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Comment by vishnugupta | Hacker News Reader

I hope Apple and institutions that rely on it make it easy to recover from a lost device.

I totally get the convenience angle, being an Apple ecosystem dweller myself. However, with more and more of identities, payments moving to a single device the recovery workflow should be hassle free.

With physical documents, my IDs are spread out so if I lose my drivers' license I can pull out my passport to get a new one. How will it look like in Apple world? I haven't read the recovery workflow documented anywhere.

Imagine being on a business trip say ~5 years down the line and losing your phone. Your hotel key is gone, passport is gone, no money, no one to call, no app, no internet. Now what?

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How would this differ from keeping your hotel keycard, ID card, cash, and credit cards in your wallet/purse? If you lose your wallet/purse in that case, you'd also have no key, no ID, no money, etc.

Your wallet doesn't need to be recharged.

Excellent point! I was mostly referring to the issue of loss or theft of a single device containing all forms of payment/ID/access not being that different from loss of theft of a single wallet/purse containing all forms of payment/ID/access.

On the note of charge, Apple has recently included a feature that lets certain cards work even when the phone doesn't have enough charge to be normally used. It seems they shutdown the phone before the battery is entirely depleted, reserving a small amount of charge to be used for these cards.

https://support.apple.com/guide/security/express-cards-with-...

With physical IDs there's an option to spread them out. I typically keep passport in hotel room, hotel key card in my back pack etc.,

Perhaps Apple Wallet will act as a secondary but a fast path access and I'll continue to carry physical IDs but don't have to pull them out for most of the cases. That is how I used Apple Pay. I carried bank card with me but used Apple Pay 99% of the times.

I generally don't walk around with my wallet any longer. Just a few cards and my phone. (Though I have it with me--along with other cards and cash if I'm traveling.)

That said, I don't really like a single electronic device being such a single point of failure. (And, to be honest I find taking out a card easier than Apple Pay most of the time.)

Wouldn't you be able to spread your digital IDs out between multiple devices?

Yes, that would be more expensive if you don't already have multiple devices. I'd wager than many people here on HN (who are in the Apple ecosystem) have at least 2 devices on which they could add payment/IDs/access (Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, MacBook).

I was just thinking this earlier today. So many of the same people who are careful to diversify their financial investments, mind their cyber security by having different passwords and MFA, also put all their valuables in one bundle, whether that's a phone case-wallet or digital cards. I'll pass unless we reach a point where we have no alternative.

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