A recent change by the California Department of Motor Vehicles has changed how drivers can store their driver's license or State ID.
A recent report by ABC7 revealed that Californians can now add their driver's license to Apple Wallet on their iPhone and Apple Watch. This is a continuation of the mobile driver's license pilot program that saw the same download option for Google Wallets last month.
"The phone is the center of modern life. We use it as our primary motive for communication," Serenity Thompson, deputy director of digital services for the California DMV, commented. "When you're traveling, your boarding pass is on it. And so to have a driver's license on your phone is the next logical step."
It has also been announced that the mobile driver's license can be used at TSA checkpoints at certain major airports. These include San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Jose. While the number of airports is still limited, more are expected to support this feature.
If you have a habit of forgetting your wallet in the rush to get to the plane, this could be huge. And finally, some businesses in Sacramento and Los Angeles are scanning the Digital ID through Apple Wallet to confirm users are over 21.
This isn't the only change we have seen for Apple Wallet recently. For instance, Apple appeared to reenabled the Tap to Provision feature two days before the iOS 18 launch. This feature, which allows you to add a debit or credit card to your wallet via NFC, was turned off last week for unknown reasons. Aside from this, iOS 18 has also brought several changes including Tap to Cash, Paying with Rewards and Event Guides.
It should be noted that, when initially announced, it was made clear that users would need to keep a physical version of their license for traffic stops. Hopefully, the release remains issue-free and avoids having to pull digital licenses like Florida.
For more information on the changes coming with iOS 18, check out our breakdown of Apple's WWDC event, as well as all the new devices making the most of it — the iPhone 16, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max.
