Apple to finally let EU residents add COVID-19 certificates to Wallet app

In the European Union, digital COVID-19 certificates are currently near-unavoidable, required for air travel, at border crossings, and often at events, restaurants, and sports venues. And while Apple's iPhone comes with a Wallet app which holds digital versions of credit cards, boarding passes, and various tickets, it currently doesn't support the EU COVID-19 certificate.

This will change soon. According to MacRumors, the latest beta version of iOS 15.4 will give EU citizens the option to add a COVID-19 certificate to their Wallet app.

The process of adding the certificate will be simple. Point your iPhone's camera to the certificate's QR code and tap the yellow notification that will add the certificate to your Wallet and Health apps.

According to MacStories editor Federico Viticci, the feature is not fully live in the iOS 15.4 beta. In a tweet, he said he was able to add his Italian vaccination record to the Health app, but it did not show in the Wallet yet. He also said that the record will show under "Immunization records" in the Health app.

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Tech blogger Luca Ansevini was however able to add his vaccination record to the Wallet app.

The feature has been live for users in the U.S., the UK, and Canada, among other countries, since iOS 15.1. It supports the SMART Health Cards framework, which is an open standard for electronic medical records, created in response to Covid-19. The list of issuers that supports the standard can be found here.

Aside from this, the upcoming iOS 15.4 also brings new emoji, support for Face ID while wearing a mask, and Universal Control, among other features.

UPDATE: Jan. 28, 2022, 4:09 p.m. CET The article has been updated to include more information on the SMART Health Cards framework and the list of issuers that support it.