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How to Upload Your Driver’s License to Your iPhone

Residents of select states can show TSA a digital version of their license stored in their Apple Wallet.

If you’re traveling over the holidays, there’s a lot to keep track of as you race through the airport: Your tickets, your boarding pass, your luggage, your loved ones — and, of course, your ID.

Almost all airlines let you use a digital version of your boarding pass to board, but now some states are allowing residents to keep their driver’s license or other recognized identification in their Apple Wallet, letting them just flash their iPhones — or Apple Watch — rather than root through their pocketbooks for their ID.

Apple announced the initiative in 2021, building the technology into iOS 15 for iPhone.

«The addition of driver’s licenses and state IDs to Apple Wallet is an important step in our vision of replacing the physical wallet with a secure and easy-to-use mobile wallet,» Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, said in a statement at the time.

It’s not quite a universal game-changer yet: While 12 states have committed to allowing digital IDs, only three have officially started accepting them.

And while the airport you depart from might accept a driver’s license on your Apple Watch, you might not be extended the same courtesy on the return trip.

But the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is already supporting the technology at select airport security checkpoints at participating airports.

«Digital identity has the ability to strengthen airport security and enhance the passenger experience by reducing touchpoints, providing greater privacy, and verifying IDs more accurately,» the agency said in a statement. So it’s really a question of when, not if the option will become standard nationwide.

Here’s what you need to know about putting your driver’s license in your Apple Wallet, including how to do it and which states recognize digital IDs.

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How do I add my driver’s license to my Apple Wallet?

Adding a driver’s license or other state ID is similar to how you add new credit cards to your Apple Wallet.

First, tap the «+» button at the top of the screen in Wallet. (If you have an Apple Watch paired to your iPhone, it will ask you about adding your license there, as well.)

You’ll then scan your physical driver’s license with your iPhone’s camera and take a selfie, «which will be securely provided to the issuing state for verification,» according to Apple.

You’ll also be asked to complete a series of facial and head movements «as an additional security step.»

Once your ID has been verified by the state that issued it, it will be added to your Wallet.

To add your license or ID to Apple Wallet, it will need to be issued from a participating state. In addition, you’ll need:

  • An iPhone 8 or later, or an Apple Watch Series 4 or later, with the latest version of iOS or WatchOS
  • Face ID or Touch ID turned on
  • An Apple ID with two-factor authentication turned on
  • Your device region set to the US

Also, only passengers with TSA PreCheck on their boarding pass are eligible to flash digital licenses, according to the TSA website, though the agency said it plans to add the option for other passengers in the future.

Only one license or ID can be added to an iPhone and paired Apple Watch at a time.

Which states accept a digital driver’s license on an iPhone?

Apple initially announced in 2021 that eight states were participating in the program, then bumped the number to 12 this year. But those are states committed to accepting Apple Wallet IDs, not that currently do.

Only Arizona, Colorado and Maryland currently support the digital identification feature — and only at select security checkpoints at these airports:

  • Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport
  • Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
  • Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah have all committed to supporting the initiative, as has Puerto Rico, though specific timetables have not been announced.

Other states are expected to join this roster soon: Last year Bailey said Apple was «already in discussions with many more states.»

In November, the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles said it was «exploring» the digital ID option.

«There is a proviso that created a study committee on the idea and they are still undergoing research,» spokeswoman Maranda Williams told The State, a Columbia, South Carolina, news outlet.

Separate from Apple’s efforts, some states allow residents to upload their driver’s licenses to their phones through state-operated apps, like Louisiana’s LA Wallet. But these are for driving and age verification purposes and are not accepted by TSA yet.

How do I use a license stored in my Apple Wallet at TSA?

To present your digital ID, tap your iPhone or Apple Watch on the identity reader at the security checkpoint.

You’ll then be prompted to authenticate your identification with Face ID or Touch ID.

If it’s successful, a checkmark should appear on the screen.

According to Apple, «you don’t need to unlock, show or hand over your device [to a TSA agent].»

Is this technology secure?

According to Apple, it is. A statement on the Apple Support website says the program uses the same privacy and security features already in the iPhone and Apple Watch to prevent tampering and theft.

«Your driver’s license or state ID data is encrypted,» it said. «Neither the state issuing authority nor Apple can see when and where you use your license or ID, and biometric authentication using Face ID and Touch ID helps make sure that only you can view and use your license or ID.»

If my state accepts digital IDs, do I still need my physical license at the airport?

Yes. The program is still in its infancy, and there’s no guarantee the TSA agent you encounter will be able to accept a driver’s license on your Apple Wallet.

«All passengers must continue to have readily available their physical driver’s license,» TSA said on its website. «The TSA officer may require this physical ID in addition to the digital ID.»

Where else can I use my digital ID?

With the rollout of iOS 16 in June, apps that require age or identity verification should now be able to accept ID cards stored in your Apple Wallet app, Apple said.

Uber Eats and car-share service Turo were cited as two apps that could potentially offer this functionality, according to MacRumors, but neither has officially done so.

Apple also said retailers, restaurants and other venues will make use of the feature in the future.

I have an Android phone. Can I upload my ID to Google Wallet?

In a December 2022 system update, Google announced it was beta testing allowing Android phone users to upload their driver’s licenses to Google Wallet «for convenient, private and secure presentation.»

While the company said the feature would be available in «selected US state(s),» it didn’t indicate which ones or when.

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WWE 2K25 Jumps From the Top Rope Onto PlayStation Plus in September

Subscribers will also be able to play a turn-based strategy Persona game.

«The American Nightmare» Cody Rhodes, son of one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time, «The American Dream» Dusty Rhodes, is the current undisputed WWE champion. And PlayStation Plus subscribers can bring Rhodes down a peg or help establish a new wrestling dynasty with the champion beginning on Sept. 16 in WWE 2K25.

PlayStation Plus is Sony’s version of Xbox Game Pass, and it offers subscribers a large and constantly expanding library of games. There are three PlayStation Plus tiers — Essential ($10 a month), Extra ($15 a month) and Premium ($18 a month) — and each gives subscribers access to games. However, only Extra and Premium tier subscribers can access the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog. 

Here are all the games PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers can access starting on Sept. 16. You can also check out the games all PS Plus subscribers can play in September, including Psychonauts 2.


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


WWE 2K25

Take control of your favorite superstar from the men’s and women’s divisions in this knockdown, dragout wrestling game. Become one of over 300 wrestlers from today and years past, like Rhea Ripley and Andre the Giant. This entry in the series also introduces intergender wrestling matches, barricade diving and new brawl environments where you can get over or turn heel.

Persona 5 Tactica

Join the Phantom Thieves in this real-time strategy game set in the Persona universe. You and the group wander into a bizarre realm where people are living under tyrannical oppression, and you cross paths with a revolutionary named Erina. Now you’re in cahoots with the rebels as you try to free an oppressed people and find your way back home.

Other games on PS Plus

Those are a few of the games Sony is bringing to PlayStation Plus, and subscribers can play these games as well starting on Sept. 16.

*Premium subscribers only.

For more on PlayStation Plus, here’s what to know about the service and a rundown of PS Plus Extra and Premium games added in August. You can also check out the latest and upcoming games on Xbox Game Pass and Apple Arcade.

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Technologies

Little Nightmares 3 Hands-On: a Creepy Co-Op Game Arriving Just in Time for Halloween

The sequel adds cooperative play with all the haunting hallmarks of the earlier games.

After about an hour playing Little Nightmares 3, I’d used a person’s bisected halves to solve a puzzle, gotten a high score in a carnival shooting game and escaped the murderous claws of a deranged baby. As a 2-foot-tall youth trying to survive the morbid dangers of one demented area after another with my co-player, I was terrified and delighted.

I’ve only sampled the first two Little Nightmares games, but in my brief preview of Little Nightmares 3, it felt like a refined version of the series’ premise: small protagonists endangered by a large, grim world filled with traps to evade, puzzles to solve and horrid, lethal enemies to outwit. Take the scale of the animated horror movie 9, mix it with the darkest of stop-motion director Henry Selick’s maudlin settings and let players enjoy the haunting ride, room by perilous room.

This time, players aren’t alone. In Little Nightmares 3, developed by Supermassive Games, two players (or one and an AI companion) choose between characters Low (a bird-masked boy with a bow) and Alone (a girl with a jumpsuit and a wrench), who rely on each other and get out of rooms using their unique tools or just good ol’ fashioned teamwork. Sometimes this means pushing a box for the other to jump on, but other obstacles require rather complex puzzle-solving. 

In the game, Low and Alone seek to escape the bleak Nowhere and its roulette of dystopian lands. My preview was limited to one of these areas — Carnevale, a demented circus where our small characters had to sneak under the feet of grotesque, ambling workers (or their corpses, tied up or swinging for the sport of their fellows). When we thought we were safe, possessed puppets sprinted after us until we could team up to knock their wooden heads off and crush them. Being noticed by anyone meant our demise, requiring frantic cooperation amid the anxious stakes of rather gruesome deaths. 

It’s this tension and the dour setting that sets Little Nightmares 3 apart from other co-op games like the more excitable and dynamic Split Fiction released earlier this year, a rollercoaster flipbook of game genres that made for a breathless if not terribly coherent experience. In contrast, the section of Little Nightmares 3 I played unfolded like a series of grim vignettes that rely on its pleasingly goth trappings as much as working together with your friend (or computer teammate) to progress. 

Surviving your little nightmares

While I got only an hour with the game, Little Nightmares 3 seems to iterate on rather than innovate away from its predecessors: Expect more of the same in new, grotesque settings, just with the welcome addition of tightly designed teamwork dynamics. For fans of the series, this is likely a good thing. There’s not much else like Little Nightmares.

The Carnevale stage I played through opened up with rain pelting red-and-white circus tent tops, which I as the masked Low (and someone from Bandai Namco who kindly played as the jumpsuit-wearing Alone) skittered between. Lumbering above us were brutish factory workers seeking escape at the funfair, which very quickly turned sinister as we very shortly saw some hanging tied-up as others took turns beating them like a piñata. We entered one room to find one worker in connected boxes as the subject of a magician’s saw-in-half trick…which was no trick, as we had to separate the halves to climb out of a window. I tried, and failed, to ignore the viscera slopping out of the boxes.

While we hid from the human-size enemies, we had to fight the wooden puppets. Like Geppeto’s most horrid creations, they ambushed us in several rooms, requiring me to knock their heads off with Low’s bow and run away from their decapitated bodies while my teammate rushed forward to crush their heads with Alone’s wrench. 

But most of the rooms are about solving puzzles, which could be as simple as moving a box for my teammate to jump up and pull a switch or figure out how a radio plays into a complex solution. While these quiet moments are a nice break from the tense combat or pursuit, they also give time to appreciate the macabre backgrounds: I ran past one room with a circle of empty tall chairs only to come back a few seconds later to find them filled with puppets, unmoving but watching.

And then there are the really, really tense moments. We moved from the carnival to the adjoining candy factory (apparently where all those brutes work) and up to the offices where the boss works, to find him asleep with the TV droning on in the darkness…and his frankly hideous baby nestled next to him. Naturally, we had to make noise, cranking open a grate, awakening the terrifying spawn who ran after us. After many, many failed escapes, my teammate and I discovered we had to scramble for a hiding place after making it past the grate. 

This was perhaps the most frustrating part of the preview as we panicked looking for a solution to our deadly woes (as opposed to the slow, methodical gameplay earlier) — but that’s part of the tension, especially when adding a teammate to the mix. Ultimately, it was a hard-won lesson in patience. In the next room, a kitchen, the nightmarish baby banged a bowl on the table until the father walked over to a corpse (presumably his worker) and cut out some meat for his ghoulish child to eat.

In my short time with it, Little Nightmares 3 seems like a cooperative spooky storybook for players and their friends (but not couch buddies, sadly — it’s online co-op only) to experience. How much it lives up to previous games in the series, especially as developer Supermassive Games takes more of the reins from the franchise’s original creators Tarsier Games, is anyone’s guess. (Tarsier’s similar spiritual sequel to Little Nightmares, Reanimal, is coming in 2026.) 

But as the air turns crisp and Halloween beckons, it’s the best time of the year for a creepy co-op game like Little Nightmares 3 to land.

Little Nightmares 3 comes out Oct.10, 2025, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.

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