iOS 18.1 to Let Developers Offer In-App NFC Transactions

Apple writes:

Starting with iOS 18.1, developers will be able to offer NFC contactless transactions using the Secure Element from within their own apps on iPhone, separate from Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. Using the new NFC and SE (Secure Element) APIs, developers will be able to offer in-app contactless transactions for in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and rewards cards, and event tickets, with government IDs to be supported in the future.

If developers take broad advantage of this feature when iOS 18.1 ships later this year, it will make the iPhone even more of an essential item to have at hand at all times. Note that Apple’s list above encompasses all the possibilities; the developer documentation emphasizes that Apple will only approve apps that enable one or more of those use cases.

Apple doesn’t mention the Apple Watch in relation to this feature, but we users would appreciate being able to use watchOS apps to initiate contactless transactions, just as we can do today with Apple Pay.

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