Yoti - your digital identity

Review by eFreeware

Yoti is a free digital identity app from the developer Yoti. It is built around a simple idea: your phone becomes the place where your verified details live, and you decide when to share them. The app has been available since November 2016 and has been downloaded more than 10 million times, with a 4.1 average from over 46,000 ratings.

The main reason to consider it is convenience. Instead of carrying a passport or driving licence to prove who you are, you can present your digital ID through the app. According to the developer, the UK Government has recognized the app for identity and age checks, though not for buying alcohol. That single exception is worth remembering, because it means the app is not a universal replacement for a physical document.

I would describe Yoti as a tool for people who regularly need to confirm their age or identity and would rather not hand over a full document every time. It is also useful if you want one place to keep credentials that other organizations have issued to you, such as a staff ID card. The app is free, contains no ads and offers no in-app purchases, so there is no paid tier to weigh.

Proving age and identity without handing over everything

The core job is proving who you are to a business or another person. You add your details by scanning a government-approved ID document, and the app accepts documents from over 200 countries, including national ID cards, PASS cards, driving licences and passports. Once those details are in, you can use them to confirm your identity or your age when a business asks.

What appeals to me here is the emphasis on sharing less. Yoti encourages businesses to request only the details they need, so if a venue only needs to know that you are old enough, you can share that fact rather than your date of birth, address or document number. That is a meaningfully different approach from showing a physical card, where everything printed on it is visible at once.

The alcohol exclusion is the practical limit to keep in mind. The developer describes the approval as covering identity and age proof generally, but not for buying alcohol, so this is not a case where you can leave your passport at home for every situation. For age checks in other contexts and for identity verification more broadly, the app is designed to do the job.

Storing credentials issued by other organizations

Yoti is not only about the details you add yourself. Credentials from other organizations, such as staff ID cards, can be stored and shared. If your employer or another organization issues a digital credential, the app is designed to hold it alongside your identity details.

That makes it more of a wallet than a single-purpose age checker. I would expect it to suit someone whose workplace or membership organization has moved to digital cards, since keeping them in the same place as your identity avoids juggling several apps. The value depends on whether the organizations you deal with actually issue credentials this way.

An email address can be added, verified and managed, and ID Protect guards your contact details. Those are housekeeping improvements rather than headline features, but they point to an app that is being maintained rather than left alone.

Logins and the built-in password manager

Beyond identity checks, Yoti offers an extra layer of security when you sign in to online accounts, and it includes a free password manager for keeping track of your logins. For anyone who reuses the same password across several services, having a manager built into an app you already open for identity purposes is a sensible pairing.

I would treat this as a secondary benefit rather than the reason to install Yoti. The password manager is described as free, which fits the app's overall model of no ads and no in-app purchases. If you already have a password manager you are happy with, the identity features are what will matter to you.

The two functions sit together logically: both are about controlling access, one to your accounts and one to your personal details. Whether you use both depends on how much you want to consolidate into a single app.

Setting up your digital ID

Getting started follows a short sequence. You add a phone number and create a five-digit PIN to protect the account, then take a quick face scan to verify yourself, and finally scan your ID document to add your details. The developer describes the whole process as taking minutes rather than hours.

The security model is worth understanding before you begin. Details you add are encrypted into unreadable data, and the private key that unlocks them is stored on your phone. In other words, the app is designed so that your information is not sitting in a form anyone else can read.

You will need a government-approved ID document to get the most from the setup.

Who gets the most from Yoti

Yoti fits people who need to prove their age or identity often enough that carrying a document is a nuisance. It also suits anyone who prefers to reveal as little as possible when asked for verification, since the app is built around sharing only the details a business requests.

It is less compelling if your identity checks are rare or if the places you go insist on a physical document. The alcohol exclusion is a concrete example of where a card is still required, and the developer's own approval language draws that line. Anyone who wants a single app to replace every form of ID should read that exception carefully.

The app is free and carries no ads, so trying it costs nothing but the time to scan a document and set a PIN. With more than 10 million installs and a 4.1 rating from a large number of reviews, it has clearly found an audience. The question for you is whether the checks you face are ones Yoti can handle.

A practical pick for regular identity checks

Yoti is a well-established digital identity app that does a specific job: proving your age or identity, holding credentials issued to you, and managing logins. It is free, it carries no ads, and it has been on Google Play since 2016, which suggests a stable product rather than an experiment.

I would recommend it to people who verify their age or identity regularly and want a phone-based option that shares less than a physical document does. It is also a good fit for anyone whose workplace or organization issues digital cards. If your checks are occasional, or if the venue insists on a passport or licence, the app will not change that.

The alcohol exception is the one thing to remember. Within its stated scope, though, Yoti is a focused tool with a clear purpose and no cost to try.

What's new in version 3.78.0

As always, we've been working hard to improve your app experience. It's now easier to add, verify and manage your email address and protect your contact details with ID Protect.