Tap Kit: NFC sticker shortcuts for iPhone and Android
Tap your nightstand. Your phone goes into Sleep focus.
Anyone with an iPhone XS or later, or an Android phone with NFC. No computer needed.
The plan is free. Read it all below.
We do not sell the parts. The shopping list below says what to buy.
You need: an iPhone XS or later, or an Android phone with NFC; two blank NFC stickers, from any store that sells them.
Last updated
The plan in 3 steps
- Step 1
Stick a sticker on your nightstand.
- Step 2
In Shortcuts, make an NFC automation that turns on Sleep focus.
- Step 3
Tap your phone on the sticker.
What you need
Shopping list
- Blank NFC stickers: Two for this plan: the nightstand and the laundry. On iPhone any blank NFC sticker works, because Shortcuts reads only the sticker's ID. On Android any writable sticker works with an NFC writing app such as NFC Tools. NTAG213 or NTAG215 are both fine here.
We do not sell these. Any store that sells them will do.
You also need
- An iPhone XS or later, or an Android phone with NFC
Your first evening
Put a sticker on your nightstand
Peel one sticker and press it flat where your phone can reach it. Any blank NFC sticker works for this plan, because iPhone automations read only the sticker's ID.
Make the automation
On iPhone, open the Shortcuts app, tap Automation, tap +, choose NFC, then scan the sticker. Name it Nightstand.
Let it run without asking
Set the automation to run without asking. NFC is one of the automations Apple lets run without a confirmation.
Add what it should do
Add the Set Focus action and pick Sleep, turned on.
Try it
Tap your phone on the sticker. Sleep focus comes on.
A second sticker for the laundry
Put another sticker on your washing machine and make a second automation that starts a 45-minute timer.
On Android
Android has no built-in sticker automations. Install NFC Tools and its free companion app NFC Tasks, then build the same two stickers in NFC Tasks.
These steps follow the makers' own instructions. We have not run them ourselves yet.
Sources:
Prompts to paste into Claude
Copy one, paste it, and fill in anything in square brackets. Claude takes it one step at a time.
1. Plan your stickers
Paste into the Claude app
Here is my morning and evening routine: [paste]. I have NFC stickers that can trigger iPhone Shortcuts. Suggest 5 places to stick them and what each should do, using only built-in Shortcuts actions.
2. Build the nightstand sticker with me
Paste into the Claude app
Walk me through building an iPhone Shortcuts automation that runs when I tap my nightstand sticker and turns on Sleep focus. One step at a time. Wait for me to say done before the next step.
3. Android laundry timer
Paste into the Claude app
I have an Android phone with NFC Tools and NFC Tasks. Show me how to make a sticker that starts a 45 minute laundry timer.
4. It's not working
Paste into the Claude app
My sticker automation is not running when I tap it. Here is what I set up: [describe]. Help me find why.
5. Guest WiFi page
Paste into the Claude app
Write a short, friendly guest WiFi info page I can link to a sticker on my fridge.
When you have a weekend
Write a link onto a sticker
On any phone, open NFC Tools, choose Write, add a record, choose URL, and write it. A guest WiFi info page on the fridge is a good first one.
A plant sticker that logs watering
Make an automation that adds the word Watered and the date to a note, so you can see when you last watered.
Home Assistant stickers
If you use Home Assistant, write the sticker from the Home Assistant app and start an automation when it is scanned. The Talk to Your Home plan builds on this.
These steps follow the makers' own instructions. We have not run them ourselves yet.
Sources:
We test this before we promise it
Ideas we are still testing
These are written from our research. We run each one before we promise it.
A door sticker that asks Claude about your day
An automation that finds today's calendar events, passes them to the Claude app's Ask Claude action (iOS 18 or later), then shows the result. Claude's help page documents the Ask Claude action, but not whether its reply passes to the next action, so we test this first.
10 things to do with an NFC sticker
An NFC sticker is a thin sticker your phone can sense when you hold it close. It has no battery. On its own it does nothing: your phone sees it and runs whatever you set up. Here are ten places to start.
1. Nightstand
Turns on Sleep focus.
2. Washing machine
Starts a 45-minute timer.
3. Desk
Starts a 25-minute focus timer.
4. Fridge
A link sticker that opens your guest WiFi info page. Opens on most phones with NFC (iPhone XS or later, or an Android phone with NFC turned on).
5. Plant pot
Adds Watered and the date to a note.
6. Car phone mount
Plays your driving playlist. We have not tried this one ourselves yet.
7. Water bottle
Logs a glass of water in the Health app. We have not tried this one ourselves yet.
8. Keys or bag
A link sticker that opens an if-found contact page. Opens on most phones with NFC (iPhone XS or later, or an Android phone with NFC turned on).
9. Front door, Home Assistant
Runs a Home Assistant scene, like turning off the lights when you leave.
10. Front door, with Claude
Asks Claude for a weather and calendar brief. We test this one before we promise it: see Ideas we are still testing above.
On iPhone, ideas 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 are Shortcuts automations built from Shortcuts' own actions; 4 and 8 are link stickers you write once with NFC Tools. On Android, build them in NFC Tasks; its actions differ from Shortcuts, so check the app for each one.
iPhone or Android: what is different
Sticker automations
iPhone: Built in, in the Shortcuts app. It reads only the sticker's ID, so any blank sticker works.
Android: Not built in. Use NFC Tools and NFC Tasks, both free.
Link stickers
iPhone: iPhone XS and later. iOS shows a notification you tap; it does not open the link by itself.
Android: The phone scans while its screen is on and unlocked. It shows a notification you act on.
When link stickers do not work
iPhone: The phone has not been opened with its passcode since it restarted, the camera or Wallet is open, or airplane mode is on.
Android: The screen is off, or the phone is locked.
Home Assistant stickers
iPhone: You tap a notification to run it.
Android: Holding the phone near the sticker runs it.
What it can't do
- The sticker does nothing on its own. Your phone does the work.
- Reading a link sticker in the background needs an iPhone XS or later. iOS shows a notification you tap; it does not open the link by itself.
- A link sticker will not work if the phone has not been opened with its passcode since it restarted, if the camera or Wallet is open, or in airplane mode.
- Writing a Shortcuts link onto the sticker itself does not work. Use a Shortcuts automation instead, as in the steps above.
- Android has no built-in sticker automations, so it needs the two free apps.
Questions
Guides that go with this plan
New to this? Start here, or see every kit plan.