Florida’s digital ID app has suddenly disappeared

Florida’s Smart ID app has been removed from the iPhone App Store and the Google Play store for Android, while users have been told to rely on physical licenses for now.

By Wes Davis, a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020.

Jul 10, 2024, 11:46 PM UTC

Nilay Patel holds an iPhone 14 Pro in his hands.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) has shut down its digital ID app, Florida Smart ID, for iPhones and Android phones. The department emailed users asking them to delete the app and said it’s looking for another vendor to help it revive the service by “early 2025,” according to 9to5Mac.

The state promoted its Smart ID app as a contact-free way to show proof of age or identity at stores or when talking to police, but now it’s gone. According to a report by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel last year, not many people were using it, with only 95,000 activations out of more than 17 million licensed drivers, and many police departments said they weren’t using it, either.

The state department has posted this statement on its website:

The Florida Smart ID applications will be updated and improved by a new vendor. At this time, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is removing the current Florida Smart ID application from the app store. Please email FloridaSmartID@flhsmv.gov to receive notification of future availability.

The agency reported issues with the service near the end of June before it was shut down, apparently in early July.

Other states, like Louisiana and New York, are part of a slowly increasing number of states adopting digital IDs. Like Florida, they’re offering the service through their own apps, while other states like Maryland and Arizona support digital IDs added to Google Wallet or Apple Wallet.