Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch Expand to Canada and More US Universities

apple.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 80 posts

Re: Student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch Expand to Canada and More US Universities

#21

Post by eqtn »

personlurking wrote: post #9

I'm curious how different digital IDs will work in the near future. Will one app hold all your official IDs or will there be an app for each purpose? After fall 2022, the EU plans to do a pilot of the EU digital ID. It would "let users store electronic forms of identification and other official documents, such as driver’s licenses, prescriptions and school diplomas." [1] https://apnews.com/article/europe-health-coron…

In India, there is an app which holds all your ids. We just enter the id number and required information and it will fetch the details. This includes school certificates, college certificates, driving license, birth certificate, Car/motorcycle papers and whole lot of other things.

https://www.digilocker.gov.in/

Re: Student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch Expand to Canada and More US Universities

#22

Post by michaelt »

Nullabillity wrote: post #4

Why would Apple be involved here? Wouldn't this just be a regular application, just like any other? Or is this yet another case of Apple's APIs being too limited, so they made themselves yet another loophole rather than fix it?

A few years ago, before Apple got involved themselves, I worked somewhere that brought a top-of-the-line smartphone based access control system.

The problem was it didn't reliably open doors, which is really the only thing you want from an access control system.

Apparently at the time NFC was for Apple Pay only, so the vendor had to use bluetooth; and apparently there was no way for them to keep their app running and the bluetooth radio running all the time. The Android version was no better.

Within a year they had switched back to plastic ID cards.

Re: Student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch Expand to Canada and More US Universities

#23

Post by throwawayboise »

fsflover wrote: post #12
crazygringo wrote: post #2

I'm a huge fan of being able to use my phone for everything whenever possible -- no wallet, no keys, no cards. So this is awesome on the part of Apple, but what about Android? Are student ID's on Android already a thing? Are they being developed? Or are there unique aspects of Apple controlling the hardware that inherently make cards like these more secure on Apple, that Android can't match (but maybe Pixel can)?

> So this is awesome on the part of Apple, but what about Android? But what if I have neither iOS, nor Android? Why must the government/universities support the duopoly?

My take would be, if my employer requires some kind of credential on a mobile device in order for me to be able to work, they can provide me with the mobile device (which I will use only and exclusively for work purposes).

Re: Student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch Expand to Canada and More US Universities

#24

Post by Nextgrid »

Nullabillity wrote: post #4

Why would Apple be involved here? Wouldn't this just be a regular application, just like any other? Or is this yet another case of Apple's APIs being too limited, so they made themselves yet another loophole rather than fix it?

Apple does not allow apps raw access to the NFC controller, so yes it's an annoying business decision from Apple rather than a technical limitation.

Re: Student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch Expand to Canada and More US Universities

#25

Post by eptcyka »

fsflover wrote: post #12
crazygringo wrote: post #2

I'm a huge fan of being able to use my phone for everything whenever possible -- no wallet, no keys, no cards. So this is awesome on the part of Apple, but what about Android? Are student ID's on Android already a thing? Are they being developed? Or are there unique aspects of Apple controlling the hardware that inherently make cards like these more secure on Apple, that Android can't match (but maybe Pixel can)?

> So this is awesome on the part of Apple, but what about Android? But what if I have neither iOS, nor Android? Why must the government/universities support the duopoly?

What if I have Android but not Google services?

Re: Student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch Expand to Canada and More US Universities

#26

Post by secabeen »

tssva wrote: post #5
crazygringo wrote: post #2

I'm a huge fan of being able to use my phone for everything whenever possible -- no wallet, no keys, no cards. So this is awesome on the part of Apple, but what about Android? Are student ID's on Android already a thing? Are they being developed? Or are there unique aspects of Apple controlling the hardware that inherently make cards like these more secure on Apple, that Android can't match (but maybe Pixel can)?

Student IDs are already available on Android including some of the schools mentioned.

Yeah, this is an Apple article, so it's silent on Android support. No college with any form of public remit would roll out a student ID system that required an apple device; it would run into all sorts of equity issues.

Re: Student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch Expand to Canada and More US Universities

#27

Post by tnel77 »

fsflover wrote: post #12
crazygringo wrote: post #2

I'm a huge fan of being able to use my phone for everything whenever possible -- no wallet, no keys, no cards. So this is awesome on the part of Apple, but what about Android? Are student ID's on Android already a thing? Are they being developed? Or are there unique aspects of Apple controlling the hardware that inherently make cards like these more secure on Apple, that Android can't match (but maybe Pixel can)?

> So this is awesome on the part of Apple, but what about Android? But what if I have neither iOS, nor Android? Why must the government/universities support the duopoly?

Genuine question: what’s the alternative? Perhaps a web app based solution?

Re: Student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch Expand to Canada and More US Universities

#28

Post by echelon »

motohagiography wrote: post #19
crazygringo wrote: post #2

I'm a huge fan of being able to use my phone for everything whenever possible -- no wallet, no keys, no cards. So this is awesome on the part of Apple, but what about Android? Are student ID's on Android already a thing? Are they being developed? Or are there unique aspects of Apple controlling the hardware that inherently make cards like these more secure on Apple, that Android can't match (but maybe Pixel can)?

As I understand it, the Apple devices have a secure element with initialization keys written at time of manufacture, which are then personalized to the user with a new/unique set as part of a registration, but verifiable as having being provisioned, so there is a cryptgraphic chain of trust going back to the manufacture of the secure element. Android is an operating system for a bunch of OEMs who don't have secure el…

It sounds like you're advocating for an Apple monopoly here.

I'm also laughing that you say Android isn't secure enough to handle payments. Millions of people use it to do so every day.

Re: Student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch Expand to Canada and More US Universities

#29

Post by meowkit »

throwawayboise wrote: post #20
xrendan wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my province (Alberta) I'm allowed to carry digital proof of insurance for my car instead of the standard pink sheet. The app has a mode that displays the insurance info on the lockscreen while locking the rest of the phone to the police (or whoever else needs to see it). So there are technical solutions to the first issue. The second issue, I completely agree, I would rather the system be an addition to existing I…

So much complexity, so many third parties you have to rely upon to not make any mistakes (or be abusive), for the convenience of not carrying a slip of paper in the glove box of your car....

Strawman, Mr. Luddite.

I don’t want cash, a wallet, plastic cards, metal keys, or tons of slips of paper from receipts and all other kinds of bullshit.

Putting it on the phone as a native app is hardly complex. Use QR codes, an officer won’t need to look at your phone

Re: Student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch Expand to Canada and More US Universities

#30

Post by pomian »

throwawayboise wrote: post #23
fsflover wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So this is awesome on the part of Apple, but what about Android? But what if I have neither iOS, nor Android? Why must the government/universities support the duopoly?

My take would be, if my employer requires some kind of credential on a mobile device in order for me to be able to work, they can provide me with the mobile device (which I will use only and exclusively for work purposes).

Yes. This. A different device. Only for this. Only turn it on when needed. Keep, turned off, in lead box otherwise. How else? But then what? One device for the bank. One device for your passport. One device for school. Etc.
Post reply on HN