Ever since Apple announced last year that they were opening their Apple Pay platform to allow for reading of NFC tags, iPhone users have still needed to rely on third-party reader apps in order to actually detect the info on their tags. The process of needing to download and open a separate tool has resulted in a much clunkier NFC experience as compared with their Android counterparts.
At WWDC2018, it was revealed that iOS 12 will include native recognition of NFC, which eliminates this need for a middle step, and creates a smoother, more instantaneous tag-read on the iPhone. The effort put forth by Apple to enable this feature, is a promising acknowledgement of the inherent power of NFC, and the significant value that can come from having it ready and available to everyone, at a moment’s notice. This is something that NFC enthusiasts have always known; and it is exciting news indeed!
Click here to hear the WWDC2018 Tech Talk about new changes coming to Core NFC: https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/tech-talks/702/
For more detail on what iOS 12 means for NFC, we recommend reading this article: https://www.taptrack.com/article/blog/with-ios12-apple-has-done-its-part-now-its-time-for-nfc-developers-to-do-ours/