What tags do
A togedapp tag is an NFC sticker—or a printed QR code—that you put up in a room. All it holds is a link: what it does is decided in the app, and you can change that whenever you like without touching the sticker again.
- For your householdHold your iPhone near it and iOS shows a notification. Tap it to open that room in togedapp and, if you like, turn on its lights.
- For visitorsAnyone without the app sees the App Clip card and controls only what you’ve checked, for a few hours and without installing anything.
What you need
- Home Assistant, connectedTags control the devices in your Home Assistant rooms.
- An iPhone to write themAny iPhone with iOS 27 reads and writes NFC tags. iPad doesn’t have NFC, so use the QR code with it.
- NFC stickers or a printerCheap rewritable stickers (we tell you which ones just below) or paper to print the QR code.
- For visitors, two more thingsA public address for Home Assistant and a Home Assistant user just for guests.
If you haven’t connected your home yet, start with the Home Assistant guide: tags control the devices in your Home Assistant rooms.
Which stickers to buy
What togedapp writes is a short link, so any rewritable NFC sticker will do. They come in packs of 10, 25, or 50 for a few euros, at electronics stores and the big online stores. Look for this in the description:
| What it says | Why |
|---|---|
| NTAG213, NTAG215, or NTAG216 | The most common type, and the one iPhone reads and writes without any trouble. NTAG213 is enough: the link fits with room to spare. |
| Rewritable, not locked | If it comes locked, it can’t be written: your iPhone will say “This tag is read-only.” |
| On-metal (anti-metal) | Only if it goes on metal: an aluminum frame, the fridge, a metal door. Metal blocks the antenna of a regular sticker. |
| Round, 1 to 1¼ in (25–30 mm) | Easy to tap and discreet. There are also keychains, cards, and resin tags for outdoors. |
Step 1Create the tag
- Open Tags
Devices, ⋯, Tags . That’s also where you’ll find how long guest access lasts and which guest sessions are open. - Tap “Create”
At the top left.
- Give it a name
Only you see it, so you know which sticker is which: “Living Room Entrance,” “Grandma’s Nightstand.”
- Choose the room
It’s the one that opens when someone holds their iPhone near the tag. Its devices appear checked under “Devices”: uncheck any you don’t want on the tag. Lights, plugs, fans, blinds, robot vacuums, and buttons can be included; the alarm, sensors, and climate can’t.
- Decide what happens when someone holds their iPhone near it
Under “Action,” choose “Nothing” (it just opens the room), “Turn On,” or “Turn On or Off,” and check which devices it affects. With “Turn On or Off,” if anything was already on, everything turns off; if not, everything turns on. A robot vacuum starts cleaning when it turns on and returns to its dock when it turns off. It happens every time someone taps it, whether they live there or are just visiting.
- If you like, open it up to visitors
Turn on “Guests Can Use It” and keep checked whatever they’ll be able to use. We cover it in Open it up to visitors.
- Tap “Save”
“Now Just Add the Sticker” opens, with the two ways to put it on the wall.
Step 2Write it to the sticker
- Tap “Write NFC Tag”
On “Now Just Add the Sticker” or, later on, by opening the tag, under “Sticker.”
- Hold the top of your iPhone near it
“Ready to Scan” appears. The antenna is along the top edge of the iPhone: rest it on the sticker and wait a second without moving it.
- Wait for “Tag written.”
The sheet closes on its own. To test it, hold your iPhone near it again: iOS shows a notification and, when you tap it, the room opens.
Or print the QR code
If you don’t have stickers, or the tag will be near an iPad, which doesn’t have NFC, use the QR code. It holds the same link as the sticker and does exactly the same thing.
- Tap “View QR Code”
It’s next to “Write NFC Tag.”
- Share or print it
With “Share Image,” you can send it to the printer, your computer, or Notes. Print it at least 1¼ in (3 cm) on each side, ideally on matte paper, which doesn’t reflect light.
- Put it where the sticker would go
It’s read with the iPhone or iPad camera, like any other QR code.
OptionalOpen it up to visitors
With a tag open to guests, whoever visits—your in-laws, the babysitter, friends staying for the weekend—can turn on the light in their room without installing anything and without an account. When they hold their iPhone near it, iOS shows them the togedapp App Clip card; when they tap “Open,” they see only what you’ve checked.
- Create a guest user in Home Assistant
In
Settings, People, Add person , with “Allow person to login” turned on and “Administrator” turned off. Give it a name you’ll recognize, like “Guests.” - Link it in togedapp
In Tags, tap “Home Assistant User,” enter its username and password, and tap “Link.” The password isn’t saved: it’s only used to open the session your guests will use.
- Choose how long access lasts
Under “Access Duration”: 4, 8, 12, or 24 hours, counted from the last tag they tap. Opening the app doesn’t extend it; holding the iPhone near any tag does.
- Check what they can use
On each tag, turn on “Guests Can Use It” and keep only what you want checked. For them, everything else doesn’t exist.
The App Clip asks iOS to confirm that the tap happens in your home, without seeing anyone’s location: that’s why the card says it “wants to confirm that you’re in the right area.” A forwarded link or a photo of the QR code won’t work anywhere else. If the visitor has togedapp installed, the app opens with the same thing, and Home shows “You’re a guest at” followed by your household’s name.
Ideas to make the most of them
A few that work well at home. Each one says what to choose under “Action.”
- Lights as you walk inOn your front door frame, with the entryway light: you get home loaded with bags, hold your iPhone near it, and you can see. Action: Turn On
- The nightstand, no fumbling for the switchNext to the bedside lamp: one tap to read and another to sleep. Action: Turn On or Off
- A real guest roomOpen to guests, with the lights, blinds, and fan in their room. Leave the QR code on a welcome card, next to the Wi‑Fi password. Action: Nothing
- The grandparents’ armchairA sticker on the arm of the chair for the reading lamp. Holding an iPhone near it is easier than finding the light in an app. Action: Turn On or Off
- Everything off on your way outOn the living room door, with all its lights: if anything’s left on, one tap turns it all off. Action: Turn On or Off
- Coffee while you get dressedIn the kitchen, with the coffee maker’s plug: tap it as you walk in and it starts heating up. Action: Turn On
- A keychain for heading outAn NFC keychain on your keys, with the living room lights: hold your iPhone near it as you leave and they turn off. If Home Assistant responds from outside your home, it works from the car too. Action: Turn On or Off
- When you lend out your homeIf friends or family are staying for a weekend, open up the tags for whatever they’ll use to guests and raise the access to 24 hours. Action: Nothing
If something isn’t working
My iPhone doesn’t react when I hold it near
The screen has to be on. Hold the top edge of your iPhone near it and wait a second; if your case is thick or has metal in it, take it off. With your iPhone locked, iOS still shows the notification: tap it and unlock.
It says “This tag is read-only.”
The sticker is locked and can no longer be written. Use another, rewritable one.
It says “This tag is too small.”
Its memory isn’t big enough for the link. Any NTAG213, NTAG215, or NTAG216 will work.
It says “There’s more than one tag nearby”
Move the other stickers away, including the ones still in the pack, and keep just one near your iPhone.
Nothing happens on metal
Metal blocks the antenna of regular stickers. Put it somewhere else or use an on-metal one.
A guest sees “This tag only works inside the home”
The App Clip couldn’t confirm that the tap happened in your home: this happens with a forwarded link, a photographed QR code, or if they tapped “Turn Off” on the card. Have them hold their iPhone near the sticker again, at your home.
A guest can’t use anything
Check that the tag has “Guests Can Use It” turned on and something checked, that the Home Assistant user is linked, and that Home Assistant responds from outside your home. If you deleted that user or its session in Home Assistant, link it again.
I want to change what it does
Open the tag in Tags, change it, and tap “Save.” The sticker still works: you don’t need to write it again.
I don’t want it anymore
Swipe the tag in Tags to delete it. The sticker will stop doing anything; if you like, write it again with a different tag.