Web Payments API in iOS and macOS using Apple Pay
Web Payments API is a way to integrate payments into browsers directly. Apple is now doubling down on the technology and payments are now possible using Apple Pay.
Web Payments are making their way into browsers on both the desktop and mobile. Google's Chrome is leading the pack on Android, Windows and Linux.
Now Apple is catching up by making the API available for Apple users on desktop Safari as well as iOS for iPhones and iPads. The Apple implementation uses the Apple Pay system as an enabler for the tech. Thid makes it possible that Web Payments will eventually work on Homepod and Apple Watch devices.
Eiji Kitamura, a developer advocate for Google has been experimenting with the technology. According to him the older Apple Pay JS interim solution has been around since iOS 10. But the just released iOS 11.3 supports Payment Request and using appr-wrapper the code can be used both on iOS and macOS versions of Safari.
This is great news for web developers as it will open up payments to Progressive Web Apps. PWAs run in the browser and offer additional features on supported browsers. Features like offline use have been possible for some time on Android, but Apple is catching up. The iOS release improving Payments API also ushered in support for Service Workers in the second most popular mobile OS in the world.
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