phonegap-nfc Alternative for Capacitor

The maintained phonegap-nfc alternative for new Capacitor work is @capgo/capacitor-nfc. The Capgo plugin is described in its README as a modern Capacitor port of the battle-tested phonegap-nfc plugin, with promise-based scanning, NDEF read and write, and Capacitor event listeners instead of global nfc.* callbacks. This guide explains why teams migrate, how to install it, a minimal read/write sample, and an API map from PhoneGap NFC to Capgo.

Why leave phonegap-nfc

phonegap-nfc on npm is version 1.2.0. The registry modified timestamp is 23 June 2020. The chariotsolutions/phonegap-nfc repository’s latest commit on the default branch dates from July 2020.

The plugin README still documents BlackBerry, Windows Phone, and legacy Cordova 2.x flows. Maintenance activity and npm releases stopped years ago, while NFC APIs on iOS (Core NFC tag sessions, NDEF writing on iOS 13+) continued to evolve.

In a Capacitor app, phonegap-nfc also means:

• Cordova install (cordova plugin add phonegap-nfc) and script tag globals.
• Mixed callback and promise APIs (nfc.scanNdef on newer iOS, listeners elsewhere).
• No first-class Capacitor permission or listener lifecycle.

@capgo/capacitor-nfc focuses on iOS and Android, aligns plugin major versions with Capacitor (v8.x for Capacitor 8), and documents platform setup in the README (NFC permission, NFCReaderUsageDescription, optional Tag Reader entitlement for iosSessionType: 'tag').

Install

bun add @capgo/capacitor-nfc
bunx cap sync

Android: ensure android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml includes:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.NFC" />

iOS: add NFCReaderUsageDescription to Info.plist. When you set iosSessionType: 'tag' in startScanning, add the Near Field Communication Tag Reader Session Formats entitlement (com.apple.developer.nfc.readersession.formats) with TAG and optionally NDEF, as documented in the README.

Rebuild native projects after entitlement or manifest edits.

Usage example

import { CapacitorNfc } from '@capgo/capacitor-nfc';

export async function scanOnce() {
  const { supported } = await CapacitorNfc.isSupported();
  if (!supported) {
    return;
  }

  await CapacitorNfc.startScanning({
    invalidateAfterFirstRead: true,
    alertMessage: 'Hold a tag near the top of your device.',
  });

  const listener = await CapacitorNfc.addListener('nfcEvent', (event) => {
    console.log(event.type, event.tag?.ndefMessage);
  });

  // Stop when your UI flow ends
  await CapacitorNfc.stopScanning();
  await listener.remove();
}

Use getStatus() when you need to prompt the user to enable NFC in system settings, then showSettings() to open the NFC page.

Migrating from Cordova to Capacitor

Remove phonegap-nfc from Cordova config and the nfc global. Import CapacitorNfc and register listeners with addListener. Replace per-scan Cordova calls with one startScanning session per user action on iOS, matching Core NFC expectations described in both READMEs.

API mapping table

NDEF record layout (tnf, type, id, payload) matches the byte arrays phonegap-nfc used. The Capgo README includes a full text record write example with TextEncoder.

On iOS, keep invalidateAfterFirstRead: false when you call write() after a read in the same session, as shown in the plugin README.

Links and next steps

• Plugin docs: https://capgo.app/docs/plugins/nfc/
• Marketing page: /plugins/capacitor-nfc/
• npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@capgo/capacitor-nfc
• GitHub: https://github.com/Cap-go/capacitor-nfc/
• PhoneGap upstream: https://github.com/chariotsolutions/phonegap-nfc

Ship native NFC entitlement changes through Capgo Build or your own pipeline, then deliver JavaScript UX updates with Capgo live updates. For the broader migration path, see migrating Cordova to Capacitor.