturer will likely be a little different and it may be different between models. For instance on my EVO 4g LTE I have to go into Settings then More then check off NFC AND tap Android Beam and make sure it is on. As long as both devices have NFC and Android Beam on it should work fine. I share content between my LTEvo and my Nexus 10 this way all the time and it works great. I am not familiar with how LG or Samsung turns on NFC and Android Beam but I would recommend your friends check out the support for their particular devices just to make sure everything is on. If everything is on and you still can't get it to work I would go into the store and have it checked out.
 
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Not sure if I'm adding anything to this discussion, but I've been able to transfer pictures with my brother's Samsung Note 2 with zero trouble. We both have NFC turned on in our settings, touch the phones together and then we can beam over whatever we have on our screens at the time.

In one example I pulled up a picture of his daughter that I took, bumped my phone to the back of his, clicked "Touch to Beam" and off it went. He had it in about 4-5 seconds.
 
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Does battery drain more with NFC on? I think I turned mine off but now I want to reconfigure my tags I have that I used on my HTC EVO LTE.

Just as you probably already have,I GOOGLED the subject & the answers range from yes-no-maybe so & everything in-between.

General consensus seems to be having NFC turned on but in a non-use/stand-by mode uses very little power & only scans periodically while in this mode.

The activity that triggers NFC will use more power,but,this is almost always a short-term activity & power consumption should be negligible & return to a stand-by mode once the activity is complete.

FWIW,I discovered that the NFC "SWEET-SPOT" is located @ the top of the phone,near the camera lens/flash.This may help in placement of NFC tags.
 
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