NFC Tags won't read after iOS 15.4 update

App & System Services General Core NFC

BruceCalgary OP

Created Mar ’22

Replies 37

Boosts 4

Views 39k

Participants 40

After updating to iOS 15.4 I can no longer read any NFC tags. I believe Apple Pay is working fine.

Replication:
Unlock iPhone, hold NFC tag to top back of phone (without case or other magnetic or metallic materials nearby). Default iOS behaviour should be to read the contents of a known working tag (works perfectly on an Android device) and display a popup to manage the tag information (e.g. Popup would ask permission to open Safari to open a web link programmed on a tag)

3rd Party Tools: Previous versions of iOS 15 beta allowed read and write of NFC tags using apps such as NFC and NFC Tools. I have used "normal" mode, compatibility mode, have attempted to (re)format the tag to no avail. When conducting a read or write using these tools a popup appears, but no tag can be read or written. "Ready to Scan" popup remains open.

Further steps taken: Hard Reset: No effect

Boost

Herrysah OP

Jul ’22

It just happened to me since a week ago and found this discussion here and did what been told here and the nfc still not working on my iphone 12. tried reboot several times and still not working. Tried to remember what i did before the nfc not wroking and then i remebered that week ago i activated the air drop to transfer some pucture to my friend, so it still active then i disable it.. and finally.. the nfc is working like before 😬😬 glad to find it. Then i tried to activate the air drop again.. and the nfc still active. Is it a bug ?

crazyboyhmd OP

Aug ’22

Same issue here too. I thought it is coming from the new iPhone case I'm using. I called Apple service and after the troubleshoot, they said everything is fine and requested a physical check on the phone (which was not achievable for me). however I noticed it's not working even without the case as well. If you remove the case, won't make any change I was thinking the case has cause permanent damage to my phone's NFC reader.

So what's the plan now? are they even reading all this information here???

Repox OP

Aug ’22

The fix for me (iPhone 12, iOS 15.6) was to go into Settings -> General -> AirDrop and change the setting from Contacts Only to Everyone. After that, scanning of NFC tags worked again. Switched the setting back to Contacts Only and tried scanning the NFC tag again and it still worked. I assume this is a bug.

TomasH31 OP

Aug ’22

Update on iOS 15.6.1 - no change, NFC reader still dead on my iPhone. Using my Apple Watch - NFC working as expected and no problems, it is reading payment terminals without no issue.

cmcguinness OP

Sep ’22

Has there been any solution to this? Trying to write like 200 NFC tags but phone isn't picking up a single one.

Hoozt OP

Sep ’22

So, 12 mini here. It's been off since ios 15.4, I updated every version of ios until today, ios 16.0.2. It never worked. Is Apple seeing our posts?

a7mad3aref OP

Sep ’22

Same thing here running iOS 16 on my iPhone12pro with no use of background NFC reading, just reads through third party apps

hoshhi OP

Oct ’22

Same here, iPhone 11 PM, tried 16.0.2 and also 16.0.3 beta, reseting airdrop, etc. - did not help, nfc still wont read any tags.

Teramachi_mn OP

Oct ’22

The same thing happened to my iPhone SE2020 on iOS16.0.3. Previously, it could read NFC but from some time it became unavailable. I have made NW setting reset, which was no effect. I solicit the solution.

MuhKuhNo2 OP

Nov ’22

Same problem here - NFC suddenly stopped working last Saturday. (Apple Pay doesn’t work anymore on any terminals)

iPhone 13 Pro - iOS 16.0.3

Update to iOS 16.1 didn’t fix it.

Apple support did some remote diagnostics - hardware is fine.

TomasH31 OP

Nov ’22

No change after an upgrate to IOS 16.1. iPhone 13 mini. iPhone is not able to read any payment terminal nor nfc tag. Apple Pay working just fine (in Apps or Web). Mine Apple Watch synced with the same phone working ok, able to read payment terminals just fine...

HasNoName OP

Nov ’22

Hi All,

if it helps anyone, I have somewhat the same issue. When scanning NFC tags in automation app or NFC tools, it never fails. If I try then to read the NFC tag with the my phone, it doesn’t work. One solution I found is to lock the phone, and with the screen off, position the iPhone over the nfc tag, and press the side “wake” button. It reads 100% of the time for me.

hope it helps.

Ericmatt OP

Dec ’22

I found that if I turn off cellular, then I can read NFC devices. Not worth it for a silly device, but probably worth it for your GCM.

Gregorio38 OP

Dec ’22

Forward to now....I have not had this issue until my iPhone 11 pro max upgraded to 16.1.1. It worked fine until the last update, and now I am without my blood sugar readings. I bricked two sensors (not cheap) trying to figure this out. The sensor works on my wife's 2020 SE Iphone, which has not been updated to the .1.1. Anyone had any luck with this? Did anyone else have this happen with the latest IOS update? Is there a way to downgrade IOS to the last version?

Hoozt OP

Feb ’23

guys! I just updated to ios 16.3.1, and it worked! Still not sure if this is a one-time thing or if the bug is completely fixed, I will update on further conditions.