The status bar at the top of your smartphone is used to display a lot of key information. Most people will know it as the place to see battery percentage, signal strength, notification icons, and whether you’re connected to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
However, you might see another icon there: an unusual-looking N. It stands for NFC, or Near Field Communication.
What is NFC?
NFC is a technology that uses radio waves to transfer data wirelessly over short distances.
Its main use on smartphones is for contactless payments, whether Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay.
However, NFC can also be used to quickly share files between devices or use NFC-enabled accessories. Modern passports also support NFC, allowing you to provide additional verification from your phone.
This doesn’t mean you’ll want to keep NFC enabled all the time, though. Being able to pay for anything with a single click can be a security risk, although it can sometimes have a negative impact on battery life.
How to disable NFC
There’s no way to turn off NFC on an iPhone, so you’ll have to turn off the features that rely on it instead: NameDrop, AirDrop, SharePlay, and Apple Pay. The only way to do this is to delete all your cards from the app.
But on almost all Android phones, the option is available to enable and disable whenever you want. We’re using the Nothing Phone (2) for the purposes of this tutorial, but the method will be essentially the same as using a phone made by Samsung, Google, Xiaomi, OnePlus, or another company.
Go to Settings
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Open the “Settings” app on your Android phone. You can usually find it in the app drawer or by swiping down from the top of the screen and tapping the gear icon.
Locate connection settings
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
In the “Settings” menu, look for “Connections,” “Connections & Network,” “Network & Internet” or something similar. For example, on the Nothing Phone (2) you see above, this section is under “Connected Devices” > “Connection Preferences”. Tap it to continue.
Access NFC settings
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
In this section, there should be an option called “NFC”. Tap it to access the NFC settings menu.
Turn off NFC
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
You should see a toggle switch next to NFC. Just tap the toggle to turn it off.
After disabling NFC, it’s a good idea to verify that it is indeed disabled. Check the status bar at the top of your screen. The N symbol, indicating NFC, should no longer be visible.
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