Back in June, we reported that Apple had announced a digital passport option was coming to Apple Wallet with the next iOS update. iPhone fanboys and fangirls like myself had responses that were all over the spectrum, spanning from cynical, “Yeah, we’ve heard THAT before,” all the way to tears of joy (OK, maybe not actual tears of joy. But more than one, “Yay!” was most definitely heard).
So, iOS was released a couple of weeks ago, and guess what? No digital passport support in Apple Wallet. Whomp whomp.
However, in the teeny tiny print of Apple’s page about iOS 26, there’s a glimmer of hope – Footnote 13:
13. Digital ID will be coming later this year with US passports only.
9to5Mac is hypothesizing:
This likely means that we’re either looking at a release in iOS 26.1 in late October, or iOS 26.2 in early-to-mid December.
It’s also possible that Apple could add US passport support to Wallet via a server-side update, with no software release required.
OK, yay. But what about safety?
There’s been a lot of discussion in recent months about the safety of handing your phone over to TSA agents, Border Patrol, etc.
That wouldn’t be an issue with this new technology.
Once the system works and a digital copy of your driver’s license is in your Apple Wallet, it would be used like Apple Pay – you wouldn’t give your phone to anyone. That being said, it would always be safest to also have the hard copy of your passport with you (if you plan to use your passport as ID), due to the possibility of glitches, TSA kiosks that aren’t equipped with digital readers yet, being in a country where digital ID isn’t accepted, etc.
But anyway…
But anyway…it sounds as if it’s finally coming. Fingers crossed.
Big whoop for iPhones – what about Android?
Android phones have actually had a one-up on iPhones for this – they’ve been able to store their passports digitally since late last year. Here’s how you do it:
Open the Wallet app of your Android 9+ device and:
- Tap the Add to Wallet button
- Hit ID Verify
- Choose the ID pass/Passport (US) option
- Hit Get Started
Once you have your passport in hand, follow the prompts:
- Scanning the passport with your camera
- Scanning the security chip on the back cover using NFC
- Take a video of your face, to confirm your identity
Then, when you’re at a participating TSA checkpoint, tap your phone on the digital ID reader. On your phone, you’ll receive a message asking you to consent to share your digital ID information with the TSA.
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