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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-06-15T04:09:06+00:00

I am looking into the possibilities of using a card reader on an ipad/iphone

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I am looking into the possibilities of using a card reader on an ipad/iphone to read the data on it/ available to it.

I have found some card readers with an SDK that seem to do the job:

http://www.idtechproducts.com/products/mobile-readers/136.html
http://www.dekimado.com/scr/iCard.html
http://smartware2u.com/products/75-iphone-and-ipad-smart-card-readers.aspx
http://www.thursby.com/PKard_Reader.html

For the Cards i am looking for e-id/sis there is a middleware SDK (eID Middleware SDK 4.0). I guess i will have to use it to read from the card. Below are the compatibility specs.

My question is; Can i use this SDK for ios?

Thanks,

Compatibility Platforms:

Windows: Win32 (Windows 2000, XP, Vista)
Linux: Fedora 9, Debian etch, OpenSUSE 11
Mac: OSX 10.4 and 10.5 for PPC and Intel

Programming languages

C++: Windows/Linux/Mac
Java: Windows/Linux/Mac
dotNet languages (VB, C#,...): Windows

C++ compiler:

Windows: Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
Linux: default installed g++ compiler
Mac OSX: default installed g++ compiler

Java:

JDK 1.4.2 or higher (some samples require 1.5 or higher)
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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    There are two main issues you’ll encounter:

    Firstly, iOS uses a different architecture to OS X (ARM vs Intel). Unless you have access to the source-code for your SDK (which sounds unlikely) you probably won’t be able to use it. Whilst OS X and iOS libraries can be cross-compatible there is normally at least some work involved in resolving platform inconsistencies.

    Secondly, on iOS external hardware needs to be certified by Apple. The good news is that there’s a framework designed for iOS developers to interact with accessories such as card readers – the external accessory framework. If you find a card ready that’s labelled as Made for iPhone you’ll probably have more luck (it looks as if some of the card readers you’ve found use dock connectors, and thus hopefully usable via the external accessory framework).

    If your card reader is not officially certified by Apple then you’ll almost certainly need to be running a jail-broken device to access it.

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