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Here Are All the States That Support Digital Driver's Licenses in the iPhone Wallet App
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NY is always thinking it is more special than it is. Always makes it hard for its citizens. Life long WNY resident here.
Thank you! I don't know why people can't grasp this. Obviously it's new, obviously adoption takes time.
No they don't. It should be a very common sense conclusion to assume that once adoption is more widespread it'll mean less physical cards we need to carry with us.
You forget the Puerto Rico state license support.
There are now 13 states that have added support for storing a driver's license or ID in the Apple Wallet app on iPhone and Apple Watch, with more to come.
States With iPhone Digital ID Support
Arizona, Maryland, and Colorado were some of the first states to add support back in 2022, while Montana, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Illinois just added support this year.
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Montana
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- West Virginia
Digital IDs are also able to be added to the Wallet app in Puerto Rico.
States Planning to Add Support
Several states have announced plans to support digital IDs in the Wallet app in the future.
There's no word on when these states plan to add support, nor on other states that have not yet committed to introducing the functionality.
- Connecticut
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Oklahoma
- Utah
Passport Digital IDs
As of November 2025, Apple is allowing iPhone users to create a Digital ID in the Wallet app using a U.S. passport. iPhone and Apple Watch users who do not live in a state that supports digital IDs and driver's licenses can instead use their passport to create an iPhone ID.
Digital IDs created using a passport work the same way as state IDs and driver's licenses added to the Wallet app.
TSA Support
TSA security checkpoints at most major airports in the United States accept digital IDs in lieu of a physical ID. Digital IDs in the Wallet app can only be used for domestic travel.
Age Verification
State IDs stored in the Wallet app can be used for age verification purposes at businesses and retailers that support the functionality. Apple is also adding support for using IDs for age verification in apps and on websites.
Physical ID Requirements
Most states say that iPhone users are still required to present a physical ID if requested, and a digital ID cannot be used in lieu of an actual ID.
Digital IDs based on a passport cannot be used for international travel or border crossing purposes, so a physical passport is still required.
How to Add an ID
An eligible driver's license, ID, or passport can be added to the Wallet app on iPhone by tapping on the "+" sign in the upper right corner and then choosing the "Driver's License and ID Cards" option.
Device Compatibility
Using the digital ID feature in the Wallet app requires an iPhone 8 or later with iOS 16.5 or later or an Apple Watch Series 4 or later running watchOS 9.5 or later.
Adding a passport requires an iPhone 11 or later running iOS 26.1 or later or an Apple Watch Series 6 running watchOS 26.1 or later.
Article Link: Here Are All the States That Support Digital Driver's Licenses in the iPhone Wallet App
These digital id threads are so insufferable especially with the conspiracy nuts now showing up
For a long time one still needed to carry a credit card, but now ApplePay works most everywhere. The best way to ensure rapid adoption of digital licenses being usable everywhere physical ones are, is for people to get digital ones as soon as they can. Since states know how many digital IDs have been issued, they also know when it make the most sense for them to begin accepting them in all places.
But all the states that allow digital IDs still require you carry a physical ID….so again what is the point? Currently, you can not legally drive without a physical ID in any state in the USA…
For the millionth time, police routinely ask that you hand over your phone when you use it to present a digital ID or proof of insurance. Why put yourself in that position?
And you are wrong, the police rarely demand your phone for a routine traffic stop when you are presenting physical documents.
OK. If and when this gets adopted as you envision, than we can talk.
The rest of us on this forum are talking about the reality of today. Not a hypothetical future scenario.
If the new passport feature makes buying an esim easier (at least in Thailand) it will all have been worth it.
How does that work? The Customs Officer stamps your iPhone when you cross the boarder? No wonder the rest of the world won't accept digital Passports.
Entering Malaysia recently I noticed a complete lack of immigration officers. At a turnstile the passport photo page gets scanned, a picture gets taken, then the gate opens.
Digital licenses in Georgia and Wyoming both work in place of physical licenses. As more people and state get digital licenses, more states will enable their use in place of a physical license. Just like with Apple Pay, the faster people adopt these licenses, the faster we get to a point where they completely replace them. However, the bigger question is, given how easy it is to do, why would one not do it? At worst it took a minute or two to add, and one never uses it, at best it makes it so that one can do age verification without needing to hand a clerk/bouncer all one’s personal information.
Finally, my Apple Watch is way more convenient to present than either my physical license or my phone.
Do you have some source for that statistic? Do you have evidence that they take the phone and search it without the driver’s consent? However, as there is no accepted digital form of proof of insurance, it would not surprise me if they took a phone in order to copy the data from one’s insurance card. Moving to digital IDs will make it easier to support a standard digital proof of insurance that would make that moot as well.
As I noted above, I use my Apple Watch for these things and so would never be handing anyone anything.
Almost every state that has authorized digital licenses has prohibited the law enforcement officers from taking possession of the phone and makes it clear that presenting the digital device to a reader does not grant the officers consent to search the device. For example here is the text from Wyoming’s Statute:
Did you post the same thing about enrolling your credit cards in Apple Pay?
“Why do it when I still have to carry a physical card for the places that do not take it?”
This already provides benefits in many locations (including over 250 airports in the U.S.) and many clubs/stadia/liquor stores where one gets the additional benefit of not need to provide any information other than proof that one is of legal age.
Exactly. The phones they carry around in their pockets can tell so much more about them than a digital ID.
Well, honestly it makes sense, since pretty much everyone who has a passport card also has a book.
I don't think digital ID would be accepted for international travel. Hopefully one day it will or the extensive databases that have all our information could be used just to scan our face and call up information from a database...
I hope that Nexus cards will work in Wallet at some point soon, as that would be a likely first step for international travel. I am curious as to whether digital ID will work for entry to U.S.V.I. and other U.S. territories.
It's actually a huge distinction and the primary reason that privacy has eroded to the point of elimination. Data brokers could not exist without digitized records and the internet. Before those things, for instance, anyone could go to a county courthouse and look up property records to find the owner of a piece of real estate. It was public information. However, the high cost of gathering that information (time, expense, logistics) precluded the concept of a data broker that could have all of that information on everyone, instantaneously. There was no practical way to visit every courthouse and document every piece of data and organize it and sell it. The internet has made that possible for every type of public record, from marriage licenses to arrest records. The data has always been public - it's the digitization and electronic distribution that has killed privacy. Of course, biometrics has raised the stakes considerably, and now all you need is a single face pic to identify and gather vast data on anyone. The equivalent, using your argument that "all of those things were possible," would be to hand-carry a mugshot of a person all over the country until someone identifies the person. Possible, yes. Useful or practical, no. That impracticality is what maintained our privacy.
I've found some interesting pages/info on the Illinois Secretary of State website that some of you might find interesting.
Here is the site they link to for vendors. It has a link to the free app they have put out to verify people's age. Looks like they want alcohol sellers (and I assume tobacco/cannabis as well) to use this app. All it shows them is a picture of the person to compare against, and verifies if they are over 21 or not. It does not show them any other information like name, age, or birthdate.
Here is an FAQ page about Illinois Mobile ID with various other information.
Reading thru the FAQ it sounds like they expect the vendor age checking app to be available on Android phones/devices soon, and eventually Mobile ID should be able to be added to them also.
Here is the site they link to for vendors. It has a link to the free app they have put out to verify people's age. Looks like they want alcohol sellers (and I assume tobacco/cannabis as well) to use this app. All it shows them is a picture of the person to compare against, and verifies if they are over 21 or not. It does not show them any other information like name, age, or birthdate.
Here is an FAQ page about Illinois Mobile ID with various other information.
Reading thru the FAQ it sounds like they expect the vendor age checking app to be available on Android phones/devices soon, and eventually Mobile ID should be able to be added to them also.
I have often wondered why we don't have a recreational drug use license, which would include drinking and smoking, that can be revoked if one commits crimes; has an accident due to the intoxicating influence of a drug; or is at risk of lethal or debilitating side effects of drug use as determined by a physician. Such a license would verify that one is an adult and responsible. I have always marvelled that when people drive drunk, we take away their right to drive a car rather than their right to drink.