How To Use Your iPhone As NFC Keycard

Here’s a simple, step-by-step guide on how to use your iPhone as your NFC keycard using the free jailbreak tweak NFCWriter.

The NFC chip in the iPhone is only really used for Apple Pay, at least up to iOS 10 it’s like that, but there are so many things that it should be capable of if only it was opened up to developers.

Thankfully, we do not always have to wait for Apple (and iOS 11) to do things like allow developers access to system-level features because, as has been proven countless times, the jailbreak community usually finds a way to get the job done. NFCWriter is one prime example of that, because it allows users to program their iPhone in a way that allows it to mimic other NFC-enabled things such as keycards.

Why is that useful? Well, the chances are good that you use NFC without realizing it. It may be the card that grants you access to the building you work in, for example, and wouldn’t it be super-awesome if you could have your iPhone do that instead of that card you keep leaving at home? Yes, yes it would, and that is why NFCWriter is amazing.

There are, of course, a couple of steps you need to go through in order to make this particular brand of magic possible, and although those steps are not many, they do need to be followed. We wanted to make sure as many people try this out as possible, so below are the steps you need to bear in mind when setting your iPhone up as a keycard, or anything else that uses NFC, for that matter. You will, of course, need to have a jailbroken NFC-equipped iPhone model (6 and up) with NFCWriter installed for any of this to work!

Step 1: Scan your existing NFC-capable card using NFCWriter.

Step 2: Make a note of your card’s serial number.

Step 3: Enter your card’s serial number on the Tag Emulation tab.

Step 4: Tap Start Tag Emulation and you’re done. Your iPhone is now your keycard!

Here’s a video by Steve Luo showing how it works once everything is setup and working nicely:

Amazing, right?

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