Software Recommendation NFC – Read/Write Raw NFC Data on a Mac

nfcsoftware-recommendation

I'm looking for a solution to read/write raw data from and to mifare classic tags. On Android, there is NFC Taginfo, NXP TagInfo and MIFARE Classic Tool.

Alternatively, I would be willing to program my own macos application if somebody could point me to some good resources on how the pc/sc and nfc communications are supposed to work.

PLEASE NOTE: NDEF is NOT raw data! NDEF Apps like e.g. NFC Tools for Desktop are no use to me, because they only support reading/writing NDEF records but not raw data.

Best Answer

For programming your own macOS application, you have multiple options. As you mention Android, you might want to go the Catalyst way in order to create an app for both iOS and macOS at the same time. In that case, you want to use the Core NFC framework from Apple to access the NFC reader.

If you want really raw access without a framework, you'll want to start from a specific set of hardware. For example a popular choice is the ACR122U NFC reader/writer, which is connected through USB. It comes with Mac software, which might be enough for your needs - and if not, it can be programmed at the lowest level if need be. You can read the details in the API documentation.

Another option is to install pcsc-lite from HomeBrew and use their implementation as a stepping stone in creating your own implementation.