How To Use Android Beam (NFC)

Have an Ice Cream Sandwich Android device and want to take advantage of the new Android Beam feature and send apps, webpages, etc between your phones without the hassle of turning on Bluetooth, pairing, etc.? No problem, with Android Beam and NFC, you can easily tap the two devices together and transfer content in seconds. Here’s how.

I. Before You Begin

1. You must each have an Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) device and both have NFC. You can check this by going to Settings > About Phone for the Android version number and going to Settings and looking for NFC in the device settings menu).

II. Share via Android Beam (NFC)

1. Make sure that NFC is turned on in Settings > More > NFC and make sure that Android Beam is also on in the same section.

2. So long as those are both on, simply navigate to the content you want to share on your device (as if you are just looking at it yourself).

3. Hold the two devices back to back (they have to be almost touching) and you’ll feel a vibration.

4. After it vibrates you’ll see the content on your device turn into a card-like object with Star Trek warp speed-looking animation in the background.

5. Tap the card and the content will then load on the other person’s device.