Apple Pay 2014 Release & Launch Update: New iOS Screenshots Leak
Apple recently released the second version of its iOS 8.1 beta and developers are already pulling out interesting tidbits buried in the code. Hamza Sood, an iOS developer, posted pictures on his Twitter account showing iOS 8.1 screenshots of what appear to be Apple Pay setup screens. Some are from the Passbook app and others from within the general OS itself.
While this revelation isn't at all surprising, it's cool to get an idea of what Apple Pay will look like when it launches later this year.
The Passbook screen shot will look familiar to those who have used Passbook and added passes and cards to the app. There is also a link users can use to scan codes from their passes, loyalty cards, gift cards, movie tickets, etc., near the bottom of the screen. Users can also take pictures of their cards and automatically input them into iOS 8 that way.
Sood's photos also detail the iPad Apple Pay setup in iOS 8.1, and it looks a lot like the iPhone Apple Pay setup. It should be noted that currently Apple Pay would only allow iPad users to pay for items remotely and not in person. No current iPad has the NFC technology built into it that is required for Apple Pay to work with POS terminals. Additionally, Apple Pay requires Touch ID to work, another feature that the current iPads do not possess.
iOS 8.1 still doesn't have Apple Pay 'turned on' by default and will probably require a future update before it goes live on iOS devices. The fact that these features are already in the code point to Apple Pay being very near launch, or so we would hope. Bluetooth connectivity issues and a host of other bug fixes are expected to be addressed by iOS 8.1 when it is released.
Apple has encountered some trouble with recent iOS 8 updates. iOS 8.0.1 was released a few weeks ago to fix bugs within the brand new iOS 8, however, it caused major issues for users who installed it. Many people reported loss of cell signal and malfunctioning Touch ID sensors after updating to iOS 8.0.1. Apple quickly pulled the update when it realised what was going on and promptly apologized. A subsequent update--iOS 8.0.2--has been released and reportedly fixed phones malfunctioning as a result of the first update.