iOS 11 Will Expand Your iPhone's NFC Capabilities Beyond Apple Pay in Several Ways

[MacRumors]

Apple at WWDC 2017 last month introduced Core NFC, a new iOS 11 framework that enables apps to detect Near Field Communication tags.

Similar to Apple Pay, iPhone users are prompted with a "Ready to Scan" dialog box. After holding the iPhone near an item with an NFC tag, a checkmark displays on screen if a product is detected. An app with Core NFC could then provide users with information about that product contained within the tag.

A customer shopping at a grocery store could hold an iPhone near a box of crackers, for example, and receive detailed information about their nutritional values, price history, recipe ideas, and so forth. Or, at a museum, a visitor could hold an iPhone near an exhibit to receive detailed information about it.

Core NFC will expand the iPhone's NFC chip capabilities beyond simply Apple Pay in several other ways.

A bottle of wine with an NFC tag similar to CapSeal​

Cybersecurity company WISeKey, for example, today announced that its CapSeal smart tag will now support iPhone thanks to Core NFC. CapSeal smart tags are primarily used for authentication, tracking, and anti-counterfeiting on products like wine bottles. Many other companies offer similar solutions.

When placed on a bottle of spirit or a bottle of lubricant oil, for instance, and tapped by an NFC phone, the chip is able to securely authenticate and track the bottle like an ePassport does. It offers the same certified security level. It also allows the brand to broadcast personalized messages to the phone-holder detecting whether the bottle has been open or not.

Core NFC is currently supported by the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and the framework is read-only for NFC tags of types 1 through 5 that contain data in the NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF).

Developers interested in learning more can read Apple's documentation or watch the Introducing Core NFC session from WWDC 2017.

Article Link: iOS 11 Will Expand Your iPhone's NFC Capabilities Beyond Apple Pay in Several Ways

 

[840quadra]

Really interested to see how far this goes. I use my phone quite often to pull photos from my camera while doing shoots. Using NFC to assist in pairing for such actions is one of the few features I miss from my Android devices.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Should be cool when paired with beacons in stores.

Key the complaints about not having fully open NFC and only being supported on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I really want to hear about how Apple is securing this. NFC is convenient and all, but one of the reasons I like it on iPhone vs Android is that it literally only works when Apple says it should.

 

[Sunny1990]

Apple is late to the party but finally they can bring a ton of goodies with this.its Good iOS 11 will allow greater access to NFC. Now we can put that NFC to other uses.

 

[Franjelisco]

Does that mean that banks could use the NFC to pay for stuff contactlessly, just like Android?

 

[TheRealTVGuy]

It's not enough to READ NFC, I want my Apple Watch's NFC chip to be able to lock/unlock doors and eventually unlock and start my vehicle. Basically my goal is to have an Apple watch with full Cellular and NFC capability, Air Pods, an Apple Watch app for my driver's license and nothing else. No keys, no wallet, no phone, JUST the watch and Air Pods.

Welcome to the future. No more bulky pockets full of crap.

 

[Phil in ocala]

You will only learn what the mfg wants to disclose...period.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Think this will largely be used by stores for loyalty cards. We heard about similar uses to learn info with QR codes, and Bluetooth, neither really took off.

 

[dionysos283]

Is there a comprehensible reason why Core NFC is only supported by the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus? :/

 

[powaking]

Dave & Busters now use NFC, wonder if they will be able to use a virtual card with NFC tagging instead of the physical card.

 

[Saipher]

Does that mean that banks could use the NFC to pay for stuff contactlessly, just like Android?

They already have that... it's called ApplePay.

 

[Ballis]

Is this read only? Or will it work with locks, alarm systems etc?

 

[Ivan0310]

Does that mean that banks could use the NFC to pay for stuff contactlessly, just like Android?

If you're talking about opening the door for other NFC based mobile payment platforms on iOS, the answer will most likely be a hard no. Apple doesn't tend to allow competing services like that to circumvent or reproduce core elements of the iOS or iPhone experience.

 

[Superhappytree]

As much as I'm disappointed regarding Apple's software as of late, I trust them when it comes to this kind of stuff. If Touch ID is anything to go by then I have full confidence in them. I mean every single worry we've been discussing has probably been thought through many times, they have thousands of smart people probably working on it, much smarter than you and me.

 

[Mascots]

I really want to hear about how Apple is securing this. NFC is convenient and all, but one of the reasons I like it on iPhone vs Android is that it literally only works when Apple says it should.

NFC reading is essentially boxed within an apps walls; Apple Pay and other Apple related services are really the only things that will be able to use it passively.

I am happy to see them finally open up NFC usage; it'll be excited for a lot of people who have been awaiting it.

 

[xero9]

Is there a comprehensible reason why Core NFC is only supported by the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus? :/

Is profit a valid reason?

 

[Joe Rossignol]

Is this read only? Or will it work with locks, alarm systems etc?

Read only.

 

[itsmilo]

Really interested to see how far this goes. I use my phone quite often to pull photos from my camera while doing shoots. Using NFC to assist in pairing for such actions is one of the few features I miss from my Android devices.

Dont think it will work. Seems to be read only

 

[jacjustjac]

It's not enough to READ NFC, I want my Apple Watch's NFC chip to be able to lock/unlock doors and eventually unlock and start my vehicle. Basically my goal is to have an Apple watch with full Cellular and NFC capability, Air Pods, an Apple Watch app for my driver's license and nothing else. No keys, no wallet, no phone, JUST the watch and Air Pods.

Welcome to the future. No more bulky pockets full of crap.

In your future, do the AirPods still charge in a case? Because you'll have to carry THAT around. And I supposed you'll need somewhere to put them when you're driving, unless in your future we already don't have to drive.

Just messing with you, I too would like to not have to carry keys and a wallet around.

 

[Hirakata]

I hope this gets more vendors to board the Apple Pay train. Personally, I can't wait for Apple Pay to be accepted everywhere. After having to replace my credit card twice(!) this year because of fraud, I'm tired of having to constantly stop at an ATM to withdraw cash. (First world problems...)

 

[jacjustjac]

Will we finally be able to pair NFC headphones?

 

[zorinlynx]

Will we finally be able to pair NFC headphones?

I know right? This is the most common use for NFC outside of payments and it's a bit embarrassing that Apple doesn't support it yet when pretty much every other phone does.

 

[tzm41]

It's not enough to READ NFC, I want my Apple Watch's NFC chip to be able to lock/unlock doors and eventually unlock and start my vehicle. Basically my goal is to have an Apple watch with full Cellular and NFC capability, Air Pods, an Apple Watch app for my driver's license and nothing else. No keys, no wallet, no phone, JUST the watch and Air Pods.

Welcome to the future. No more bulky pockets full of crap.

Wonder which comes first, the power of a current state smartphone packed into a smart watch, or autopilot fleets taking over a lot of the private vehicle market.

 

[Shawn Parr]

So there is a huge caveat here, especially compared to other phone's NFC implementation. According to the WWDC video in order for 3rd party developers to use CoreNFC, their app has to be open and in the foreground. IIR, the user also has to initiate the process.

So in reality to use this you have to open the app, tap a button to start the NFC scan, then tap on the tag.

I know a lot of people are going to say that this is ridiculous, or that it sucks, and it does. However hopefully this is just a first release issue and future iOS updates will make it more useful. Much like eventually background APIs were made available for apps, or some of the updates to HomeKit that make it more useful.