Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Newest Apple Watch to Serve as Student ID

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 06/06/18
Apple Watch

During this week's preview of the latest Apple Watch, Apple announced that watchOS 5 will include the ability to act as a student ID card, enabling users to gain access to dorms, meals in dining halls, gym activities and library services. According to the company, students will be able to "pay for snacks, laundry and dinners around campus" by adding their ID cards to Wallet on the Apple Watch. (The same functionality will be available for the iPhone too.)

Apple already has schools lined up to participate. Duke University, the University of Alabama and the University of Oklahoma will launch programs this fall. Johns Hopkins, Santa Clara and Temple Universities will introduce the capability by the end of the year.

According to reporting by Duke University's student newspaper, The Chronicle, the participating institutions are all using Blackboard Transact, the company's campus ID card technology that works with near-field communication.

WatchOS 5 adds several new features for helping people stay connected. An "activity sharing" feature lets a user invite another user to compete in week-long activity competitions that include point tracking for finishing activities and coaching notifications.

"Walkie-Talkie" allows watch wearers to communicate with each other by voice with a tap of the wrist over WiFi or cellular service.

Users can also listen to podcasts available with Apple Podcasts on their watches. As podcasts are listened to on any of the user's devices, the app will refresh with the latest episode. Developers working with WatchKit for watchOS 5 can enable audio sessions — whether lectures, music or audiobooks — from Pandora, Audible and 10% Happier to be synced to the Apple Watch for offline playback.

WatchOS 5 will be available this fall as a free update for Apple Watch Series 1 and later and requires iPhone 5s or later running iOS 12. WatchOS 5 won't work on the original Apple Watch.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • illustration of people collaborating around large interlocking gears and data charts

    Why ERP and AI Initiatives Stall at the Execution Layer: A CIO Perspective

    Higher education institutions are investing heavily in ERP modernization, analytics, and AI-driven capabilities. Yet even with these investments, many are running into the same issue: turning insight into coordinated, timely action.

  • Neon blue security locks with a single red highlight

    AI Shifts Cybersecurity Focus from Finding Flaws to Fixing Them

    For decades, one of cybersecurity's most difficult challenges has been finding vulnerabilities before attackers do. A growing number of security professionals now say artificial intelligence is changing that equation, shifting the focus from discovering flaws to fixing them quickly enough to prevent exploitation.

  • Dana Brunson facilitates a roundtable discussion with research and higher education IT leaders

    Internet2: Closing the Access Gap for Research Cyberinfrastructure

    Internet2's Research Engagement Team brings CIOs and other campus technology leadership together with research computing and data facilitators, forming a community that enables research cyberinfrastructure at institutions of all types and sizes.

  • woman

    AI Giants Back Nonprofit Focused on Workforce Transition

    The AI industry's biggest names are investing in more than just models and infrastructure — they're focusing on workforce readiness. OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft and Amazon are backing Raise US, a new nonprofit that aims to raise $1 billion to help American workers prepare for an AI-driven economy.