NFC is the tech behind Apple Pay and supports iOS 13 apps such as Launch Center Pro with the tappable stickers feature. It was said that NFC would benefit from a substantial upgrade come this fall with iOS 13. Apps will get the ability to write into blank NFC tags and interact with them, rather than just read them. Apple has said that this will allow for more critical applications, such as the ability to read passports and contactless smart cards, needing iOS 13 and an iPhone 7 or above.
We do want to see more exceptional NFC capabilities from Apple rather than just fast payments using Apple Pay. For example, the announced Apple/Google NYC Subway contactless payments. Japanese media outlets have reported the government’s desire to see this implementation of their national IDs through an official tweet.
ReadID, the NFC passport reader for the UK government will also take advantage of the updates brought by iOS 13. Apple made the following statement about the topic: “This announcement means that ReadID will also work on iPhones, using the embedded internal NFC capability. Needless to say, we are very excited about this. We’re convinced this will have a major impact on the online use cases such as mobile onboarding for banks, especially for countries with a high iPhone penetration.”
iOS 13 would come with improved NFC
Other notable excited implementers of the technology include scooter retailer Bonobos and PayByPhone parking meters. Something made possible by something called Value Added Service tags (VAS) that allows merchant loyally sign-ups. Several companies will use NFC tags for customer loyalty programs:
- Dairy Queen
- Dave & Buster’s
- Caribou Coffee
- Panera Bread
- Yogurtland
- Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches
WWDC19 saw Apple make a demonstration on how a merchant can utilize the new NFC tech by scanning a product that had a tag implementation, resulting in a description for it, with another NFC tag offering a post-purchase coupon to the customer. Bringing digital tools to commercial transactions is what Apple wants.
Dorothy has been a journalist for ten years and has been working with the Tech News Watch staff since the beginning of the news site. Her main contribution to Tech News Watch are mobile, IT and science news, with a focus on software updates and great outer space discoveries.
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