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I'm trying to test out the new Host Card Emulation features in KitKat, but the only KitKat device with NFC that I have at the moment is a 2012 Nexus 7. It does support card emulation through Google Wallet, and I can send and receive data to the two Master Card AIDs that it uses.

However, when I try to implement my own HostApduService to handle communications with my own custom AID, Android doesn't route any APDUs to my service. I then tried to call CardEmulation.isDefaultServiceForAid to see if my service is the one that should handle my custom AIDs. When I include the CardEmulation class in my code, the application crashes.

Looking at logcat, there's an entry that says "this device does not support card emulation." Is there a reason why the 2012 Nexus 7 does not support this? It has all the necessary hardware and does emulate cards when using Google Wallet.

Michael
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F.A.
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1 Answers1

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Card emulation for Google Wallet on the Nexus 7 (2012) is done using an embedded "Secure Element" (essentially a smart card chip). However, the NFC controller on that Nexus 7, unfortunately, does not support HCE under Android 4.4 Kitkat.

NFC guy
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  • Is this a software/driver issue or a hardware issue? It seems to me it must be a software/driver issue since NXP chip supports CE. Google Wallet claims to support Tap and Pay. So this sounds like a bug, no? – Edwin Evans Dec 21 '13 at 00:39
  • The specific way that Google has combined CE in the Secure Element and HCE by apps, using routing based on the selected AID, requires support from the NFC controller to be able to implement this. The NFC controller in the Nexus 7 (2012) cannot provide this. – NFC guy Dec 21 '13 at 20:25
  • Sorry to highjack a thread - but is there some list of devices that *do* support it? I also have a 2012 N7 and thinking that it had NFC and 4.4, it would work. What about Samsung galaxy s4 mini? (does not yet have 4.4, but still). I'd get a N5 but I like a smaller form factor... – Martin Paljak Jan 19 '14 at 21:07
  • I am not aware of such a list. – NFC guy Jan 19 '14 at 21:59
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    I'm trying to compile the list: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22237583/list-of-devices-support-hce – Trung Mar 06 '14 at 23:56