India turns its national ID into a secure mobile ID with new Aadhaar app

The Indian government has rolled out a revamped official mobile app for its national digital ID system, Aadhaar, effectively turning the 12‑digit ID into a secure mobile identity. Aadhaar is widely used in India for opening bank accounts, getting mobile contracts and accessing public and private services, so any change to how it is presented has a large impact on daily life.

With the new app, users no longer need to show a physical card or hand over photocopies. Instead, they can generate a QR code on their phone that hotels, hospitals or other “offline verification” points can scan to confirm identity. Typical use cases include hotel check‑ins, age verification for movie tickets, hospital registration, and verification of gig workers such as delivery couriers. The app also supports optional face verification, viewing past authentication history, and one‑tap locking or unlocking of biometric data like fingerprints.

According to UIDAI, the authority that runs Aadhaar, the app is designed around data minimisation: relying parties receive only the specific attributes they need and do not store the Aadhaar number itself. A “One Family–One App” feature lets up to five family members’ profiles be managed on a single device, targeting households that handle documents on behalf of children or elders. The government says more self‑service update options—such as changing the registered mobile number without visiting a branch—will be added over time, aligning the app with India’s broader digital public infrastructure push.