NFC Tags
NFC tags tell the reader and software what action to take. They do not contain any games, but instead contain a reference to a game or custom command. This is in the form of a small piece of text stored on the tag.
Tags come in many form factors and standards. The form factor is entirely your preference, but the standard may affect compatibility with TapTo and your particular reader hardware.
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If in doubt, "NTAG215 NFC cards" are a solid option with the best software, hardware and community label compatibility. |
Where To Buy
NFC tags are readily available on Amazon, eBay and AliExpress by searching for the standard, form factor and storage size if applicable (e.g. NTAG215 NFC card, NTAG213 NFC sticker). You'll also find them on many local "NFC" and "ID" related stores. At this stage no difference in quality has been noted between suppliers. AliExpress is a great place to get NFC tokens in bulk.
NTAG
The NTAG standard has the best compatibility with TapTo and is readily available in form factors such as cards, stickers and key chains. There are multiple NTAG types that have been confirmed working with TapTo. The only difference between them is storage size:
| Standard | Storage |
|---|---|
| NTAG213 | 144 bytes |
| NTAG215 | 504 bytes |
| NTAG216 | 888 bytes |
The NTAG215 is a generous amount of storage for TapTo and you shouldn't have any trouble with it. The main consideration is just needing to fit the full path of a game file on the tag.
MIFARE
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MIFARE is only partially supported by TapTo. It can read cards just fine, but it can only write to them after the card has been NDEF formatted with a third party application. |
MIFARE Classic 1K tags have been confirmed working with TapTo. They have 716 bytes of storage. If you order a commercial NFC reader that comes with tags, this is often the standard you'll receive.
They're totally usable with TapTo, but generally not recommend at this stage if buying new tokens separately.
At this stage, it's possible to format these tags using the NFC Tools software on a PC or Mac using an ACR122U NFC reader or using the NFC Tools Android app on some Android phones. Use either of these methods to write a "Text record" to the MIFARE tag, it doesn't matter what text. From then on the tag should be fully compatible with TapTo.
This limitation will be fixed in later TapTo versions.
Amiibos
Reading Amiibos is supported by TapTo. Internally they are NTAG215 tokens. They can't be written to, but their UID can be read and mapped to a custom action with TapTo.
Lego Dimensions
Reading Lego Dimensions is supported by TapTo. Internally they are NTAG213 tokens. They can't be written to, but their UID can be read and mapped to a custom action with TapTo.
PCB Cards
Want to have some cool little PCB cards for your favorite games? All you need to do is order some PCBs, print some labels and stick on an NFC sticker tag. Check out the instructions for how to make them yourself!
