When Apple announced iOS 15, it teased a major upgrade to the Wallet app: support for storing your ID right on your iPhone. This feature has been slow to launch and is currently available in just three states, but governor Gavin Newsom is teasing that California is set to launch digital IDs in “a matter of months.”
When support for digital IDs was announced at WWDC in 2021, Apple Pay VP Jennifer Bailey touted the feature as the final thing needed to let you be “fully free of your physical wallet.” As it stands today, the feature is available in Colorado, Arizona, and Maryland. You can use digital IDs at “select TSA checkpoints” at participating airports.
With three states currently supporting the feature, Apple has teased that the following states are also working on digital IDs for Apple: Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah.
As spotted by MacRumors, however, California governor Gavin Newsom teased today the state is also hard at work on implementing a digital ID system for residents. Newsom unveiled his budget proposal for 2023 and 2024 today, and in his remarks, he mentioned that people will soon be able to “get your driver’s license on a digital wallet.”
While he didn’t offer any further details, Newsom bragged that California’s system will be “next level” and that the state is “going to do it like no other state has done it.”
In just a matter of months, we’re finally going to have those digital wallets, where you can get your driver’s license on a digital wallet. And we’re going to do it like no other state has done it. There’s only a few that have. But there’s issues. Ours we think it’ll be next level. We’re so excited about what the DMV can look like.
As you might have noticed, California is not on Apple’s list of states that have committed to support storing digital IDs in Apple Wallet. California itself has also not publicly confirmed its intention of supporting Apple’s platform. Details are still unclear, but California could silo its digital IDs system in its own dedicated app.
Top comment by ted
Having extra features in their own app would be great, but I still would like to see it supports the Apple Wallet app because it's way more convenient to double tap the power button to use it without the need for Face ID, unlock the screen, find the app, and open the app. If they decide to adopt the Apple platform and work with Apple on this, I expect California DMV can do a great job. I mean, it's physically closer to the Apple headquarters.
They can do something like Walgreen has been doing. Have their reward card in Apple Wallet that also supports NFC, so I don't have to type my phone number or scan the barcode. Although it works well because Walgreens has its unique reader, if similar technology can be used for Driver's Licenses in the future, that would be great. In China, the ID card already has this kinda feature. You can put the ID card on a reader to buy tickets, etc. In the U.S., they are five states that support Enhanced Drivers Licenses (California is not on the list yet, though). "EDLs make it easier for U.S. citizens to cross the border into the United States because they include: A Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip that will signal a secure system to pull up your biographic and biometric data for the CBP officer as you approach the border inspection booth." If it can also work with smartphones, that would be cool.
Newsom made big promises for Californian’s implementation of digital IDs. To make those grandiose statements and not support Apple Wallet would be a bold move – especially given that Apple itself is headquartered in California.
9to5Mac’s Take
Many iPhone and Apple Watch users are eagerly awaiting the day their states support digital IDs in the Wallet app. The rollout of a feature like this is a massive undertaking. As we’ve seen many times, anytime Apple has to rely on individual governments for help with a feature, there are countless speed bumps along the way.
One of the more disappointing things, however, is that even once a state supports digital IDs in the Wallet app, the actual use case is pretty limited. Currently, the primary use case is at a handful of TSA checkpoints for airport security.
I’m really holding out hope that we start to see a rapid pickup in the pace of adoption of this feature. Once it’s more widely available, I’m also interested to see how many people will fully embrace digital IDs in comparison to those who won’t feel comfortable with it.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments