Apple’s WWDC 2017 started last Monday, with the announcement of many exciting news and new features.

One in particular caught our attention: the release of the new Core NFC API on iOS 11!

Until now, iPhones 5S and above had integrated the technology, but only Apple Pay was able to use it.

Now, any iOS application will be able to read NFC tags thanks to the API.

Read-only?

The Core NFC documentation only mentions tag reading. For the time being, it will not be possible to encode NFC tags with the current API.

A generic tag reader application?

With the launch of this new NFC API, some expected the development of an iOS generic tag reader application – just like on Android. However, this does not seem to be part of Apple’s immediate plans.

What iPhones are compatible?

Only iPhones that can receive the iOS 11 upgrade will be able to use the new API – in other words, iPhones 6 and above.

Does Connecthings plan on developing an NFC SDK for iOS?

For sure! - we are already working on the iOs NFC SDK, to allow your application to interact with NFC tags as soon as iOs 11 is officially released.

If you want your application to interact with the largest public beacon network: Contact us