iPhone owners who use public transport in Île-de-France are starting to see the end of the tunnel. They will soon be able to use their smartphone to validate their journeys with a digital version of the Navigo Pass.
It took time. While owners of Android smartphones have been able for more than a year to use the dematerialized version of the Navigo Pass (or Navigo package, its official name) to travel in Île-de-France, iPhone owners are still glued to their physical Navigo card… But not for very long a priori. Indeed, Île-de-France Mobilités has announced that public transport users should, in a few weeks, be able to use their iPhone to validate their journeys and pass through the station gates. An operation which is still impossible at present, as iPhones only allow Navigo cards to be recharged. According to the site iGenerationthis possibility “required further technological development”. Initially planned for the end of 2023, then postponed to the first quarter of 2024, the system should therefore, if no other hiccups arise, finally arrive at the end of May, and satisfy the millions of tourists visiting this summer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
According to information provided by Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) to our colleagues, “the technical development of the service is being finalized”. Apple would have put a few obstacles in the way of IDFM, in particular to open up access to the NFC chip in iPhones. It would even be possible to use the Navigo Pass present on the device even if the iPhone is running out of energy. An equivalent system has already been in place in London for five years.
However, no mention is made of the Apple Watch at the moment. A post on the IDFM blog published last January, however, mentioned the possibility of using the Apple watch to, again, validate your journeys.
The page of IDFM website on the other hand (which is not yet up to date with this new information) does not refer to it. However, it would be surprising if the Apple watch was excluded from the device. Would it also require additional technological development? To be continued.