Here’s whether NFC drains your cell phone battery: Technically speaking, NFC applications do drain some juice from your phone’s battery. That said, they are arguably the least power-hungry applications on a phone, and you could use NFC nonstop for up to a day on most phones. In practice, NFC applications will never drain a noticeable amount of charge from your battery. If you want to learn all about NFC and its effect on cell phone batteries, then you’re in the right place. Keep reading! What Is NFC? NFC stands for near-field communication. It’s a protocol that allows electronic devices to share information when they are very close (within 4cm of each other or closer). If you have ever seen people share info from one phone to another by touching them together, this process invoked NFC. While the technology feels relatively new, especially in terms of smartphone applications, it was first developed in the early 80s. Over the next two decades, it was taken from a state of research to commercial development, and some models of phones have been able to use NFC since as early as 2004. For those keeping track, the very first smartphone was launched in 2007. In the decades since, NFC has been further developed to make it more accessible and a standard feature on many modern phones. Some of the most popular modern applications allow phones to share contact information, pictures, and any other type of file that can be quickly delivered over the medium. Easily the most common application of NFC today is for fast mobile payments. When it comes to more cumbersome data sharing, NFC is usually ditched in favor of higher data rates and more robust communication methods. How Does NFC Work? NFC, like any other wireless communication, utilizes radio waves in order to transmit or receive information from one electronic device to another. NFC is distinguishable from other forms of radio communication