In iOS 14.5, Apple included new NFC notifications that only appear in Apple Stores

The company is reportedly working on particular custom notifications that will help it promote its services.

Beginning last year, Apple began offering customers a new way to discover its subscription services via QR codes and NFC tags in some of its retail stores.

With iOS 14.5, which is expected to be released to the public later this month, the company plans to expand this interaction with personalized notifications to services like Apple Arcade, Apple TV +, and Apple Music.

The current experience offered in some Apple Stores is fairly straightforward. Both the QR code and the NFC tag will simply open the home page of that subscription service in the respective app, such as the App Store for Apple Arcade and the Music app for Apple Music. However, it appears the company wants to further improve this interaction in the future.

9to5Mac found that iOS 14.5 features a new type of notification to promote Apple’s subscription services. While we don’t know the actual purpose of these notifications, they are all built to be activated via NFC tags, which leads us to believe that the company intends to use them in Apple Stores around the world.

The image below offers a look at the company’s new custom notifications. Instead of redirecting the user to an app, iOS will show “App Clips style” personalized notifications with suggestions for the content available on that service. This includes Apple Arcade games, Apple TV + movies and shows, and Apple Music featured music and playlists.

If the system detects someone who is not a subscriber to these services, the user will be prompted to try them individually or with Apple One. The only NFC tags capable of activating these notifications are those created specifically by the Cupertino company.

So imagine this situation: You go to an Apple Store and as soon as you approach AirPods, the notification of subscription to Apple Music will appear on your iPhone. If you approach the Apple TV zone, the notification of subscription to Apple TV + will appear and so on.

As Apple continues to push its subscription services, these new notifications should help customers discover what’s new on Apple Arcade, Apple TV +, and Apple Music. In the future, this feature could also be extended to other services such as Apple Fitness +.