v1.4.9: Smart Locked Tag Detection

What's Changed

Smart Locked Tag Detection

• Auto-switch to read mode: When a locked tag with a URL is detected in write mode, the app now automatically switches to read mode and opens the URL
• Voice announcement: Plays "Tag with URL detected, changing to read mode" when auto-switching
• Better error messages: Locked tags without URLs now show "Locked tag detected" instead of generic error

This makes the workflow more intuitive - if you accidentally present a locked tag with a URL while in write mode, it'll automatically read it instead of just rejecting it.

Installation

Download the .deb package and install with:

sudo dpkg -i nfc-gui_1.4.9_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f

v1.4.8: UI Improvements

What's Changed

• Minor UI adjustments and improvements

Installation

Download the .deb package and install with:

sudo dpkg -i nfc-gui_1.4.8_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f

v1.4.2 - UX Improvements

UX Improvements

System Tray

• Single-click tray icon now opens window - Standard behavior users expect from system tray apps
• Previously required double-click

Settings Dialog

• Clearer checkbox labels - More concise and standard GUI conventions
• Voice announcements checkbox simplified to "Enable voice announcements"
• Write mode behavior checkbox now reads "Auto-switch to read mode when locked tag detected"
• Detailed explanations moved to tooltips where they belong

Technical

• Code formatting improvements
• Version bumped from 1.4.1 to 1.4.2

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Installation:

• .deb package for Ubuntu/Debian: nfc-gui_1.4.2_amd64.deb
• AppImage for any Linux: nfc-gui-1.4.2-x86_64.AppImage

v1.4.7: Interactive Update Mode UI

What's New

Interactive Update Mode UI

• Dedicated update mode panel with scanned URL display
• Editable target URL field with auto-suggested rewrite based on pattern
• Confirm & Ready to Write button for explicit user control
• Cancel button to reset update workflow

Locked Tag Handling in Write Mode

• New setting: "Open URL and switch to read mode when locked tag detected"
• When enabled, presenting a locked tag in write mode opens its URL in browser and switches to read mode
• Prevents accidental write attempts on locked tags with graceful fallback

UI Improvements

• Mode indicator styling updates for active/inactive states
• Better visual feedback for current operating mode

v1.4.6: Add Copy URL Mode

New Feature: Copy URL Mode

Added a new mode that copies NFC tag URLs to the clipboard without opening the browser. Perfect for quickly retrieving URLs from tags for use in other applications.

What's New

• Copy URL Mode button - New cyan button on the control panel (keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+R)
• URL display box - Shows the copied URL when in Copy URL Mode for easy verification
• Voice announcements - TTS feedback when switching to Copy URL mode and when URLs are copied

How It Works

1. Click "Copy URL Mode" or press Ctrl+Shift+R
2. Present an NFC tag
3. URL is copied to clipboard and displayed in the app
4. Paste anywhere you need the URL

Full Changelog

• Added Copy URL Mode with dedicated button and keyboard shortcut
• New URL display frame for showing copied URLs
• Added copy_url_mode.ogg and url_copied.ogg TTS announcements
• Updated documentation

v1.4.5

NFC GUI v1.4.5

Maintenance release with version sync across all components.

Changes

• Synchronized version numbers across build scripts and Python module
• Updated local Debian package

Installation

Download the .deb file and install:

sudo dpkg -i nfc-gui_1.4.5_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f

v1.4.4: Lock detection, write verification, and app icons

What's New

New Features

• Lock bit detection: Prevents writes to already-locked tags
• Write verification: Reads back after write to confirm success
• App icons: Multi-resolution icons (48/128/256px) for better display

Improvements

• Add locked_write_prevented TTS announcement
• Remove Write button (URL auto-updates handler on change)
• Improve logging for invalid URLs

Installation

Download the .deb file and install:

sudo dpkg -i nfc-gui_1.4.4_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f

v1.1.0 - Simplified UI

Changes in v1.1.0

UI Simplification

• Replaced verbose Activity Log pane with simple centered status message
• Human-readable messages instead of technical debug output:
  • "Tag read - opened in browser"
  • "Tag written and locked"
  • "Tag updated and locked"
  • "Ready to read - present NFC tag"
• Removed timestamps from messages (cleaner display)
• Removed Clear Log button (no longer needed)
• Reduced window size for more compact display (800x500)

Settings Dialog

• Added "Connected Reader" section showing device info

Code Cleanup

• Simplified log callback messages throughout codebase
• Removed unused datetime import

Downloads

• AppImage: Portable, runs on most Linux distributions
• Debian Package (.deb): For Ubuntu/Debian-based systems
• Standalone Binary: Single executable

v1.0.0 - Initial Public Release

NFC Reader/Writer GUI for ACS ACR1252

A modern PyQt5-based GUI application for reading and writing NFC tags using the ACS ACR1252U USB NFC Reader on Linux systems.

Features

• Read Mode: Continuously scan NFC tags and auto-open URLs in browser
• Write Mode: Write URLs to NFC tags with optional permanent locking
• Update Mode: Batch rewrite old URLs to new format
• Batch Writing: Write the same URL to multiple tags
• System Tray Integration: Background reading mode
• Configurable URL Rewriting: Regex-based URL transformation

Installation

sudo dpkg -i nfc-gui_1.0.0_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f

Hardware

• Reader: ACS ACR1252U
• Tags: NXP NTAG213 (validated)