Arizona is the first state to allow driver’s licenses in Apple Wallet
It took several months, but Apple Wallet can finally hold your state driver’s license. Arizona residents can add their driver’s license or state ID to Wallet on their iPhone or Apple Watch. You’re currently limited to presenting the digital cards at certain TSA checkpoints in Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport, but this may save you the trouble of reaching for conventional IDs when your phone or smartwatch is at the ready.
Apple is also promising wider availability beyond the eight states already announced. Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, Ohio and Puerto Rico have also committed to supporting ID cards in Wallet.
The process remains as involved as Apple mentioned last year. In Wallet on your iPhone, you can add a driver’s license or state ID by scanning the card, taking a selfie and making head movements to prove the identification is yours. When it’s time to present your info to the TSA, you’ll provide consent through Face ID or Touch ID. The TSA will also take your photo to verify cards. You’ll need at least an iPhone 8 running iOS 15.4, while you’ll want an Apple Watch Series 4 or newer using watchOS 8.4 if you want the feature on your wrist
Apple maintains that cards in Wallet can be more secure than their real-world counterparts. You only share necessary info, and you don’t need to show your device to an official. All driver’s license and state ID data is sent over an encrypted connection, and the requirement for biometric authentication should prevent others from viewing your sensitive details.
Android has had the framework for digital driver’s licenses as of version 11, but it typically relies on third-party apps. Google hopes to standardize these IDs through an Android Ready SE Alliance it formed last year, although that will likely take time as vendors come aboard. For now, Apple appears to have the edge when it comes to digitally stored credentials.
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