Can My App Use/emulate iPhone as an NFC Tag for Tap-to-Interact with the new update??

Hello,

I’m developing an app and want to explore the possibility of using an iPhone to emulate an NFC tag. Specifically, I’m interested in enabling one iPhone to act as an NFC tag that another iPhone can read, creating a tap-to-interact experience within my app. Is this functionality supported by current iOS APIs, or is it something that might be available in the next update for iOS 18.1 which is supposedly unlocking iPhone NFC chips? If not, are there any workarounds or third-party solutions that can achieve this such as bluetooth low energy (BLE) maybe?

Any insights or guidance on how to implement this feature would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

While it is currently, and with iOS 18.1 would be possible for an app to emulate an NFC tag, these are reserved for very specific use cases and not available to be used for arbitrary tag emulation.

You can read about the capabilities and requirements for these use cases in the following documents:

NFC & SE Platform for secure contactless transactions

HCE-based contactless transactions for apps in the European Economic Area (EEA)

At this time, no other use cases are supported.


Argun Tekant /  DTS Engineer / Core Technologies

Can My App Use/emulate iPhone as an NFC Tag for Tap-to-Interact with the new update??
 
 
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