Contrast, the company which just released the excellent new app Weather Up, has today pushed a major update to its popular Launch Center Pro utility. The update brings the app to version 3.0 and includes a host of new features, such as NFC Triggers, “True Black” mode, Siri Shortcuts integration, and more.

The headlining feature of Launch Center Pro’s update is support for NFC Triggers. On iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max, you can now trigger Launch Center Pro actions via custom NFC stickers. These stickers are available through the Launch Center Pro app and via the Contrast website.

Essentially, the idea is that you place a Launch Center Pro sticker somewhere, and when you sit your iPhone on it, a certain action is triggered in the app. For instance, you could place a sticker in your car that pulls up directions to the next calendar event and starts playing a podcast.

A couple of other examples include putting a sticker on your nightstand to display your alarms, placing a sticker on your desk to show reminders and tasks, and putting stickers at various places around your house to trigger Homekit-based actions.

NFC Triggers in Launch Center Pro are incredibly powerful, especially when you tie them into the Shortcuts app. In the GIF below, you can see a NFC Trigger in Launch Center Pro being used to run a Shortcut when you get into your car, all by simply placing your iPhone on the sticker.

NFC Triggers are supported on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max. iPhone 7 and newer can use in-app NFC scanning for the functionality.

In addition to NFC Triggers, today’s Launch Center Pro update brings Siri Shortcuts support. This means you can turn Launch Center Pro actions into Siri Shortcuts and trigger them using just your voice. This serves as a nice way to access Launch Center Pro functionality while on the go.

Elsewhere, today’s update adds a beautiful new “True Black” theme, new scheduling functionality, alternative app icons, and more. Here’s the full changelog for Launch Center Pro version 3.0:

Contrast is also making changes to how it monetizes Launch Center Pro. Starting today, Launch Center Pro is a free download on the App Store. Users who have already paid for the app will retain all of the features they’ve paid for, and get access to certain new features and bug fixes, performance improvements, and more.

  • NFC Triggers: iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max can now trigger actions via custom NFC stickers! iPhone 7 and newer can use in-app NFC scanning.
  • Themes: We created a brand new “True Black” theme that looks gorgeous on OLED iPhones (and also looks nice on LCD iPhones)
  • Advanced scheduling: You can now assign multiple schedules to a single action
  • Add to Siri: Turn actions into Siri Shortcuts and trigger them with your voice
  • Alternate App Icons: choose from several color variations and all past Launch Center Pro app icons
  • Icon import from the Shortcuts app
  • Support for iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max screen sizes
  • Launch Center Pro for iPad has been retired, the iPhone version now supports both iPhone and iPad
  • Bug fixes and additional enhancements

Going forward, Launch Center Pro will offer a $9.99 per year subscription that unlocks access to all features. If you don’t want to go the subscription route, there is also a $30 in-app purchase to unlock all features, as well as the ability to purchase features individually. For instance, you can purchase the NFC Triggers functionality for $4.99.

Launch Center Pro version 3.0 is available on the App Store for download now.