Have you set up an NFC tag to check in a habit, but when you scan it, nothing happens—no notification, no action, no response from the app at all?
This is a very common issue for Android users, and it's almost always caused by your phone's aggressive battery-saving settings that prevent Habitify from running in the background. This guide will walk you through the necessary steps to fix it.
Main Reason: Android's Battery Optimization
To give you all-day battery life, Android's system (especially on brands like Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo, and Samsung) is designed to "kill" apps that are running in the background. For an NFC tag to work, Habitify needs a small background service to be active to "listen" for the scan. When your phone closes this service, the scan has no effect.
The solution is to tell your phone that Habitify is a priority app that should always be allowed to run.
How to Fix the Issue: Step-by-Step
Please follow these steps in order. The first two are the most critical and solve the problem for nearly all users.
Option 1: Disable Battery Optimization for Habitify
This prevents your phone from automatically putting the app to sleep.
Go to your phone's Settings > Apps > Habitify.
Tap on "Battery" or "Battery saver."
Change the setting from "Optimized" (the default) to "Unrestricted" or "No restrictions."
Option 2: Lock Habitify in Your Recent Apps Screen
This is a powerful trick that tells your phone's system not to close Habitify when you clear your memory.
Open your "Recent Apps" screen (where you can see all your open apps).
Find the Habitify app's preview window.
Press and hold on the Habitify window until a menu appears, then tap the Lock icon (🔒). On some phones, you may need to tap a three-dot menu on the app's preview to find the "Lock" option.
Option 3: Check Autostart and Notification Permissions
Autostart: In your phone's settings, find a section called "Autostart," "Startup Manager," or "Background app management" and ensure Habitify is enabled. This allows the app to start its background service when your phone reboots.
Notifications: Go to Settings > Apps > Habitify > Notifications and make sure all notifications are turned on. The NFC action relies on a notification to work correctly.
Option 4: Ensure NFC is Enabled on Your Phone
Finally, a quick check to make sure the hardware is on:
Pull down your quick settings panel from the top of your screen and ensure the NFC icon is turned on. You can also find this in Settings > Connections.
After completing these steps, your NFC tag should now correctly trigger the Habitify notification every time you scan it.
Still Not Working?
If you have tried all of the above and your NFC tag still does nothing, please contact our support team. To help us investigate, please provide:
Your phone model and Android version.
A confirmation that you have completed the steps above.
You can reach us via the in-app chat (Settings > Chat with Support Team) or by emailing us at contact@habitify.me.