Apple could expand NFC capabilities beyond Apple Pay in iOS 11

An Apple developer document published this week suggests iOS 11 will open up near-field communications hardware in iPhone 7, and presumably future iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch models, beyond Apple Pay.

As outlined in a developer resource published after Monday's Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, and later spotted by Engadget, Apple's next-generation mobile operating system will include a "Core NFC" framework for accessing certain high-level aspects of existing and future NFC hardware.

More specifically, developers will be able to build apps that can read NFC tags compatible with the NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF). Apple notes NFC NDEF tag reading is supported on iPhone 7 and 7 Plus devices.

"Your app can read tags to give users more information about their physical environment and the real-world objects in it. For example, your app might give users information about products they find in a store or exhibits they visit in a museum," the document says.

The document's language suggests iOS 11 will extend the NFC capabilities of Apple devices far beyond Apple Pay, which is currently limited to contactless transactions and digital ticket management. Apple has restricted third-party access to NFC hardware since it first incorporated the technology in its portable product lineup with iPhone 6 in 2014. The company even limits its own use case to the Wallet app, a decision made to protect consumers from nefarious actors.

Apple hinted at an expansion of NFC capabilities yesterday when VP of Technology Kevin Lynch announced watchOS 4. When the new operating system drops this fall, Apple Watch users will be able to interface with gym equipment by tapping their device on an NFC reader, which subsequently opens a two-way wireless communication session for transferring information like heart rate and equipment speed and angle.

While the details have yet to be fleshed out, the technology promises to make iOS and watchOS devices more relevant in a growing ecosystem of connected devices.

20 Comments

PabloTresUnoSeis 114 comments · 8 Years

About 7 years ago

Isn't the Apple Watch able to open rooms at Starwood Hotels?

rob53 3307 comments · 13 Years

Does this mean Apple is bowing to the Australian banks? I hope it only means none banking/purchasing use of NFC.

lolliver 497 comments · 10 Years

PabloTresUnoSeis said:

Isn't the Apple Watch able to open rooms at Starwood Hotels?

Yes it can, but I believe that is done over Bluetooth similar to how some door locks like Kevo work.

rob53 said:

Does this mean Apple is bowing to the Australian banks? I hope it only means none banking/purchasing use of NFC.

I wondered the same thing at first. But from what I read in the article I think the access to NFC will be fairly limited.

"Your app can read tags to give users more information about their physical environment and the real-world objects in it. For example, your app might give users information about products they find in a store or exhibits they visit in a museum," the document says.

That doesn't sound like it will enable the banks to create their own mobile payment solutions that leverage of the iPhones NFC.

anome 1545 comments · 16 Years

lolliver said:

rob53 said:

Does this mean Apple is bowing to the Australian banks? I hope it only means none banking/purchasing use of NFC.

I wondered the same thing at first. But from what I read in the article I think the access to NFC will be fairly limited.

"Your app can read tags to give users more information about their physical environment and the real-world objects in it. For example, your app might give users information about products they find in a store or exhibits they visit in a museum," the document says.

That doesn't sound like it will enable the banks to create their own mobile payment solutions that leverage of the iPhones NFC.

I hope not, but I do worry that openung it up for non-banking purposes might be interpreted as trying to maintain unreasonable control on banking.

I also kind of see how this could allow other banking solutions, which I don't think is an especially good thing. Presumably if someone writes an app that uses the NFC for their own payment system, it will be in breach of the Ts&Cs of the App Store, but that won't necessarily stop them. (Such an app wouldn't need to use TouchID, even, it just needs to exchange tokens with the reader. Not using the Apple Pay infrastructure, though, would be much less secure.)

One benefit I can see is that it will allow public transport infrastructure (for example) to use it for ticketing without having to send each transaction through the banking infrastructure. You load up your Oyster/Clipper/MetroCard/MyWay using Apple Pay in the app, and then when you wave your phone at the reader, it deducts from that balance. It would save them the costs of multiple Credit Card Transactions. How the phone/reader work out which account to record it against is less clear. You might need to load the app, or maybe it involves slightly more complicated handshaking between terminal and phone. It's a thought, at any rate.