Your iPhone or Android phone will become more integrated into your nondigital life. This is one of the big takeaways from iOS 16 and Android 13, due later this year. Both digital companies aim to transform your phone into an electronic wallet for your ID, bringing it closer to your identity.

Companies continue to improve phone communication with autos, smart home devices, and other devices.

iOS 16 and Android 13 are full of adjustments and new features, some more significant than digital wallets and faster connections (like Apple's Safety Check service for domestic abuse victims and Google's privacy upgrades).

The overlap between the two operating systems highlights the phone's shifting role. According to Apple and Google, what's around your phone will be as important as what's on it.

The more our phones are attached to wallets, credit cards, cars, and household appliances, the tougher it will be to abandon them (or switch between iPhone and Android). The industry has evolved in this manner for years. The modifications in iOS 16 and Android 13 will certainly expedite Apple and Google's efforts.

Apple's iOS 16 launch and Google's Android 13 beta emphasized the digital wallet. Apple Pay Later splits a purchase's cost into four equal payments over six weeks. iOS 16 lets you use Apple Wallet IDs to authenticate your age in apps. Apple implemented digital IDs last year.

Google revamped its Wallet app during its I/O conference last month to match Apple's. Like Apple Wallet, Google Wallet will save payment and transit cards, vaccination records, boarding permits, and student IDs. Google supports digital IDs with government entities.

Apple and Google's improvements are another step toward making physical wallets useless, which will increase our reliance on mobile devices. Google reiterated this goal before May's Google I/O.

Sameer Samat, Android and Google Play's VP of product management, claimed he never leaves home without his phone and cash. Is my phone a wallet replacement?

Corey Fugman, Apple's Wallet and Apple Pay senior director made similar statements Monday. 'Apple Wallet will replace your real wallet,' he stated.

People are replacing credit cards with smartphone payment apps. eMarketer predicts that by 2025, 50% of US smartphone users would utilize in-store mobile payment systems like Apple Pay. Apple's new Pay Later option and Google's renewed focus on its mobile wallet could make ditching your actual wallet more enticing.

Apple and Google want phones to be more useful offline by replacing wallets. Both firms launched camera-based smartphone tools to make navigation easier. Mobile gadgets, home appliances, autos, and speakers are increasingly connected.

Apple and Google believe the camera will continue to be important in our daily lives. In iOS 16, you may translate text using Apple's Translate app's camera. During its WWDC keynote, the company showed able to translate a restaurant menu. Tap on text in a photo to monitor a flight or convert money.

Google I/O showed unveiled 'scene explorer,' a Lens app update that applies search to the actual world. You'd wave your phone's camera over a shelf of products to get ratings and information. Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's search head, mentioned nut-free snacks and scent-free lotion as examples.

Similar concept, different implementation. We're used to ordering food, taxis, and household goods with our phones. Apple and Google aim to make our phones critical in the real world, and the camera will be a big part of that.

Google and Apple both want to make our phones into a hub for other devices. Google said Android 13 would improve your phone's connectivity with rapid pairing, automatic audio switching, and easier phone-to-computer message syncing. A split-screen design for Android Auto should make multitasking easier while driving.

Apple's revamped iPhone home app simplifies managing HomeKit devices. Apple aims to expand the iPhone's reach in cars. Apple revealed a redesign of CarPlay that appears like an operating system for cars, complete with app icons, widgets, and other iPhone and Apple Watch-like UI components.

The connected home and car aren't new. Apple and Google have used them for years. iOS 16 and Android 13 explain Apple and Google's goals for these devices.

Apple and Google are making smartphones more personal as they connect to credit cards, thermostats, and cars. iOS 16 will provide a new lock screen with Apple Watch-style widgets and picture effects for backgrounds. Google is expanding Material You with OS-wide color palettes.

iOS 16 and Android 13 provide far more than new wallet features, object-scanning cameras, and enhanced connectivity. These upgrades show how important the phone is to our online and offline lives and where the industry is headed.