Help What is this icon?

[AZgl1500]

Having a bad senior moment, I cannot for the life of me remember what this icon is for?

It looks like the letter 'N' and is located between the Bluetooth symbol and WiFi symbols.

 

[Hadron]

NFC

(I have always thought it is a particularly ugly and ill-designed icon)

 

[AZgl1500]

Tnx, that jogs the memory cells....

and the design of it is totally non-intuitive.... which is why I forgot what it was.

 

[mikedt]

It's not the first time on here, and it probably won't be the last, "What does this "N" icon mean on my phone?" ...but I can't recall anyone posting about not recognising the Bluetooth icon.

I've never used NFC, and my current daily driver phone, Oppo R7 Plus, doesn't have it anyway.

BTW: Pop-quiz, anyone care to answer why a pair of Bluetooth headphones has the NFC logo?

Actually I do know now, but had to read the instructions to find out. Although I'd already paired and was using them with my phone.

 

[psionandy]

I have a pair of Sony sbh60 and also some sbh52 ones. Both will pair via nfc.... Instead of using the old fashioned Bluetooth pairing mode.... It must have saved me all of 1.5 seconds... So well done you nfc designers.


Also nfc for payment solutions is an equally stoopid idea

 

[mikedt]

It was the first time I've seen NFC in headphones, and I didn't actually realise it's there for BT pairing, not until I read the instructions. And I'd already paired them the usual way, i.e. turn them on, and get the phone to search for BT devices. Like most BT audio devices, if they're not actually connected to anything, they'll automatically go into pairing visible mode.

This is something I posted in another thread about a month ago, about NFC...
"I'm often exchanging contacts with Wechat and QQ, and those do support NFC. However both phones have to have it, mine doesn't, or end-up having to explain what NFC actually is to a non-techy person...been there....done that. And it's a bit of a FAQ here in Android Questions as well, posts like "What does this "N" icon mean in my notification bar?" Many times for exchanging Wechat and QQ contacts, we use QR codes on the screen, and just about every smart-phone has a camera of course."

 

[Slug]

It must have saved me all of 1.5 seconds... So well done you nfc designers.

Making something simpler for non-techies is a bad thing?

Also nfc for payment solutions is an equally stoopid idea

My contactless debit card saves both me and my favourite baristas precious time when I'm grabbing an essential espresso during the lunchtime rush. I can be in and out in the time it takes others to pay cash and wait for change. If I could pay and add my loyalty points simultaneously it would be even better.

 

[psionandy]

My contactless debit card saves both me and my favourite baristas precious time when I'm grabbing an essential espresso during the lunchtime rush.

Because the part of the process that takes the time is the few seconds you spend typing your pin number in the terminal... or getting change... Not the 10 minutes where you're stuck in the queue because the person in front of you can't decide if they want a caramel macchiato or a skinny mochachino

 

[mikedt]

Making something simpler for non-techies is a bad thing?

In theory NFC is simple, you touch two things together and something should happen. But I think while almost everyone knows what Bluetooth is, and almost all smart-phones have BT. Not so many people know what NFC is and what it can do, e..g what does this "N" icon mean on my notification bar or BT headphones? And really it's only flagship(expensive) phones that have it, budget phones usually don't, and many mid-range devices don't have NFC either, e.g. the Honor 5X, which is currently being heavily promoted here on AF.

My contactless debit card saves both me and my favourite baristas precious time when I'm grabbing an essential espresso during the lunchtime rush. I can be in and out in the time it takes others to pay cash and wait for change. If I could pay and add my loyalty points simultaneously it would be even better.

I've not seen contectless payment systems being used yet, apart from public transport.. But even using a debit/credit card to pay for things in a store or restaurant be fun in this country. Like they don't have a terminal at all, cash only, or the cashier doesn't know how to operate the terminal and has to call the manager and wait, or pay cash instead. A few times happened to me recently, my card is declined, but there's nothing wrong with the card and there's plenty of money in my account.

 

[Hadron]

NFC for BT headphone pairing is pretty standard these days. This is despite (last time I looked) it not being supported by iOS.

 

[Slug]

[...] while almost everyone knows what Bluetooth is, and almost all smart-phones have BT. Not so many people know what NFC is and what it can do, e..g what does this "N" icon mean on my notification bar or BT headphones?

That's not a criticism of NFC though, but rather the end-user for failing to RTFM; every Quick Start Guide I've seen for an NFC-enabled device both highlights the notification icon and describes the feature.

And really it's only flagship(expensive) phones that have it, budget phones usually don't, and many mid-range devices don't have NFC either

That's something that needs to change, and fast. Apple Pay has dragged the tech into the mainstream and it won't go back. My tv remote even has an embedded NFC chip... tapping my phone against it instantly throws the current content onto the larger display.

 

[AZgl1500]

That's not a criticism of NFC though, but rather the end-user for failing to RTFM; every Quick Start Guide I've seen for an NFC-enabled device both highlights the notification icon and describes the feature.

duh, the Note 4 and the S5 are nearly the same phone, all I did was move my work from the S5 to the Note 4, same wallpapers, etc.... with Nova Prime Launcher..... That manual got lost about 3 years ago, my Note 4 is a used one, didn't come with TFM and I wouldn't have bothered to open it if it had one....

as a long time IT tech, the very last thing I ever do, is RTFM