Technologies

You can add your driver’s license or state ID to Apple Wallet in iOS 15. Here’s how

Although the prospect of ditching your physical wallet is exciting, the feature is currently only available in select US states.

In Apple’s vision of the future, you and I would leave our homes without physical wallets. Instead we’d walk out the front door carrying only the virtual wallets stored on our iPhones. We wouldn’t bring keys, either.

That hope for the future is creeping into the present as Apple unveiled that you can now upload your driver’s license to Apple Wallet in select states across the US. Arizona and Georgia will be the first to access the driver’s license feature, followed by Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma and Utah.

The feature was announced at WWDC earlier this year. It came alongside other Apple Wallet updates that allow your iPhone to hold digital versions of your house keys, hotel room keys and workplace IDs. All these changes are expected to come with iOS 15, which is said to roll out sometime in the fall. (Here’s how to download the public beta version now.)

Digitizing your driver’s license and other ID cards isn’t a new idea. Google and chipmaker Qualcomm announced their project to store a digital driver’s license in Android phones way back in 2019 — but it appears that iPhones will begin using the new feature first. Security and privacy issues are the biggest roadblocks and areas of highest concern. Apple says it secures your IDs with the same technology and encryption backing your credit cards in Apple Pay.

Once you set up your driver’s license and other ID cards in the iPhone, you’ll be able to present your identification on your iPhone or Apple Watch at airport security (yes, it’ll be supported by the TSA on a state-by-state basis) and any other business that accepts the new technology as proof of ID.

How you’ll scan your driver’s license into your iPhone with iOS 15

We’ll know more about the exact steps you’ll need to take once iOS 15 is generally released. For now, we’ve combined instructions from Apple’s presentation and website with the current Wallet app on iPhone.

Step 1: Make sure the iPhone has iOS 15 installed (Here’s how to download the public beta).

Step 2: Open the Apple Wallet app.

Step 3: Tap the + sign in the upper right corner of the screen and tap the card type, e.g. an identification card, hotel key, digital car key, transit card and so on.

Step 4: Follow the screen prompts to begin to scan your driver’s license or state ID using the iPhone’s camera and built-in scanner. For example, Apple will advise you to scan the front of your card first, and make sure you’re in an area with plenty of bright light and a simple, dark backdrop.

Step 5: After scanning your driver’s license or ID, the Wallet app will confirm when your identification is secure and ready to use.

When you use the driver’s license in Apple Wallet, you’ll first open the app and select your ID. If it’s at a TSA airport security checkpoint, Apple has said it will show you the kind of information it’ll share, including your legal name, date of birth, ID number and photo, and expiration date.

As with your other sensitive payment cards, you’ll need to confirm the transfer of information through checkpoints with a pass from Face ID — or presumably your secure passcode, if you’re wearing a face mask or don’t use Face ID.

For more about iOS 15, here’s how Apple fixed FaceTime’s most annoying problem, how your family and friends can get you back into a locked-out iPhone, and how to find your missing AirPods if you lose them.

Technologies

Tinder Users Must Start Logging In With Their Faces, Starting Nationwide

The social app now has new US requirements including face identification to help quell longstanding problems with catfishing and more.

US Tinder users will find a new feature when they open up the dating app starting Wednesday: A mandatory Face Check on their phones will be required before they can log into their profiles.

The Face Check step will begin with a new request to record a video of your face, a more casual version of setting up Apple’s Face ID login. Tinder will then run checks comparing your face data to your current profile pics and automatically create a small face badge for your profile. We already know how it works, because Tinder has already launched the feature in Canada and California before the full US rollout.

The technology, powered by FaceTec, will keep biometric data of the user’s face in encrypted form but discard the scanning video for privacy. Tinder will be able to use the face data to detect duplicate accounts, in an effort to cut down on fake profiles and identity theft.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Tinder’s facial recognition rollout is also made to prevent catfishing, or people pretending to be someone else on Tinder to scam or blackmail them. But that also points to a deeper problem on the rise in dating apps — a growing number of bots, many controlled by AI, are designed to glean personal information or fool users into scammy subscriptions, among other problems.

Tinder’s working against these bots on several fronts, including this Face Check push as well as ID Check, which requires a government-issued ID and other types of photo verification.

The dating app also recently released a feature in June to enable double-dating with your friends, which Tinder reports is especially popular with Gen Z users. If you’re worried about the latest hazards on Tinder, we have guide to safety practices.

A representative for Tinder did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, Oct. 23

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 23.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Like some weather, memories and I.P.A.s
Answer: HAZY

5A clue: Statement that’s self-evidently true
Answer: AXIOM

7A clue: Civic automaker
Answer: HONDA

8A clue: What fear leads to, as Yoda told a young Anakin
Answer: ANGER

9A clue: Foxlike
Answer: SLY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Verbal «lol»
Answer: HAHA

2D clue: Brain signal transmitter
Answer: AXON

3D clue: Hits with a witty comeback
Answer: ZINGS

4D clue: Sing at the top of a mountain, maybe
Answer: YODEL

6D clue: Name of the famous «Queen of Scots»
Answer: MARY

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 23 #599

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 599.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be Halloween-themed, as the answers are all rather dangerous. Some of them are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Please don’t eat me!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Remember Mr. Yuk?

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

POND, NOON, NODE, BALE, SOCK, LOVE, LOCK, MOCK, LEER, REEL, GLOVE, DAIS, LEAN, LEAD, REEL

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: