Creating Android NFC Pairing tags for Bluetooth devices

Creating Android NFC Pairing tags for Bluetooth devices

Ian Hatton

Zebra Technologies EMEA

Sept 2019

 

Overview

This document details the process required to create an Android NFC pairing tag for most Bluetooth devices in order to allow tap to pair without any additional software i.e. using the integrated Android tap and pair functionality. This has been tested on various Zebra Android devices running OS versions from KitKat to Pie. The utilities required to create the pairing barcode are included in the file set which can be deployed onto any Zebra NFC-capable Android with a preconfigured Internet connection by scanning the StageNow barcode below (utilities in this profile are attached to this post and also available at :   http://zebra.airsetup.com/2019/nfc/nfc_pair_new.zip  )

This has currently been tested for pairing with the following Zebra hardware :

1. Zebra ZQ/EZ/MZ/iMZ printers – using a new NFC pairing tag to replace the integrated tag (if fitted) since that has a proprietary Zebra format
2. RFD8500 -  allows easy pairing without any configuration on the RFD side
3. CS4070 – enable secure simple pairing in the config.ini file via changing the line below:

HIDSecurity=Low

4. RS6000 – the embedded NFC tag in the RS6000 is already in the correct format for this pairing i.e. to just tap to pair on a Zebra device.

 

 

 

 

 

Usage

1. Pair target Bluetooth device manually
2. Run the supplied Bluetooth Device Info app to display the MAC address for the paired device:

 

3. Click the device address to copy the MAC address to the clipboard
4. Run NFC Tools , select Write tab and Add a record

5. Select Bluetooth and hold on field to paste device MAC address selected in step 3

 

6. Press OK and then select Write and approach the required NFC tag to write the new contents. Apply NFC tag to target Bluetooth device. Check that device is powered on and in pairing mode (this is default for Zebra printers i.e. pairing is enabled when the device is powered on and it is not already paired with another device)

 

 

7. Make sure that target device is unpaired via Bluetooth Settings menu and that NFC is enabled. Press Home button to return to Android launcher. Read NFC tag and you should see a small toast message to indicate pairing has started and optionally , a popup asking for the PIN entry :

8. Pairing completes as expected and the device is usable for printing  etc. Note that for some devices (e.g. CS4070) it may be necessary to manually press the device name in the Bluetooth list on the Android device in order to complete the connection and pairing process.