What you need to know
- Spain is the latest country to support putting a COVID-19 passport into the Wallet app.
- Putting the passport into the Wallet app will allow people to be processed more quickly when entering other countries.
Spain is the latest EU country to add support for putting its COVID-19 passport into the Apple Wallet app.
The passport, which is recognized by more than 30 countries across Europe, allows people to freely move between European countries while proving that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. It can also be used to prove that people have received a negative test within the last two or three days, too.
Spanish officials say that while people don't have to use the new Apple Wallet functionality, it will allow them to be processed more quickly when they visit other countries. Those who don't will likely notice that "the process to allow them in another country is slower."
Downloading the new EU COVID digital passport is as simple as visiting a website and then opting to receive a "Certificado Digital."
Countries around the world have quickly adopted the Apple Wallet approach for their various COVID-19 passports, making it easier and quicker for people to display them as and when they need to. While the passports are likely already available via apps provided by local authorities, those apps are often cumbersome at best and glorified web wrappers at worst. Putting a COVID-19 passport into the Wallet app is a no-brainer.
The Wallet app is perhaps one of the best iPhone apps that most people don't know they have installed and it's interesting to see it become so integral in recent months. People who don't already use Apple Pay are likely discovering it for the first time.
