iOS 18 on iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Maria Diaz/ZDNET
Apple is expanding the reach of NFC on the iPhone by opening up the technology to third-party apps. Starting with iOS 18.1, Developers will be able to offer contactless transactions from its own separate Apple Pay and Apple Wallet apps, the company said today.
By leveraging Apple’s new APIs for NFC and SE (Secure Element), developers will be able to build apps for a variety of tasks and transactions. Among those Apple highlighted are in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop transit fares, corporate credentials, student IDs, house keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and rewards cards, and event tickets. In the future, even government IDs will be supported.
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With a nod to privacy and security, the new NFC access will leverage the Secure Element, a certified chip on the device designed to store and protect sensitive data. The transactions themselves will use Face ID or Touch ID for authentication and communicate with Apple’s servers.
The user will be able to start the process in a few different ways. They can open the NFC-enabled app directly and follow the steps required. Or, they can set a specific app as their default contactless option and then simply double-click the side button to start the transaction like they do with Apple Pay.
The NFC and SE APIs will be released to developers in the US, UK, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and New Zealand in an upcoming developer release of iOS 18.1. Other locations will follow, Apple added. However, developers who want to participate must sign a commercial agreement with Apple and pay associated fees.
Apple added NFC to the iPhone 10 years ago, but it was only available natively for services like Apple Pay. Developers who wanted to use the technology had to overcome several hurdles to get their apps to work with it. Creating the necessary APIs will make the process much easier for developers and open the door to more apps that benefit iPhone users.
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In a Developer Support PageApple explains how the NFC and SE APIs will work and how to enable specific use cases, such as car keys, student IDs, and event tickets. The page also outlines the steps to request access to the NFC and SE platform and integrate it into an app.
Apple’s iOS 18.1 is currently available as a developer beta and only for the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max phones. iOS 18 is expected to be released in September, so the 18.1 update could arrive as early as October. That means we should start seeing apps supporting the new NFC feature before the end of the year.