Apple may be introducing a new function that would allow you to unlock your car and house doors with your iPhone.
According to The Information, the technology company is expected to enable the NFC enabled iPhone to be used for opening hotel rooms, opening cars or for using the same as virtual transit cards all this with the latest update iOS 12.
Apple first brought NFC chips to its devices with the iPhone 6, giving users the ability to pay with their phones via Apple Pay but that was more or less it.
Then with iOS 11, the Cupertino, California-based tech company allowed third-party apps to access the NFC chip but with limited access. The user’s iPhone would need to be unlocked and the app in the foreground for them to gain access to NFC, which in some cases defeats the point of being quick. In that same amount of time a user could usually open a wallet and pull out a card.
According to sources, Apple would enable the above feature by granting developers full access to the NFC chip that comes integrated into every iPhone devices.
In addition to being used as a virtual key for opening hotel rooms, the same feature can also be used for gaining access to their cars and homes as well. Using the same as a virtual transit card is also being actively speculated which will enable iPhone users to pay for public transit services using their handsets itself. The said feature is already active in a limited manner in countries like Russia, China, Japan and the US and UK.
In some cities in the UK, Japan and the US, commuters can already pay transport fares using either an NFC chip or FeliCa Chip (found in the iPhone 7, 8 and X).
If Apple further opens up this technology and invites developers to provide various solutions to everyday issues, iPhone users could potentially reduce the number of items they carry in their pockets. It’s not clear what exactly will be part of the iOS 12 announcement, whether the brand will reveal preferred partners for using the tech or whether it will be a more preliminary launch. We await Apple’s WWDC runs June 4-8 in San Jose, California.