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jicon

macrumors 6502a
Nov 29, 2004
804
625
Toronto, ON
I would like to have full access of the NFC as well. It's such an interesting toy to learn hardware RF Engineering and communication systems programming.

Currently, you need a linux machine with a developer RFID board, which I have one. You can do anything with it, good or bad...

The Apple restrictions here and there on iPadOS and iOS is pushing me closer and closer to get an Android for a spin. I have a list, and it's almost long enough.
What does full access of NFC define as? I know there are apps out there on iPhone that read and write to NFC tags. NFC21Reader, Amiiboss, and I think four years ago Abbott released I think the first iOS app to take advantage of NFC on iPhones, allowing activation and reading of NFC on Freestyle Libre sensors. But maybe there's an angle to development and protocols I'm just not familiar with.
 

Nozuka

macrumors 68040
Jul 3, 2012
3,532
6,002
Is this really an issue? I mean, Apple Pay is just a conduit, that allows a payment card provider to offer NFC on the iPhone. It's not like you're only limited to using Apple Card. I have all my cards in Apple Pay and can use any one of them, and it's exactly the same from my perspective as using the card directly.

Apple just provides a conduit and interface, not really the service itself.

If it were something like, only Apple Card can use Apple Pay, I'd get it, but it's not like that.

It's an issue for them because Apple takes a cut for every payment ;)
 
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4jasontv

Suspended
Jul 31, 2011
6,272
7,548
Concerns may have been raised by Apple Pay's wide reach and better user experience on the iPhone compared to other services, and accelerated by the growth of contactless payments during the global health crisis.
Isn't this expected in a free market?
 
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Expos of 1969

Contributor
Aug 25, 2013
4,741
9,257
How do these POS eu countries feel like they can force businesses to operate in a way they want them to at every turn? If you dont like the way Apple does it, there are other phones with other operating systems. If you were forced to buy an iphone, then I would agree with the eu stance. But since you arent, they are full of excrement.
Your insightful and intelligent comment has added tremendously to the discussion. I do not need to ask what school system had a part in your past.
 

nothingtoseehere

macrumors 6502
Jun 3, 2020
453
521
Isn't this expected in a free market?
Well, as I am living in the EU, I can tell that Brussels' views about what they consider as a "free" market somewhat differs from the common understanding of the phrase.
Obviously, they do not think that a manufacturer is free to decide what is implemented in the products, and what isn't.
 

gaximus

macrumors 68020
Oct 11, 2011
2,265
4,464
Nah, it's like any other app that accesses a piece of hardware, wether it's the Camera or Location. You just need a public API with permissions. In this case the API would also enable integration with Wallet.
I doubt Apple would allow integration with the wallet. And there is already an API for the NFC hardware (I have a NFC reader app, not sure about write). I don't see any problem with banks creating an app that has NFC payments. But no-one would use it, not unlocking my phone and having to find an app just to make a payment and it would be even more cumbersome on the watch, which is my primary payment method.
 

pcmike

macrumors 6502
Jun 17, 2007
493
331
Lake Worth, FL
2 words

About time.


Edit:
Reason I say this, I think NFC should be open, If you have an android phone l in my country you can have a higher security level needed for some government services.
That's not all, NFC should be open from the beginning, but Apple thinks it's a good idea not to open it, for 1 reason only, to subtract more cash from consumers.
So use an android phone, absolutely NO ONE is forcing you to use an iPhone! Don’t like it? Don’t use it. Simple. What a joke.
 

nwcs

macrumors 68030
Sep 21, 2009
2,722
5,262
Tennessee
I don't really see an issue with Apple opining up access to other payment systems through an API they manage. In any case, the ecosystem mentality of years ago is clearly changing. The changes may be somewhat political and arbitrary but they are there nonetheless. In a way, long term, it may be beneficial as it provides a somewhat easier path to move between systems of choice rather than being locked down and being unable to make changes.

I don't expect Apple to be simply a tool provider but I do think they have to rethink fundamentally what it means to build an ecosystem while not "trapping" users except through a superior experience.
 

subi257

macrumors 65816
Sep 13, 2018
1,324
1,640
New Jersey
Perhaps a lawyer can jump in for this question: when a company is accused of antitrust behavior, isn't there a requirement that consumers are forced to use the product, or are at least significantly disadvantaged if they don't?

I mean it in the context of, no one is really forced to buy an iPhone, anyone can easily switch to Android. I contrast that with Microsoft's antitrust in the 90s, where they had 90% market share and much of the software was only available on Windows, which de facto forced everyone onto Windows.
That is a really good point. Nobody is forced to use any Apple products and if someone the is using one of them is no longer happy with it they are free to change. I think the Microsoft point is good, they were the only practical OS and all computers, regardless of brand had to use it.
 

jarman92

macrumors 65832
Nov 13, 2014
1,504
4,680
I didn't know the EU and South Korea had so much in common. They may be geographically separate, but they live in the same fantasy world where one company can build something great, and others are entitled to use it for free even though other options are available

Don’t forget rampant (and growing) protectionism.
 

Number 41

macrumors 6502a
Jun 15, 2009
745
970
2 words

About time.


Edit:
Reason I say this, I think NFC should be open, If you have an android phone l in my country you can have a higher security level needed for some government services.
That's not all, NFC should be open from the beginning, but Apple thinks it's a good idea not to open it, for 1 reason only, to subtract more cash from consumers.

I've never once walked around and wished there were other NFC payment options in my phone beyond Apple Pay.

Standardization is a good thing in some instances.
 

Ubele

macrumors 6502a
Mar 20, 2008
893
339
I could see this being an issue if the only way to pay for things is via an NFC-equipped smartphone, but when I buy something from a store that doesn't have an NFC payment method, I use a thing called a credit card, which I store in an accessory called a wallet. Am I missing somewhere here?
 

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,572
6,083
Apple Pay will not go away because of this...
You would likely just be able to chose a different payment provider. Just like you are able to choose a different default browser.
The "different browser" is just an illusion of choice.

Being allowed to pick a different UI for a browser is a minor detail of limited significance.

The issue is that you can't use a different engine. Every browser on iOS uses the same undocumented WebKit engine from Apple. This gives Apple an enormous amount of control over the internet. The engines used by Firefox, Chrome, and Edge (I think they're called Gecko and Chromium) might all support some new web standard, say a new Payment API, but if Apple doesn't add it to WebKit, then it won't be supported on iPhones and so developers won't use that new feature.

Really though, the main thing Apple does with WebKit is intentionally cripple the resources it got, to ensure that web apps would never be able to approach the performance of native apps. Which of course bolsters the App Store as developers feel that making a native app is necessary.
 

bandrews

macrumors 6502a
Jul 18, 2008
887
2,204
Not sure if anyone has posted this yet but the worst part about opening it up to everyone is that banks can then force you to use their own proprietary contactless payment app. Not sure if it's still the case but when I had a Pixel 5 last year I was unable to add my Barclays card to Google Pay as Barclays only allowed contactless payments through their own app. A nightmare if you want to regularly switch between different cards from different banks. This fragmentation is a bit like the opposite of their USB-C decision which aims to simplify and standardise.
 

simps100

macrumors 6502
Sep 24, 2012
382
187
UK
Having never used any sort of android payment method i’m curious how this would work in real world if apple was forced to open this up.

I assume on androids you can just tap your phone on a reader without opening individual bank apps etc much like Apple Pay?
 

subi257

macrumors 65816
Sep 13, 2018
1,324
1,640
New Jersey
Is this really an issue? I mean, Apple Pay is just a conduit, that allows a payment card provider to offer NFC on the iPhone. It's not like you're only limited to using Apple Card. I have all my cards in Apple Pay and can use any one of them, and it's exactly the same from my perspective as using the card directly.

Apple just provides a conduit and interface, not really the service itself.

If it were something like, only Apple Card can use Apple Pay, I'd get it, but it's not like that.
Exactly, I have all of my cards in the Apple wallet, including store cards, etc and I can and do use whatever card I choose to use. The wallet is just a conduit.

EU is really looking to stifle new technology progress. It would get to the point where no company will want to invest R&D money because the EU will just cause it to be wasted.
 

Rigby

macrumors 603
Aug 5, 2008
6,231
10,174
San Jose, CA
Is this really an issue? I mean, Apple Pay is just a conduit, that allows a payment card provider to offer NFC on the iPhone. It's not like you're only limited to using Apple Card. I have all my cards in Apple Pay and can use any one of them, and it's exactly the same from my perspective as using the card directly.

Apple just provides a conduit and interface, not really the service itself.

If it were something like, only Apple Card can use Apple Pay, I'd get it, but it's not like that.
The banks would love to be able to provide Apple-Pay-like functionality for their cards without paying Apple a cut of their transaction fees. If Apple is forced to open NFC up for payment purposes (it already is usable by apps for other things), banks would most likely start dropping Apple Pay support and force you to use their own apps.
 
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