Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions

awaseem | 225 points

I really love the app and the idea - I am using it on an iPhone 13 Pro. It does work to block everything but there seem to be issues when selecting or deselcting from large categories. E.G. I have 30 Health Apps and I want to enable SleepCycle while keeping the others blocked. That does not work it will always automatically unblock all 30. Therefore it does not let me create any profiles with actual use unless I block everything.

oblo_mov | 2 months ago

By the way, you can trigger iOS shortcuts with NFC tags, so in principle you can trigger any functionality exposed as a Shortcut action. However, NFC recognition doesn’t always work as smoothly as one would hope.

layer8 | 2 months ago

I'm curious why the NFC tags are required at all?

Can't you switch profiles on your phone without scanning an NFC tag already? Couldn't your app allow profile switching without requiring any NFC tags?

It's not clear to me what the NFC tags add to this experience.

tigereyeTO | 2 months ago

This is awesome, yay for an open source https://getbrick.app/

I'm curious if you have an NFC tag that you'd recommend or that you like to use?

mikodin | 2 months ago

Very cool; wondering if this could work as a parental control. "screen time" on iOS is fundamentally broken, and something like this would require the child to come to the parent for screen time extensions (if the parent has the NFC chip).

insane_dreamer | 2 months ago

I was intrigued by brick, now this, and can't use either. is there seriously no android app like these? :(

compootr | 2 months ago

I have occasionally wanted to trigger location-specific behavior on my kid's devices, like turning the wifi off when in their bedroom. This feels broadly in the category to me.

jwineinger | 2 months ago

Very cool! I was about to pay $50 to do this with Brick. What's the best way to support the project?

brianmaurer | 2 months ago

Love this but it doesn't seem to work as I had hoped. I have 140 apps blocked in the profile but it appears only 15 actually blocked on my phone. Is there an app limit to how many can be blocked?

grjj | 2 months ago

It would've been nice to see what the apps looks like when they're blocked.

GOATS- | 2 months ago

Neat implementation! Big fan of integrating more NFC into apps. There's something satisfying and reassuring about the physicality of it all.

I'll add a vote to whoever has the time to port it over to android =)

Unearned5161 | 2 months ago

I'm finding that scanning NFC tags is pretty slow with iPhone. There's this automatic flow that's pretty cumbersome and slows me down. Then when it fails there's some annoying animation. This is with the Yubikey authenticator app.

Are you finding anything similar? Is it not annoying to be scanning these all the time?

amanda99 | 2 months ago

Cool idea, wanted to try it out but it's not available in my country. Any reason for this? :)

whatsthatabout | 2 months ago

So this is just a wrapper for Automations and Profiles (or how Apple calls it: Focus).

But i like the idea to make such features accessible to the everyone and not only people who geek out on their phone.

As others pointed out you should implement qr codes which would make it even more usable.

atVelocet | 2 months ago

Neat! Any idea if it'd be possible to make this work with macOS as well? I don't think Macs have NFC, but they do sync things like Do Not Disturb states between iOS and macOS.

nozzlegear | 2 months ago

Calgary??

Love to see it! Great product!

cmauniada | 2 months ago

Looking forward to use it. But its currently not available in my country.

Previous comments show, DEV is already working on it. :)

smartis2812 | 2 months ago
[deleted]
| 2 months ago

It would be nice to see a demo of the app working in the real world with an nfc tag, not just an app recording.

fuddle | 2 months ago

Cool idea! Any chance you’ll make it available in New Zealand? I’d love to try this out.

dperrin | 2 months ago

I might be missing it on your page but can't seem to find the link to your source repo.

pvg | 2 months ago

Impressive. I'm sure it will help tons of people dealing with lack of focus.

aucisson_masque | 2 months ago

This is really cool! I know developing apple apps is expensive, how can I donate?

arjvik | 2 months ago

This is awesome, now I can switch between work and home with just a tap.

vednig | 2 months ago

Add more regions for the app, maybe european countries too?

uhlhosting | 2 months ago

This is a fantastic way to lock down an app for kids.

tzm | 2 months ago

Is it not available in the EU?

Dansvidania | 2 months ago

cool, but can't use it : ( since it's not available in every country

s_k_ | 2 months ago

would it be possible to trigger profiles with Bluetooth Beacons?

chrisbrandow | 2 months ago

Why isn't the app available in the Netherlands?

1f60c | 2 months ago

I use the brick app: https://getbrick.app/, and it works pretty well, but they have this weird bug where selecting certain apps on a block list crashes the app. They have a pop-up indicating that it's some apple-related bug, which I find kind of hard to believe. Is this something that also happens in your app?

ajoseps | 2 months ago

App not available in my country (Australia)

realityloop | 2 months ago

I noticed the trend of "Made with (Love emoji)", but has anyone tried Made with Hate or other emotions?

dsp_person | 2 months ago

Not available in Spain. :(

n0t3ths81 | 2 months ago