ST Introduces Enhanced NFC For New iOS 13 Platform

Article By : STMicroelectronics

New iOS 13 release to significantly extend support for NFC applications including reading/writing tags and improved user experience. ST provides support for developers to accelerate delivery of solutions for iOS 13 based on extensive ST25 NFC-tag family

STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, is enhancing software support for smartphone app developers to unleash the full potential from the new Core NFC Framework of the newly released iOS 13 operating system.

The Core NFC Framework in iOS 13 enables reading and writing interactions with diverse types of NFC tags, including ISO/IEC 15693type-5 tags. The newly supported commands include the full standard command set as well as the extended set specified in ISO/IEC 15693, together with the support of custom commands, to permit interaction with embedded electronics through dynamic tags that can store changeable information such as fitness-tracking data. The move enables powerful and innovative contactless possibilities extending well beyond payments and ticketing to include smart retail, cycle or scooter hire, smart parking, healthcare, coupons, loyalty schemes, easy device pairing, gaming, and many more, including industrial and automotive use cases.

ST has a rich portfolio of chips for use in mobile devices, payment terminals and automotive, and NFC tags, including the ST25T series for type-5- tags in widespread use today and the ST25DV series for type-5 long-range (ISO/IEC 15693) dynamic tags. In addition to standardized capabilities, ST’s tags provide enhanced features such as custom instructions and TruST25™ digital signature for additional protection. Developers can leverage a comprehensive ecosystem that includes the ST25 SDK software development kit, ST25DV-DISCOVERY evaluation kit, X-NUCLEO-NFC04A1 STM32 Nucleo Expansion board, ST25 (Mobile) NFC tap application, and soon-to-be-updated ST25 NFC tap iOS application for development on iOS 13 devices.

As a long-time advocate of type-5 ISO/IEC 15693 dynamic tags and a board member of the NFC Forum and ISO standards organizations developing contactless specifications, ST has expertise across the full range of NFC technologies and applications and had already contributed to development programs for the launch of iOS 13.

Moreover, to help developers begin creating new apps for iOS 13 devices quickly, ST has made source code available for the ST25 NFC tap application and published a guide with tips and tricks for unleashing the potential of NFC on iOS 13.

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