Apple unveiled the latest version of its smartphone operating system in June 2021. At the keynote, the company also detailed an upcoming digital driver’s license feature that was supposed to be released with iOS 15. While iOS 15 already released in September, the feature is yet to make its way to iPhones.
The Apple website now displays that the “ID cards” feature will be released sometime early next year. Specifically, the page for iOS 15 reads “Coming early 2022” for the digital driver’s license and ID function feature. The feature will initially be released only in the United States – the states which are ready to include such a feature.
States will control the credentials system
The digital driver’s license feature will let users scan their license just like scanning a document. The scanned document will then be stored in the “Wallet” app of the iOS device. The smartphone continues to become the central device which contains every single thing that’s required for everyday use.
While a lot of official documents are already available as electronic documents, the driver’s license is yet to be included in a seamless manner. In India, many states released “Road Transport Authority” apps which have had the ability to include driver’s license for almost 4-5 years now.
According to GSMArena, the digital driver’s license feature which is set to be released by Apple next year will only be supported in some states in the beginning. Only Arizona and Georgia will support the feature at launch. Other states namely Connecticut, Maryland, Iowa, Kentucky, Utah, and Oklahoma will add the functionality in the near future.
No timeline has been shared as of yet on the release schedule of the release of the “ID Cards” feature on iPhones. The costs associated with the digital feature will reportedly be borne by taxpayers. The marketing of the feature will be maintained by Apple whereas the actual credentials system will be handled by the states.
