The days of being able to give the annoying guy at the bar a fake phone number may be over, thanks to Apple.
A new feature announced by the tech giant called NameDrop makes sharing your contact information with someone as easy as tapping your iPhones together.
A Bluetooth connection between the two devices prompts NameDrop – and eliminates the need to type in their details manually, saving time.
However, iPhone users are concerned that it’ll make it harder for them to palm someone off with fake details in an awkward situation, such as with a ‘creep’ in a nightclub.
iPhone users took to Twitter to share their worries, with one asking ‘How do you NameDrop a fake number?’
NameDrop makes sharing your contact information with someone as easy as tapping your iPhones together, much like swapping business cards
Another user posted: ‘Not sure I like namedrop. How do you give a creeper a fake number now.’
Yet another said: ‘Apple are releasing NameDrop? Fam the days of giving out fake names and numbers is over.’
NameDrop – which also works between an iPhone and an Apple Watch – is part of Apple’s new iOS 17 software update, which was announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this week.
However, iOS 17 won’t be released until autumn to coincide with the tech giant’s next smartphone, the iPhone 15.
Apple has released a short animation showing how the NameDrop feature works between two iPhone users, which is a bit like swapping business cards.
Once the two devices come together and the Bluetooth connection is established, each phone brings up their ‘contact poster’ – a display showing a photo of their own face, their name and their phone number.
Users have the option to click ‘Share’ in order to share their contact poster (and in turn their personal details) with the other person, or ‘Receive Only’ if they only want to receive the other’s contact poster.
If they both tap ‘Share’, they can see each other’s contact poster, complete with phone number and quick links to call them or send them messages, or even start a FaceTime video call.
NameDrop could make it harder to palm off people with a fake phone number or email address
iPhone users took to Twitter to share their concerns about the new feature, with one asking ‘How do you NameDrop a fake number?’
Another user said: ‘Not sure I like namedrop. How do you give a creeper a fake number now’
Apple said in a statement that users can ‘choose the specific contact details they want to share’ and ‘what information they don’t want to share’.
However, it just works between two Apple devices, meaning you’ll still have to trade numbers the old fashioned way if you or the other person has an Android phone.
NameDrop is an extension of AirDrop, the existing tool released more than a decade ago that lets users share files with another Apple device in close proximity.
Among the other features coming with iOS 17 this autumn are the new Journal app to ‘improve wellbeing’, audio and video messages for FaceTime and Live Voicemail, which lets users see real-time transcription as someone leaves a voicemail.
Apple also announced a new 15-inch MacBook Air with a 15.3-inch display powered by an Apple-designed M2 processor chip, starting at $1,299.
But by far the most hyped announcement was Vision Pro, the company’s first ever augmented reality headset, which lets wearers choose apps with their eyes.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said during its unveiling that it’s the first Apple product ‘you look out of and not at’, heralding a new era of ‘spatial computing’.
While wearing the headset, users will select content inside the goggles with their eyes, tap their fingers together to click, and gently flick to scroll.
And a feature built-in to the headset called EyeSight shows people in the room your eyes, unlike Meta’s Quest devices, which feature an opaque visor.
Vision Pro will be sold in the US from next year starting at a whopping $3,499, which is equivalent to £2,800 – although Apple is yet to announce its availability in the UK.
Apple revealed its long-rumored augmented reality headset Monday. Vision Pro has a large screen that lies over the eyes and does not need controllers. A feature built-in to the headset called EyeSight shows people in the room your eyes, unlike Meta’s Quest devices , which feature an opaque visor