California becomes eighth state to support IDs in Wallet app

The rollout in The Golden State comes as part of its mobile driver's license (mDL) pilot program, launched in 2023, and is limited to 1.5 million participants.

"Californians now have the option of adding their driver's license or state ID to their iPhone or Apple Watch in Apple Wallet," said California Governor Gavin Newsom, in a press release. "With this new integration, we're working to better serve the people of California in the 21st century."

For California, ID in Apple Wallet requires iPhone Xs or later with iOS 17.5 or later, or Apple Watch Series 4 or later with watchOS 10 or later.

According to Apple, the next states to allow digital IDs in Apple Wallet will be Montana, New Mexico, and West Virginia. Additionally, Japan has signed on to bring My Number Card to Wallet, which will mark the first international expansion of IDs in Wallet.

While California may be in the process of rolling out the feature, many other states have already adopted it. Arizona was the first state to allow residents to add their IDs to Wallet, all the way back in May of 2022.

Maryland also joined up in May 2022. Colorado signed on to the program in November 2022.

Georgia followed suit in May 2023, allowing those living The Peach State to add their IDs to the app. In July 2024, Ohio became the fifth state to support IDs in the Apple Wallet app.

Hawaii is currently in the process of rolling out support for digital IDs, a process that began in August 2024.