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Reading Hardware and NFCWhile you wait for Apple's tap entitlement
Hardware and NFC
- Tap Box overview
- Install a Tap Box
- NFC readers and cards
- While you wait for Apple's tap entitlement
- Troubleshooting taps
- Scan-in points
- What staff see at POS
In this guide
- What works before VAS
- A practical launch sequence
- When Apple VAS is ready
- Next steps
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Hardware and NFC 4 / 7
While you wait for Apple's tap entitlement
Launch QR, kiosk, Shopify POS, scan-in points and physical-card recognition while the brand completes Apple VAS approval.
Piing can issue and sign ordinary Apple Wallet and Google Wallet passes with Piing-managed credentials. Apple VAS tap-to-reader is a separate brand-specific path. Apple grants the entitlement to the brand, and the matching NFC certificate and Pass Type ID must be configured before an iPhone can identify itself at a VAS reader.
Approval timing belongs to Apple, so plan the store launch around the recognition routes already available rather than making the whole programme wait.
What works before VAS
- The Piing kiosk. A tablet shows the branded welcome screen and scans the QR on Apple Wallet or Google Wallet passes with its front camera.
- Printed scan-in points. A customer scans a store-specific sign, or opens the same route from a compatible NFC tag, on their own phone.
- Shopify POS. Staff use the Piing tile at a mapped location.
- Physical NFC cards. Linked cards tap at a compatible reader without an Apple entitlement.
- Wallet distribution. Customers can add Apple and Google passes, see live programme values and receive configured Wallet messages.
- QR at the till. A compatible scanner can read the pass barcode.
Google Wallet does not require the Apple VAS entitlement, but Piing's current Google pass is still QR-only. It is not a substitute phone-to-reader NFC path.
A practical launch sequence
- Publish both Wallet platforms and place the claim route in the customer account, checkout or approved campaign journey.
- Pair a tablet at the entrance or counter and lead with the pre-tap kiosk screen.
- Print a scan-in point for a second position or a store without a tablet.
- If contactless recognition is essential from day one, programme and link a controlled batch of physical NFC cards.
- Complete Apple VAS entitlement and certificate work in parallel.
Every accepted route writes the same store visit, so the QR and physical-card launch is not throwaway work. It establishes the pass base, store mappings, staff context, event routes and attribution model before iPhone NFC is added.
When Apple VAS is ready
Confirm that the entitled Pass Type ID, certificate and reader configuration match. Publish a test pass with NFC enabled and validate it at the intended reader and store. Existing passes may need to refresh or be re-added if their installed payload predates the NFC configuration; Piing support can confirm the appropriate migration for the deployed pass type.
Do not describe Apple VAS as live across the estate until each intended reader position has passed a real phone test.
Next steps
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