HCE in iPhone

Hello, maybe anyone know anything about HCE (Host card emulation) feature on iOS? As far as I read, it's not possible to achieve this functionality on iOS, but maybe there are plans to implement that? Or maybe it's clear that it wont be allowed to be used at all? Thanks:)

  • Hi.Did you find any solution for this?

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I would doubt there are plans to do it. As Apple develops both device and iOS, and does not licence iOS (contrary to Android) there is no real interest to go HCE. In addition, security and data protection are better guaranteed with Secure Element in device. So my personal opinion is that answer is no, "never".

I found this article interesting: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/host-card-emulation-secure-element,28804.html

Apps will be able to offer NFC payments without using Apple Pay or the Wallet app through Host Card Emulation.

HCE is now available on iOS 17.4, albeit only for banking and wallet apps in the European Economic Area running on an iPhone.

You can read the details here: https://developer.apple.com/support/hce-payment-transactions-in-payment-apps/

Developers will need to obtain a special entitlement, and the apps can only run (including for testing) on iPhones physically located in the EEA.