Installed the Moto X Skip apk - can't test

[alee]

Download is here: xda-developers - View Single Post - [REQ] Motorola Skip App

Once installed it appears under Settings > Security > Screen Lock as "NFC authentication".

The Skip APK has managed to kill off 2 of my rewritable NFC tags so I'm not getting very far with that tonight (they no longer scan at all). I'm going to try a different type of NFC tag in a second, but not feeling lucky.

Anyone have a proper Motorola Skip accessory able to test this out?

 

[Distorted Loop]

I ordered one last week. It just shipped today.

Sent from my Droid Maxx, the bigger, better, longer lasting cousin of the Moto X.

 

[Distorted Loop]

I was able to burn the Skip information to a Samsung NFC tag (Mifare 716 bytes), but it wouldn't unlock the phone.

I also thought I'd somehow burned out the tag, but my SGS3 was able to read the tag (vnd.android.nfc://ext/motorola.com:xring). I was also able to reprogram the tag with my HTC One, so it Durant appear to be destroyed as you stated yours was.

I've got some blank 1k tags someplace in the computer room. If I can find them, I'll try again.

Sent from my Droid Maxx, the bigger, better, longer lasting cousin of the Moto X.

 

[alee]

I also thought I'd somehow burned out the tag, but my SGS3 was able to read the tag (vnd.android.nfc://ext/motorola.com:xring). I was also able to reprogram the tag with my HTC One, so it Durant appear to be destroyed as you stated yours was.

Unfortunately, I tried to read my tags on my SGS3 and they are completely toast. Does not register on NFC at all. They're standard Mifare 716 bytes.

 

[Distorted Loop]

Unfortunately, I tried to read my tags on my SGS3 and they are completely toast. Does not register on NFC at all. They're standard Mifare 716 bytes.

This is the first I've played with NFC tags at all on the Maxx. It seems to have a really fakey reader. VERY difficult to get a nickel or quarter-sized tag in the sweet spot to read/write. This is with two different brands of tags.

I've used the NFC successfully on a coke vending machine to pay with ISIS, but it also took several tries and a lot of shuffling the phone around. An attempt to use ISIS at Best Buy the NFC was read by the terminal, but the transaction rejected.

 

[alee]

Interesting... I've had fairly good luck with NFC so far on the Maxx from a transaction standpoint and reading NFC-based ID cards. Even reads my NFC-based Citibike keychain pass on the first try. But the sticker tags have been a total miss in terms of getting a good read. A lot of trial and error, or in the case of my 2 attempted writes, the tags are effectively dead.

 

[joshzide]

Download is here: xda-developers - View Single Post - [REQ] Motorola Skip App

Once installed it appears under Settings > Security > Screen Lock as "NFC authentication".

The Skip APK has managed to kill off 2 of my rewritable NFC tags so I'm not getting very far with that tonight (they no longer scan at all). I'm going to try a different type of NFC tag in a second, but not feeling lucky.

Anyone have a proper Motorola Skip accessory able to test this out?

Same thing happened to me with my tag (NTAG203 I think). It's dead as a doornail now. Ah well, I wonder if the actual Skip will work.

 

[joshzide]

Actually, my Galaxy Nexus could still read the tag, and I erased it with NFC Task Launcher. Afterwards, my Maxx can read it again, but still no luck using the Skip software.

 

[alee]

Actually, my Galaxy Nexus could still read the tag, and I erased it with NFC Task Launcher. Afterwards, my Maxx can read it again, but still no luck using the Skip software.

Do we know whether the Moto X can accept any NFC tag as a Skip tag or is it mandatory that you use Motorola's sticker tags?

I may have to make friends at the AT&T dealer later this week to play with a Skip accessory clip to see if I can get my Maxx to work with it. That is, unless Distorted Loop gets his accessory soon!

 

[Distorted Loop]

Guys, I spent 30 minutes on a long reply, but when I hit submit it disappeared. I'll give you the bad news in less detail.

The Skip and the Dots (sticky NFC tags) that come with it are write-protected 716 byte tags that read with the exact same data string I posted earlier (vnd.android.nfc....). My HTC One can read them with TagWriter.

I spent an hour trying to get either the Skip or a Dot to pair with the phone. The Maxx makes ZERO reaction to either one during the setup process. It acts as if there is no tag being tapped to the phone. The same thing happens with my Samsung 716 byte tags once they've been written to by the Setup app. If you present a blank writeable tag to the Setup app, it writes it with the vnd.android.nfc string, and will generally appear to pair to the phone, but after that, the tag acts like it's invisible to the Maxx. If I erase it with the HTC One, the Maxx will recognize it again.

The Setup app itself has no executables in it, it appears to just add the NFCAuthentication menu to Security, and then that menu calls a bunch of apps that should be preinstalled on the phone. I've listed them below from the Setup apk's xml strings:

uses-librarycom.motorola.motosignatureactivity+com.motorola.nfcauthenticator.NfcRingWizard8com.motorola.nfcauthenticator.NfcRingWizardSetupComplete-com.motorola.nfcauthenticator.ManagerActivity0com.motorola.nfcauthenticator.ManageTagsActivity7com.motorola.nfcauthenticator.ManagerDetailViewActivityAlertDialogActivityreceiverPolicyChangeReceiver
intent-filteraction1com.motorola.authentication.ACTION_POLICY_CHANGED-com.motorola.nfcauthenticator.NfcRingReceiver(com.motorola.nfcauthenticator.DELETE_NFC/com.motorola.nfc.action.ACTION_NFC_XRING_NOTIFY"android.intent.action.USER_PRESENT?
D





I couldn't find any of those with ES File explorer, but without root, many of the folders on the device appear empty (permissions wrong?).

My guess here is that the Maxx doesn't have the necessary backend software to use the Skip. It recognizes a Skip programmed tag, tries to do something with it, but can't find the software it needs, so it acts like the tag is dead.

Disappointing to not have this feature, but I suppose the Moto X crowd feels the same about Qi charging.

I actually like the Skip itself, I could see myself clipping it to the top of my slacks pocket and the phone unlocking as I pull it out past the Skip. Would be cool, but with the Insite LBT505 as a Trusted Device, I don't really need NFC unlocking.

Too bad the Skip is write-protected, I could reprogram it for something useful to happen while pulling the phone out of my pocket. $20 down the toilet here, unless I can figure a way to program the HTC One with Tasker to do something with the tag when it sees the vnd.android string.

 

[Distorted Loop]

Actually, my Galaxy Nexus could still read the tag, and I erased it with NFC Task Launcher. Afterwards, my Maxx can read it again, but still no luck using the Skip software.

Yeah, I noticed that last night while playing around. Erasing a tag with TagWriter recovers it from what the Maxx does to it.

Do we know whether the Moto X can accept any NFC tag as a Skip tag or is it mandatory that you use Motorola's sticker tags?

My guess is any tag will work based on our findings with the Maxx. Present the setup app with a blank tag and it writes data to it, why would it do that if it would only use Skip branded stuff. Still would be interesting to find out from a Moto X owner. I'm sure people have tried it, probably already posted someplace in a Moto X forum...

 

[alee]

Thanks Distorted Loop for taking the time to test. I am becoming more and more convinced that should the Maxx get rooted, it will be very easy to completely align the two devices to operate identically.

 

[etsai]

I was able to burn the Skip information to a Samsung NFC tag (Mifare 716 bytes), but it wouldn't unlock the phone.

Hi Guys
I was the one who provided the apk in the XDA link at the top. Sorry for burning out so many of your nfc tags

Anyways, so I have the Moto X and I've been trying to figure out how to use the skip app with a non-skip nfc tag, but I can't figure out how to burn the Skip information to a non-skip tag. How are you guys doing this?

 

[Distorted Loop]

Hi Guys
I was the one who provided the apk in the XDA link at the top. Sorry for burning out so many of your nfc tags

Anyways, so I have the Moto X and I've been trying to figure out how to use the skip app with a non-skip nfc tag, but I can't figure out how to burn the Skip information to a non-skip tag. How are you guys doing this?

Just tap a blank NFC tag to the Moto X when the setup app asks for a skip tag.

Erase the tag with TagWriter first.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 

[etsai]

huh, for me there is no way to open the setup app. thats really strange.

how did you guys open the setup? is there a shortcut in your app drawer or an open in the google play store? b/c i dont have either....

 

[Distorted Loop]

huh, for me there is no way to open the setup app. thats really strange.

how did you guys open the setup? is there a shortcut in your app drawer or an open in the google play store? b/c i dont have either....

The setup app you posted added a new item to the Security menu.

When you go to set a screen lock, the options become:

None
Slide
NFC Authentication <----- this is what you want to press
Face Unlock
Pattern
PIN
Password

 

[etsai]

mkay, so I don't have that. cool. thanks for trying to help me anyways. I just gave up and went ahead and bought the $20 moto skip :/


quick edit with pics to make sure im not going crazy

Moto skip app is installed. I even uninstalled it and re-installed through the apk i uploaded earlier.

Nothing shows up in my screen lock options...

 

[sully7]

So I also bought the skip, expecting it to just automatically work. Go figure, it didn't. After installing the helper apk, I was originally seeing the same as you, etsai, but after rebooting the phone, I'm currently getting this:

View attachment 81761
View attachment 81762
View attachment 81763
View attachment 81764

After reading DistortedLoop's post from a few days ago, I think that we can activate what is needed w/ a root. If I get home from work early enough tomorrow, I'll try out the newly-found root exploit and see if I can get permissions into those folders

EDIT: Just an FYI, I'm using the MAXX as well.

 

[sully7]

also, just to share notes, I find that if I put the skip on the left-middle side of the phone (when holding it in portrait), it sometimes activates Driving mode for some reason? anyone seeing the same thing at all?

 

[Casen]

also, just to share notes, I find that if I put the skip on the left-middle side of the phone (when holding it in portrait), it sometimes activates Driving mode for some reason? anyone seeing the same thing at all?

That means that the skip tags are also magnets.

Moving on, there is a thread out there about using NFC to unlock, and has people modifying the NFC system app to allow for polling while the screen is off. Maybe someone can look into that?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4