Apple to limit iPhone 6 NFC to Apple Pay, restrict developer access
According to a report on Monday, Apple is restricting developer access to the NFC module found in the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, limiting the component to first-party Apple Pay services only.
While Apple's new iPhone 6 lineup is the first to incorporate near-field communications hardware, it seems the company will keep the component on lockdown as it makes an entrance into secure digital payments with Apple Pay.
An Apple spokesperson told Cult of Mac that developers will not be able to access NFC chip APIs this year, meaning the component is included in the iPhone 6 as a dedicated payments solution component. Apple is likely employing a "go slow" approach to NFC as the technology, and its security, is a vital cog in the Apple Pay system.
Competing smartphone manufacturers like Samsung use NFC for quick device pairing, data transport and other functions. For its part, Apple has a higher-bandwidth stand-in with the iBeacon protocol, which harnesses Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi for fast recognition and rich data throughput.
While there are no plans to release the appropriate NFC module APIs to developers, Apple could open up access in the future as the technology matures within the iOS ecosystem. For example, iOS 8 now allows developer access to the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, which was first introduced with the iPhone 5s in 2013.
While Apple's new iPhone 6 lineup is the first to incorporate near-field communications hardware, it seems the company will keep the component on lockdown as it makes an entrance into secure digital payments with Apple Pay.
An Apple spokesperson told Cult of Mac that developers will not be able to access NFC chip APIs this year, meaning the component is included in the iPhone 6 as a dedicated payments solution component. Apple is likely employing a "go slow" approach to NFC as the technology, and its security, is a vital cog in the Apple Pay system.
Competing smartphone manufacturers like Samsung use NFC for quick device pairing, data transport and other functions. For its part, Apple has a higher-bandwidth stand-in with the iBeacon protocol, which harnesses Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi for fast recognition and rich data throughput.
While there are no plans to release the appropriate NFC module APIs to developers, Apple could open up access in the future as the technology matures within the iOS ecosystem. For example, iOS 8 now allows developer access to the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, which was first introduced with the iPhone 5s in 2013.
Comments
Apple clearly intends to dominate the market for IOS mobile payments and this makes perfect sense
Remember every iphone 6 sold in the US will almost certainly already have a compatible credit card linked itunes account and so be set up for Apple Pay from day 1
That's an incredibly friction free way to get the system out into the real world
If it's already on your new phone and the banks etc will be advertising the system in stores, it would be pretty hard to resist trying it out, and then your a user!
This kills NFC in iPhone for Japan, thanks Apple.
Or maybe let's go with the obvious here. It may open up a bit in a year. Think a year ago using the TouchID for iTunes purchases only. Apple does like to keep new things smaller as it works on bugs or implementation getting things right.
This kills NFC in iPhone for Japan, thanks Apple.
I bet carriers like Softbank and Docomo will probably work with Apple on something that will integrate Suica and Pasmo into Apple Pay.
I bet carriers like Softbank and Docomo will probably work with Apple on something that will integrate Suica and Pasmo into Apple Pay.
If it is possible yes, but Suica and Pasmo depend of the felica standards, and iPhone's NFC might not support them so we need to see what is possible.
I've been waiting for NFC to get rid of the 4-5 NFC cards I have (and use) but I guess it wont be for the next year.
How do you figure?
edit: I see you already explained right above my post. Yep, well, same here; I'm not expecting Apple Pay in my country anytime soon. Like many of Apple tech, like iTunes Radio, everything will see a slow rollout. Just the way things are, and for good reason.
Excellent! Keep ApplePay to Apple. No monkeying around with 3rd party apps using NFC. No hassle on malicious apps and such.
How do you figure?
Because NFC is pretty much already used anywhere, and I don't see people changing the system they uses now, especially since it's integrated with the train system, for Apple pay.
From that statement, it think its obvious that NFC APIs are coming if not this year, then as an update when Apple Watch is released or when iOS 9 drops.
At Apple's website it says you can use ApplePay at any POS terminal with this logo, which is the common logo for contact-less payments used by the big 3 card companies.
[IMG]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/48925/width/200/height/400[/IMG]
That's not true. Developers do not have access to the scanner. Apple simply added TouchID to their Keychain service. So once a developer uses the Keychain to store passwords, it will allow their users to authenticate using TouchID.
Wouldn't that just make them compatible with ApplePay?
Wouldn't that just make them compatible with ApplePay?
The terminals might be compatible with ApplePay, but Suica, Pasmo, Nanaco, Eddy, etc... All the existing solutions that could have been integrated into the iPhone (depending of the NFC technology used for the iPhone) won't be, and so Apple pay will just be another NFC payement system that doesn't add much compared to what we already have. Especially since some of those solutions are already usable on android phones (nanaco and suica for example).
Same here in Germany. For ?Pay to take hold, Apple would have to work with the different banks and debit/PIN cards. Credit cards are rarely used here.
Considering that Apple has a very low share of smartphone use here (~16%), I doubt they would roll out anything that l0oks like they're picking favorites. So unfortunately... unless Google/Android... or even Microsoft/Nokia...can get on the ball and release similar secure solutions, I don't expect to be seeing ?Pay being accepted any time soon.
*** looking at the GlobalPlatform alliance members that Apple recently joined, I couldn't find one major German company listed other than Infineon. TÜV SÜD-Japan is in the alliance, but not TÜV-Süd-Global or Germany. TÜV-Süd is very similar to UL if anyone is curious.
*** If the rest of the world saw what authorized "IRS acceptable" (Finanzamt) bank statements look like here in Germany, they would also see why I don't expect German banks to innovate or change unless they absolutely must.
Those are dot-matrix printed sheets roughly 1/3 Letter-size and must be printed out at a bank terminal or sent to you via post at an extra cost. A business like mine will have some 100 sheets a month to collate with invoices and billing statements, sometimes with only one line item info, up to 4 or 5 on a page. Below is not mine BTW. Just one of many that look like mine, when searching images for 'kontoauszug".
Not like this adds anything relevant to the topic... just to point out how backwards banks are here.