iOS 16 and Android 13 Give Us a Glimpse at the Future of Smartphones
Your smartphone will soon become even more closely tied to the nondigital aspects of your life. That's one of the main takeaways from iOS 16 and Android 13, the new mobile software updates coming later this year from Apple and Google. Both tech giants want to turn your phone into a digital wallet for storing your legal ID and other essential documents, pushing your phone closer to your identity than ever before. The companies also continue to improve the way phones communicate with cars, smart home gadgets and other everyday devices.
Both iOS 16 and Android 13 are filled with tweaks and new features, some of which are more important than digital wallets and speedier connections (like Apple's Safety Check tool for protecting domestic abuse victims, and Google's new privacy updates). But the overlap between the two operating systems underscores the phone's changing role in our lives. Based on Apple's and Google's latest announcements, what's happening around your phone will be just as important as what's happening on your phone.
The more intimately our phones are tethered to daily essentials like wallets, credit cards, cars and home appliances, the harder it's going to be to move away from them (or switch between iPhone and Android). The concept isn't new; the industry has moved in this direction for years. But the changes in iOS 16 and Android 13 bring important refinements to Apple's and Google's respective approaches that will likely accelerate such efforts.
Read more: iOS 16's Lock Screen Upgrades Make the iPhone More Like a Smartwatch
Replacing the physical wallet
The digital wallet was a big focus during both Apple's iOS 16 announcement and Google's Android 13 preview. The most significant change coming to Apple Pay is a new option called Apple Pay Later, which splits the cost of a purchase into four equal installments over six weeks. With iOS 16, identification cards stored in Apple Wallet can also be used to verify your age within apps. The addition comes after Apple first added support for digital IDs last year.
Google, meanwhile, detailed a major revamp to its Wallet app during its I/O conference last month that brings it up to speed with Apple. The new Google Wallet will store personal documents like payment and transit cards, vaccination records, boarding passes and student IDs, much like Apple Wallet. Google is also working with government agencies to support digital IDs.
Taken together, Apple's and Google's updates represent another step toward their common objective of making physical wallets obsolete -- a shift that'll inevitably make us even more reliant on mobile devices.
Google reiterated this ambition just before detailing the new updates at Google I/O in May.
"In fact, these days there are only two things I don't leave home without: my phone and my wallet," Sameer Samat, Android and Google Play's vice president of product management, said on stage. "So the question is, can my phone replace my wallet?"
Corey Fugman, Apple's senior director for Wallet and Apple Pay, made similar remarks during the WWDC keynote on Monday.
"With Apple Wallet, we're working hard on our goal to replace your physical wallet," he said.
People have already embraced the idea of replacing physical credit cards with smartphone-based payment apps. Usage of in-store mobile payment systems like Apple Pay is expected to surpass 50% of all smartphone users in the US by 2025, according to a 2021 report from eMarketer. Apple's new Pay Later option and Google's renewed focus on its own mobile wallet could make the notion of leaving your physical wallet at home even more appealing.
2022-06-17 04:02:46
