In the last few days, I have been experimenting with Home Assistant, NFC Tags, and the iPhone.
A few days ago, I wrote about how you can launch a Shortcuts automation without any user interaction apart from waking up your iPhone screen.
This is one of the most incredible things I can do on my iPhone. Having my house do something by just taking my phone close to an object is cool.
At the same time, the Shortcut app is mighty, even if you need to be a geek to get the most advanced features. I will talk about this in another post.
Today I thought you could also use this seamless NFC tag reading feature as a poor-guy security mechanism.
If you think you are in danger, you may tap on your iPhone screen and bring it close to an NFC tag near you, on your backpack, in your pocket, or on your jacket. In the Shortcut App, you may define what will happen. Send an SMS with your position to a list of emergency contacts, for example.
This will work with any NFC Tag, even AirTags. AirTag will cost you 39 Euros, while you can get an NFC Tag for 50 Euro cents.
Even if you don’t have a Home Automation system, this feature opens many possibilities you can take advantage of.