If you live in Oklahoma, you can skip digging through your bag for a physical ID at the airport starting today. Apple has flipped the switch on digital driver’s licenses for the state, meaning Oklahomans can now load their ID straight into Apple Wallet on their iPhone or Apple Watch and use it wherever it’s accepted.
That “wherever it’s accepted” part still comes with some caveats, though. Right now, the digital ID mostly works at TSA checkpoints in a handful of airports, plus a limited number of businesses and apps that have bothered to support it. It’s useful, but it’s not yet something you can rely on everywhere the way you can a physical card.
Oklahoma becomes the 16th state to roll this feature out. It joins a list that already includes Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. Puerto Rico has it too, and outside the US, the same system works with Japan’s My Number Card. Apple isn’t done expanding, either. North Carolina and Utah are both expected to get the feature in the next few months, and Connecticut, Kentucky, and Mississippi have all committed to launching it eventually, even though those promises go back a few years now.
Getting set up doesn’t take long. Open Wallet on your iPhone, tap the plus button in the corner, then choose Driver’s License and ID Cards. From there, pick Oklahoma off the list and follow the prompts Apple walks you through. Once it’s done, your ID lives in Wallet, ready to use anywhere that accepts it, without you ever having to physically hand your phone to someone.
Actually using it is just as simple. You tap your iPhone or Apple Watch against an identity reader, and your device shows you exactly what information is being asked for before anything gets shared. Nothing goes out until you approve it with Face ID or Touch ID. That’s really the whole point of the design: you never unlock your phone, show the screen, or pass your device to another person just to prove who you are.
There’s one big exception worth knowing about. Police officers generally won’t accept a digital ID during a traffic stop, so you’ll still need to carry your physical license in the car no matter how many states adopt this. And outside of airports, plenty of businesses simply haven’t added support yet, which keeps this feature more of a nice-to-have than a full replacement for now.
Where it does work, the reach is fairly wide. Apple says its digital IDs are accepted at TSA checkpoints in more than 250 airports nationwide for domestic flights, so travelers in supported states already have plenty of chances to try it out.
