So, what CAN an iPhone do?

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If you have iOS 13.

iPhones that support reading and writing NDEF-formatted tags with apps like NFC Tools:
iPhone 7/7+
iPhone 8/8+
iPhone X
iPhone XS/XS Max
iPhone XR
iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Pro/Pro Max

iPhone models that additionally support background tag reading* are bold in the list.

*By background tag reading I mean:

  1. Reading NDEF-encoded links (NO vcards). No camera should be opened, screen must be on (you can read tags even before unlocking, just turn on the screen)
  2. Configuring ANY ISO14443 tag as Shortcuts app trigger (e.g. turn on wifi, play music when tag is detected)

iPhone 6/6+, 6s/6s+, SE and Apple Watch also have NFC but only for Apple Pay.

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