NDEF

NDEF Message

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A complete NDEF data unit consisting of one or more NDEF records. An NFC tag typically contains a single NDEF message. The message structure includes a header, type, payload length, and payload for each record.

    


    
    
    

      Also known as:
      
      NDEF message
      
      message
      
    

    
  


  




  
  

    
What Is an NDEF Message?


An NDEF message is the fundamental data transport unit in the NDEF standard. It holds one or more NDEF records, each carrying distinct data such as a URL, text string, or application payload. When a smartphone taps a tag, it reads the NDEF message and dispatches each record to the appropriate OS handler.


Message Structure


The first and last records are marked by special flags:






Flag
Position
Description






MB (Message Begin)
First record
Start of NDEF message




ME (Message End)
Last record
End of NDEF message






Single vs Multi-Record Messages


Single-record: A tag with one URL has one message with one URI record. Every NFC phone handles this by opening the URL.


Multi-record: Common combinations include URI + AAR (ensures specific app opens), Smart Poster (URI + title + action), and multiple text records for multilingual content.


Storage in Tag Memory


Messages are stored using TLV encoding:


[Type: 0x03] [Length: N] [NDEF Message: N bytes] [Terminator: 0xFE]



For messages exceeding 254 bytes, a three-byte length format is used (0xFF followed by two big-endian bytes).


Reading and Writing


Reading: The NFC subsystem reads the capability container, scans for the NDEF message TLV (type 0x03), parses records, and dispatches based on TNF and type fields.


Writing: The application constructs the message, serializes it, wraps in TLV, and writes to user memory after the capability container.


Message Size Limits






Chip
User Memory
Max NDEF Payload






NTAG 213
144 B
~137 B




NTAG 215
504 B
~497 B




NTAG 216
888 B
~881 B




DESFire EV3
Up to 8 KB
~7.5 KB






Platform Handling


Android: URI records trigger ACTION_VIEW intents; AAR records launch specific apps.


iOS: Background tag reading (iPhone XS+) automatically handles URI records. Apps using Core NFC can read all record types programmatically.

  

  

  
  
  




  
  
Related Terms

  

  

    
    NDEF (NFC Data Exchange Format)
    
    NDEF Record
    
    TLV (Type-Length-Value)
    
  





  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

    
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…null) { NfcManager.instance.stopSession(errorMessage: 'No NDEF message.'); return; } for (final record in message.records) {…

        
      
      
    

  

  

  
  




  
Frequently Asked Questions


  

    
    

      
      

        
The NFC glossary is a comprehensive reference of technical terms, acronyms, and concepts used in Near Field Communication technology. It is designed for developers, product managers, and engineers who work with NFC and need clear definitions of terms like NDEF, APDU, anti-collision, and ISO 14443.

      

    

    
    

      
      

        
Each glossary term is cross-referenced with related NFC chips, standards, and other terms. For example, the term 'AES-128' links to chips that support AES encryption (NTAG 424 DNA, DESFire EV2/EV3), and the term 'ISO 14443' links to all chips compliant with that standard.

      

    

    
    

      
      

        
Yes. NFCFYI provides glossary definitions in 15 languages including English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Arabic, French, Russian, German, Turkish, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Thai. Use the language selector in the header to switch languages.