iOS 15 Wallet Guide: Everything You Need to Know

[MacRumors]

Apple in iOS 15 is taking another step toward replacing the traditional wallet, adding several new features to its digital Wallet app that will allow people to leave their physical cards and keys behind.

This guide highlights all of the new features that are coming to the Wallet app in iOS 15, but it's worth noting that many of them rely on third-party companies and services adopting Wallet support.

Digital IDs and Licenses

In the United States, Apple is working with state authorities to allow iPhone users to add their driver's license or state ID card to the Wallet app, which would allow digital IDs to be used in lieu of a physical ID card.

Apple is also working with the TSA to allow digital ID cards to be used at TSA checkpoints, with the digital ID able to be shown to a TSA agent prior to boarding a plane. ID cards stored on the iPhone are also able to be brought up on an Apple Watch.

Apple has to secure agreements with each individual state to allow the Wallet to be used to store an ID card or driver's license, and it will take some time for states to agree to the feature. The first states that will allow IDs and driver's licenses to be added to the Wallet app include Arizona and Georgia, with Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah to follow. Select TSA security checkpoints in participating U.S. airports will be the first locations to accept a digital ID card or driver's license in the Wallet app.

Key Storage

With iOS 15, Apple is hoping to replace standard physical keys with digital versions that can be used right from the Wallet app.

All of these key features require partner companies to implement support, and these are not features that will be immediately available when iOS 15 launches.

Homes

Companies that make HomeKit-compatible locks can add support for a Wallet-based house key that can be used to tap to unlock HomeKit door locks.

Home keys will be available in the Wallet app and can be accessed on iPhone and Apple Watch.

Offices

Corporate offices can also implement digital keys for the Wallet app, allowing employees to unlock doors with a tap of an iPhone or an Apple Watch instead of requiring a corporate badge for location access.

Hotels

Participating hotels that use digital keys can allow customers to add those keys to the Wallet app after making a reservation, allowing them to bypass the lobby.

The digital hotel key stored in the Wallet app can be used to unlock a hotel room. After checkout, the hotel room key is automatically archived.

Cars

Apple already introduced a Car Keys feature that lets you unlock your car with a key stored in the Wallet app, but in iOS 15, Apple is implementing Ultra Wideband support for precise spatial awareness.

Improved spatial awareness prevents an iPhone from being locked in a car or a car from starting when the iPhone isn't inside.

iOS 15 also adds support for locking or unlocking the car, honking the horn, preheating the car, or opening the trunk with control options that are located in the Wallet app when you're nearby your vehicle.

BMW is the only car manufacturer that has implemented Car Keys support at the current time, and this feature needs to be adopted by car manufacturers to work.

Archived Passes

Expired boarding passes and event tickets are automatically removed from the Wallet app and housed in an "Expired" section so you no longer need to manually take them out or deal with the clutter of old passes.

"Hide Expired Passes" is an option in the Wallet & Apple Pay section of the Settings app that is toggled on by default, but can also be turned off if you want to keep your passes.

Multiple-Pass Downloads

Safari lets you download multiple passes to the Wallet app in one go, so if you buy movie or zoo tickets for the whole family, you can download them to Wallet all at once rather than having to do so one pass at a time.

Guide Feedback

Have questions about the new Wallet app features in iOS 15, know of a feature we left out, or want to offer feedback on this guide? Send us an email here.

Article Link: iOS 15 Wallet Guide: Everything You Need to Know

 

[whyamihere]

How expired passes weren't archived from day one is beyond me. But it'll be nice to finally have it.

 

[Joe_]

This is the future, welcome to 2021.

 

[CTHarrryH]

Based upon the reliability of Apple pay I can't see leaving any of these "replaced" items behind. Pay works much of the time but then it doesn't at a certain register at a certain store. Go on a trip and count on my phone having all the doc - oops I dropped my phone and now I don't have any those docs. I know I could lose my wallet and have similar issues but I just don't think we are there yet.

 

[4jasontv]

I would like to see this with Homekit/Matter. So, for example, I could scan my watch and have the coffee maker set it to my preference, and when someone else scans it brews to their preference. (Heck, this could even be used to make it easier to make coffee at someone else's home.) Or let me have music profiles that adjust volume and equalizer settings.

 

[PSeg90]

I'M HERE FOR IT! I find myself using Apple Pay more than inserting my debit card nowadays!

 

[_Spinn_]

I like these additions to Wallet. The less I have to carry when leaving home the better.

The problem is that it will take a while for everything to be adopted everywhere. There are still plenty of places that don’t take ApplePay, I can only imagine how slow states will be to roll out digital IDs, and for CarKey to take off there really needs to be an after market solution people can install on existing cars.

 

[827538]

All nice improvements. I'm extremely eager for CarKey 3.0, which along with Housekeys means I never have to carry physical keys again. Hoping Rivian adds support for CarKey 3.0, from what I've seen of Tesla's proprietary implementation it can sometimes be flakey.

There's just a few stores (atleast here in the US) where I'm still waiting for Apple Pay then if my state allows digital ID I can do away entirely with my wallet and carry nothing but an iPhone and Apple Watch. Everywhere I go in the UK supports Apple Pay or contactless.

To me, these are the major improvements I'm looking forward to in iOS 15.

 

[4jasontv]

All nice improvements. I'm extremely eager for CarKey 3.0, which along with Housekeys means I never have to carry physical keys again. Hoping Rivian adds support for CarKey 3.0, from what I've seen of Tesla's proprietary implementation it can sometimes be flakey.

There's just a few stores (atleast here in the US) where I'm still waiting for Apple Pay then if my state allows digital ID I can do away entirely with my wallet and carry nothing but an iPhone and Apple Watch. Everywhere I go in the UK supports Apple Pay or contactless.

To me, these are the major improvements I'm looking forward to in iOS 15.

I am actually in the market for a Homekit door lock. What I have found so far is that they all look like smart locks. I just want a lock that no one notices that I can remotely activate and verify its status. Nor, for what it's worth, can I find a homekit peephole camera.

 

[827538]

Based upon the reliability of Apple pay I can't see leaving any of these "replaced" items behind. Pay works much of the time but then it doesn't at a certain register at a certain store. Go on a trip and count on my phone having all the doc - oops I dropped my phone and now I don't have any those docs. I know I could lose my wallet and have similar issues but I just don't think we are there yet.

I've used Apple Pay since it came out, I use it as my default payment method. I cannot recall a single time I've not had it work beyond place that don't accept it. I've had the chip on my card fail atleast once.

 

[827538]

I am actually in the market for a Homekit door lock. What I have found so far is that they all look like smart locks. I just want a lock that no one notices that I can remotely activate and verify its status. Nor, for what it's worth, can I find a homekit peephole camera.

I have zero affiliation with this company, but this is what I plan on installing. I imagine they will be quick to support Apple's Key system. Looks just like an ordinary deadbolt. I don't like 'smart' looking devices either. I just want my ordinary things but happen to have useful smart features built in that I can trust to work.

I'm really hoping for a PoE Homekit camera, right now the closest thing I can find is using Homebridge on a Raspberry Pi and Ubiquiti cameras. PoE switches are so cheap I feel the market is there for it. I don't want half a dozen cameras sending data over WiFi constantly.

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[star-affinity]

I'd like to add a photo (neatly auto cropped with some clever AI) of my plastic cards from my analog wallet.

 

[Robert.Walter]

“…After checkout, the hotel room key is automatically archived.”

Hoo boy, prosecutors and suspicious spouses are going to love this feature. Haha.

 

[subi257]

I'M HERE FOR IT! I find myself using Apple Pay more than inserting my debit card nowadays!

I use Apple pay or other cards in the wallet on the watch everywhere that accepts contactless pay.....except for the dinosaur stores that don't accept contactless....including major stores like Home Depot and Michael's art supply where you have to actually insert the card smdh

 

[erinsarah]

Gas stations gas stations gas stations!!!! In the past year I have come across ONE gas station that accepts Apple Pay. I don’t get it. Even GetGo, which is Giant Eagle (western PA) brand of gas station doesn’t accept it, despite the fact that Giant Eagle itself does.

And don’t get me started on Lowe’s and Home Depot. Seriously, WTF?

 

[827538]

I'd like to add a photo (neatly auto cropped with some clever AI) of my plastic cards from my analog wallet.

My wife and I have copies of all our important documents backed up via iCloud. They've honestly been invaluable given how much we travel and live in multiple countries. My wife even flew domestically in the US with a digital copy of her drivers license and - believe it or not - a Costco membership card after she lost her purse.

 

[827538]

Gas stations gas stations gas stations!!!! In the past year I have come across ONE gas station that accepts Apple Pay. I don’t get it. Even GetGo, which is Giant Eagle (western PA) brand of gas station doesn’t accept it, despite the fact that Giant Eagle itself does.

And don’t get me started on Lowe’s and Home Depot. Seriously, WTF?

Yeh even when gas station have the contactless option I've never had it work, whilst it works if I go inside.

Home Depot and Walmart are the two big hold outs, it drives me nuts.

 

[mariusignorello]

CA DMV announced that wallet IDs will be available in late 2050 😂

/s

 

[vikingjunior]

How about the ability to add loyalty cards.

 

[AstonSmith]

iOS 15 also adds support for locking or unlocking the car, honking the horn, preheating the car, or opening the trunk with control options that are located in the Wallet app when you're nearby your vehicle.

Wait what? It's still a wallet isn't it? That sounds more like a remote control.

 

[miamialley]

My wife and I have copies of all our important documents backed up via iCloud. They've honestly been invaluable given how much we travel and live in multiple countries. My wife even flew domestically in the US with a digital copy of her drivers license and - believe it or not - a Costco membership card after she lost her purse.

What did you do with the Costco card? Used it to fly domestically?

CA DMV announced that wallet IDs will be available in late 2050 😂

/s

I got excited...then I read the second half of your sentence.

 

[Lost Hills]

CA DMV announced that wallet IDs will be available in late 2050 😂

/s

I think you meant 2150

 

[Truckondo]

Gas stations gas stations gas stations!!!! In the past year I have come across ONE gas station that accepts Apple Pay. I don’t get it. Even GetGo, which is Giant Eagle (western PA) brand of gas station doesn’t accept it, despite the fact that Giant Eagle itself does.

And don’t get me started on Lowe’s and Home Depot. Seriously, WTF?

I remember Home Depot having it work at one time. Then they decided to “update” the POS systems to something that won’t take it.

 

[greynlds]

It seems like adding a copy of Covid vaccination cards is an obvious and very timely miss here, especially since those cards (at least here in MA) are just too big to conveniently carry in a regular wallet. Why they didn't design them to be the same size as a credit card completely puzzles me.

I get the privacy concerns, but I think they're largely overblown in regards to this feature as all the companies pretty much already know where we're going and what we're buying at this point.

I use Apple Pay on my Apple Watch as often as I can because the convenience is really nice. Some of the Speedway gas stations have started accepting Apple Pay recently, so using it at gas stations is starting to become a reality.

 

[bviktor]

Even BMW's implementation is useless as it only allows you to unlock the car, but you still need the physical key to start it, therefore you still need to carry your physical key, so what the hell is the point of the whole feature anyway. It just blows my mind.