{"id":350201,"date":"2026-03-21T03:37:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T03:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/350201\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T03:37:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T03:37:12","slug":"i-stopped-ignoring-my-phones-hidden-hardware-and-now-i-use-it-every-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/350201\/","title":{"rendered":"I stopped ignoring my phone’s hidden hardware, and now I use it every day"},"content":{"rendered":"

My first smartphone will always be special to me, though its performance was nowhere near that of today\u2019s Android phones. That\u2019s no surprise because we\u2019re talking about a gap of more than a decade.<\/p>\n

But I still miss those days. Even though phones from that time offered way fewer features than today\u2019s models, I used to spend hours trying to find hidden features.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have the same level of enthusiasm now, despite modern Android phones offering so much more.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t regret it, as smartphones have become boring<\/a>. However, the lack of enthusiasm led me to forget about important components that are useful in daily life.<\/p>\n

A few days ago, I realized that I had long been ignoring hidden hardware. I started using it again, and it\u2019s now part of my daily life.<\/p>\n

I stopped ignoring NFC, and now I use it every day.<\/p>\n

\"Blue<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tI dropped these 5 habits \u2014 and Samsung Wallet instantly got better
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

A better experience without any new features<\/p>\n

My Galaxy phone makes the most of NFC<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Cameras on smartphones have long become the standard. It was bound to happen because of the popular user demand.<\/p>\n

NFC also existed in smartphones for a very long time, but despite the convenience it offers, it hasn\u2019t become ubiquitous, unlike the camera lens.<\/p>\n

Most of the low-cost phones don\u2019t have the hardware. The handsets that do offer NFC often lack the adequate software infrastructure to make the best use of the hardware.<\/p>\n

My Samsung Galaxy phone isn\u2019t that. The Galaxy Wallet is a system app and is capable of making contactless payments using NFC in the blink of an eye.<\/p>\n

I was well aware of it, but I was more into doing UPI (United Payment Interface) transactions in India through the Samsung Wallet app than using my credit card for contactless payment.<\/p>\n

This has changed recently. I can use the Samsung Wallet app on my S21 and make contactless payments without unlocking my phone. If you don\u2019t feel safe or don\u2019t want to use it, you can disable it from the app settings.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s called true flexibility. NFC without a proper payment application is as useless as a key with no lock.<\/p>\n

Google Wallet works on all Android phones, but it isn\u2019t as capable or as simple as the Samsung Wallet.<\/p>\n

No matter what app I use, an NFC chip ensures that I don\u2019t need to carry those physical credit cards with me. I have added all of them to the Samsung Wallet app.<\/p>\n

\"Sony
\n Credit:\u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t start using NFC for the sole purpose of making contactless payments through the Samsung Wallet app.<\/p>\n

It was one of the reasons, but the real motivation came after I learned about NFC tags and their use in automation. More than anything else, the most impressive part about NFC tags is that they are cheap and easy to use.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t make contactless payments every day, but I use my phone\u2019s NFC to trigger certain actions through those NFC tags. Not only does it serve me, but I have also made sure my guests can take advantage of the NFC in their handsets.<\/p>\n

I stuck one NFC tag on my bedside table to trigger Do Not Disturb, Night light, and set an alarm for 7 AM. All I have to do is take my phone close to the NFC tag, and these actions trigger automatically.<\/p>\n

I also stuck one on my desk to silence notifications, turn on Wi-Fi, and open apps I need for work. You can also use one in a car setup to automate tasks.<\/p>\n

I also have an NFC tag where I have stored my Wi-Fi password. I don\u2019t need it, but my guests might need to connect.<\/p>\n

If they ever need to connect to my Wi-Fi, they don\u2019t need to ask me for the password. Instead, they can easily take their NFC-enabled phone closer to the tag to connect to my Wi-Fi network.<\/p>\n

Since these tags are cheap, anyone can afford them. However, I\u2019ll admit that setting everything up can take some time, depending on how many tasks you want to automate and how many tags you have.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take much time in my case because I have only three NFC tags \u2014 one on my bedside table, another on my desk, and the last one is for quickly taking my guests online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I regret not using NFC this frequently sooner<\/p>\n

Contactless payments are convenient, but when you have other smart payment options, they may not feel that essential.<\/p>\n

Another caveat is that not everyone has credit cards. I can live without NFC payments even after enjoying contactless payments this much.<\/p>\n

However, the kind of impact the NFC tags<\/a> have on my daily life makes it hard to imagine life without them.<\/p>\n

I have a good reason to check for NFC support when I buy a low-cost phone in the future.<\/p>\n

I wish I had cared about NFC sooner because it would have made things easier much earlier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My first smartphone will always be special to me, though its performance was nowhere near that of today\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[85,46,321,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-350201","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}