iPhone users will be able to scan German ID cards, passports, and more when iOS 13 rolls out this fall, according to local authorities.
The functionality will allow digital versions of those documents to be carried on an iOS device so that they are always accessible. Recent reports have confirmed users in Japan will be able to do the same with national ID cards.
The iOS 13 Shortcuts app brings plenty of radical changes — automatic scheduled and location-based shortcuts, for example — but one super-neat new feature will make a world of difference. Now, if you have a compatible iPhone, you can combine NFC tags with Shortcuts. That is, you can run any shortcut just by tapping your iPhone onto an NFC sticker.
Seriously. Pretty wild, right? You could tap your iPhone onto a sticker atop a speaker in your kitchen, and it would start playing the radio, for instance. Let’s check out how NFC shortcuts will work.
NFC support on the iPhone is about to get a lot more advanced real soon.
Apple revealed today that it is adding support for NFC stickers and tags that trigger Apple Pay for payment even if you don’t have the vendor’s app installed.
New photos reveal how Apple Card will be presented to consumers when it starts reaching early adopters this summer.
It’s the first time we’ve seen the titanium Card’s fancy packaging since it was announced back in March. It is said to be in beta testing with Apple employees ahead of its launch.
Apple has reportedly agreed to open up its NFC capabilities on the iPhone for a U.K. government app. This Brexit app will help EU citizens apply for residency in the U.K. after it leaves the European Union.
The EU Exit app allows users to scan the chip inside their passports with their smartphone’s NFC reader. While this has been possible to do on Android phones, Apple has not previously allowed developer access to its NFC reading tech.
The UK government wants Apple to open up developer access to the NFC chips inside iPhones. The reason is because it plans to launch a new app designed to help EU citizens apply for residency in the U.K. after it leaves the European Union.
However, as part of the app, the government wants to let users scan the chip inside their passports with their smartphone’s NFC reader. Unfortunately, while this is possible to do on Android, Apple does not allow developer access in this way. And the British government wants that to change.
Square got its start by letting businesses take credit cards with just an iPhone or Android, and the company now offers multiple payment methods. Today it launched Square Terminal which accepts credit cards and Apple Pay, and can even print receipts.
This could help spread the availability of Apple Pay, as this new point-of-sale card reader is intended to replace older, simpler ones that can’t accept the iPhone’s payment system.
It’s irritating when your iPhone runs out of battery. But it can actually be life threatening if you depend on your phone’s NFC feature to get into your dorm room or onto a train.
That’s why the iPhone XS and the other 2018 models still offer some NFC transactions even when down to the power reserve.
One feature that didn’t get mentioned during this week’s iPhone event is the fact that the new iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR models let users scan NFC tags without requiring an app running in the background.
This means that places such as museums, retail stores, and other locations which make use of NFC tags can utilize them more readily — or, at least, that iPhone users can access them more easily. Instead of having to launch an app that puts your iPhone in NFC Reader mode, just walk up and scan any compatible tag. Easy, right?
The end of money can’t come soon enough for Apple CEO Tim Cook.
During Apple’s annual shareholders meeting today, Cook told investors that mobile payments like Apple Pay haven’t taken off quite as fast as hoped. However, he said he sees promising signs that the death of cash could soon be upon us.
