Having promised to comply with the law in Europe, Apple Announces It Will Open NFC to Third Parties coming soon. The tech company said developers will be able to offer contactless transactions from their own apps on the iPhone. NFC support will use the Secure Element and It will be available with iOS 18.1..
In a press release, Apple made good on a promise it made to the European Union a few weeks ago. Opening up NFC to third parties has become the center of a battle that began in 2020 between the Commission and Apple. With the advent of the Digital Markets Act, the authorities have required Cupertino residents to accept alternative payment methods or risk being sued.
According to Apple, the new NFC and SE (Secure Element) APIs will enable a variety of contactless transactions. NFC will be used not only for in-store payments, but also for car keys, ID cards, loyalty cards, hotel keys, and more. Apple added that government-issued IDs will be supported in the future.
“The NFC and SE APIs take advantage of the Secure Element, a certified industry standard chip designed to securely store sensitive information on a device,” Apple said. “To complete a contactless transaction in an app that uses these APIs, users can open the app directly or set it as the default contactless app in iOS Settings.”
Apple to impose certain conditions for using NFC in iPhone
Opening up NFC to third parties means that Apple Pay and Apple Wallet will be separate. Of course, those who want to implement the API in their apps They will have to sign a commercial agreement with Apple and pay the associated fees.As we see in third-party stores, the tech company will have a number of requirements to ensure the security of transactions.
Only those that meet the requirements and Comply with Apple’s security and privacy standards They will be able to access the API. NFC discovery will be available starting with iOS 18.1 for developers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the US, Japan, New Zealand, and the UK. The tech company has promised to add more countries in the future.
Today’s announcement ends the dispute between Apple and the European Commission, with the tech company folding its arms to avoid a million-dollar fine and will give access to the iPhone’s NFC chip for 10 yearsWhile the developers had hoped for wider reach, they will not have to obtain a payment service provider license.
Source: Hiper Textual
I’m Ben Stock, a highly experienced and passionate journalist with a career in the news industry spanning more than 10 years. I specialize in writing content for websites, including researching and interviewing sources to produce engaging articles. My current role is as an author at Gadget Onus, where I mainly cover the mobile section.
