Trump Pushes Tech Giants to Absorb AI Data Center Power Costs, Citing Microsoft Changes 
OpenAI Sets $50 Billion Stock Grant Pool, Boosting Employee Equity and Valuation Outlook 
Anthropic Launches HIPAA-Compliant Healthcare Tools for Claude AI Amid Growing Competition 
China Reviews Meta’s $2 Billion AI Deal With Manus Amid Technology Control Concerns 
HSBC Expands UAE Presence With New Asset Management Business and Onshore Funds 
Hyundai Motor Shares Surge on Nvidia Partnership Speculation 
UBS Upgrades L’Oréal to Buy, Sees Strong Sales Momentum and 20% Upside 
SK Hynix to Invest $13 Billion in Advanced Chip Packaging Plant as AI Memory Demand Surges 
Nvidia Appoints Former Google Executive Alison Wagonfeld as First Chief Marketing Officer 
FCC Exempts Select Foreign-Made Drones From U.S. Import Ban Until 2026 
NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern 
Dell Revives XPS Laptop Lineup With New XPS 14 and XPS 16 to Boost Premium PC Demand 
Boeing 737 MAX 10 Advances in FAA Testing as Certification Delays Continue 
Trump Weighs Blocking Exxon Investment as Venezuela Deemed “Uninvestable” 
Rio Tinto–Glencore Talks Spark Pressure on BHP as Copper Fuels Mining Mega Deals 
NYC Nurses Strike Shuts Down 10 Private Hospitals as 15,000 Demand Safer Staffing and Benefits 
Trump Considers Starlink to Restore Internet Access in Iran Amid Protests 
With the release of iOS 18.1, Apple is allowing third-party apps to integrate tap-to-pay features, significantly expanding the use of NFC technology. This update provides developers with new tools to create seamless in-app payment experiences.
Apple’s iOS 18.1 Opens Tap-to-Pay to Third Parties
Beginning with iOS 18.1, Apple will allow developers to enable in-app NFC transactions by utilizing the Secure Element.
Additionally, as part of the update, you will have the ability to designate a default contactless payment app that will be accessible when you double-click the side button on your iPhone, The Verge shares.
In the past, Apple Pay was only able to be displayed when the button in question was double-clicked.
NFC Now Available for More Than Just Tag Scanning
As a result of this modification, developers will have the ability to provide in-app contactless transactions for a wide range of applications. These transactions will include "in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and rewards cards, and event tickets." NFC access for third-party applications has, up to this point, been restricted to the scanning of tags.
In the press release issued by Apple, it is stated that support for government IDs will be available "in the future."
A future developer beta for iOS 18.1 will make the essential application programming interfaces (APIs) available to developers in the United States of America, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
Developers Face Requirements to Access Apple’s NFC Tech
Apple also adds that "additional locations to follow" will be included in the test. However, in order to make use of Apple's application programming interfaces (APIs), developers will be required to "enter into a commercial agreement with Apple, request the NFC and SE entitlement, and pay the associated fees."
This change comes after Apple made an offer to open iPhone NFC payments to third-party suppliers in response to an antitrust inquiry conducted by the European European Commission.
The European Commission made the announcement that it had made Apple's commitments legally obligatory over the course of the previous month.
