Last month we heard that contactless iPhone payments would be opened up to third-party developers in the European Union, in response to regulatory pressure, and now Apple has announced that the feature is coming in 18.1 – and not just for countries in the EU.
As per Apple's press release, other apps will soon be able to make contactless payments in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and the US, with "additional locations to follow". It looks as though this will eventually roll out to most places.
It means other apps will be able to use the NFC (Near Field Communication) and Secure Element (SE) tech built into iPhones to offer contactless in-app payments and transactions that are safe and secure. At the moment, you can only use Apple Pay for these payments, though other apps can read NFC tags.
You'll even be able to swap out the default app that launches when you double-click the side button on the iPhone too. It's a significant opening up of the technology inside Apple's phones that developers have previously been unable to get at.
Sometimes less is more
This covers alternatives to Apple Wallet as well as Apple Pay: car keys, corporate badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, rewards cards, and event tickets are also going to be supported. Apple says government IDs will follow "in the future".
However, developers will have to "enter into a commercial agreement with Apple, request the NFC and SE entitlement, and pay the associated fees". It's not clear exactly what that will entail, but it's clear that there are going to be certain strings attached.
While it's encouraging to see developers getting deeper access to the iPhone and its features, our only worry would be the contactless functionality getting over-complicated – part of its appeal at the moment is that only Apple Pay and Apple Wallet can make full use of the NFC and SE technology, which means you can use those apps without thinking about it.
As with the move to support game emulators on iOS, Apple is taking this action to avoid any further fines or sanctions from lawmakers in the EU. We might hear more at the launch of iOS 18, which is expected to appear next month alongside the iPhone 16.
