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Until now, Apple Pay and Apple Wallet have had exclusive access to many features of the iPhone’s NFC chip, but that will change with iOS 18.1.
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Apple is going to let developers offer in-app NFC transactions using the Secure Element starting with iOS 18.1, and as part of the update, you’ll also be able to set a default contactless payment app that’s accessible when you double-click your iPhone’s side button. Previously, Apple has only allowed Apple Pay to appear when you double-click that button.
With this change, developers will be able to offer in-app contactless transactions for a wide variety of apps, including “in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and rewards cards, and event tickets.” Until now, NFC access for third-party apps has been limited to reading tags.
Apple’s press release says that government IDs will be supported “in the future.”
The relevant APIs to build these apps will be available to developers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and the US in an upcoming iOS 18.1 developer beta with “additional locations to follow,” Apple says. However, developers that want to take advantage of Apple’s APIs will have to “enter into a commercial agreement with Apple, request the NFC and SE entitlement, and pay the associated fees.”
The shift follows Apple’s offer to open iPhone NFC payments to third-party providers following a European Commission antitrust investigation. The European Commission announced last month that it had made Apple’s commitments legally binding.