Apple has recently forced by the European Commission to open up the iPhones' NFC functionality to third parties, paving the way for mobile payments that don't go through Apple's own wallet.
Now, the company has unusually taken a step forward by announcing that it will open up NFC to third-party developers outside the EU. This will happen “in an upcoming developer release for iOS 18.1”.
There are caveats, however, as is almost always the case with Apple. First, only developers from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and the US are eligible (in addition to those from the EU), with “additional locations to follow.” Second, this won’t be free.
Because Apple is Apple, the company will ask for money from interested developers. However, this opening up does not mean that just anyone in the aforementioned countries can create any app with NFC functionality, because “the security and privacy of users is of the utmost importance to Apple”, as the company proudly claims.
For all this to work, developers must first enter into a commercial agreement with Apple, apply for “the NFC and SE (Secure Element) right” and then “pay the associated fees” (which the company has not yet detailed).
In conclusion, NFC on iPhones is going to be much more flexible than ever, but despite all this new openness from Apple, it still won’t be as open as it is on Android. Big surprise, right?