Stripe Terminal iOS SDK

Stripe Terminal enables you to build your own in-person checkout to accept payments in the physical world. Built on Stripe’s payments network, Terminal helps you unify your online and offline payment channels. With the Stripe Terminal iOS SDK, you can connect to pre-certified card readers from your iOS app and drive a customized in-store checkout flow.

Get started with our integration guides and sample integration, or browse the SDK reference documentation.

Upgrading from an older version of the SDK? See our migration guide for guidance.

Requirements

The Stripe Terminal iOS SDK is compatible with apps supporting iOS 13 and above.

Try the example app

The iOS SDK includes an open-source example app, which you can use to familiarize yourself with the SDK and reader before starting your own integration.

To build the example app from source, you’ll need to:

  1. Navigate to the Example folder, and open Example.xcworkspace (make sure to open the .xcworkspace and not the .xcodeproj).
  2. Navigate to our example backend and click the button to deploy it on Heroku.
  3. In AppDelegate.swift, set the URL of the Heroku app you just deployed.
  4. Build and run the app. The SDK comes with a simple reader simulator, so you can get started without any physical hardware.

Installation

We support CocoaPods and Swift Package Manager. If you prefer to install the library manually, please use the latest version from our releases page.

Swift Package Manager

In Xcode, select File > Swift Packages > Add Package Dependency and enter https://github.com/stripe/stripe-terminal-ios

CocoaPods

  1. If you haven’t already, install the latest version of CocoaPods.

  2. Add this line to your Podfile:

    pod 'StripeTerminal', '~> 3.0'

  3. Run the following command:

    pod install

From now on, don’t forget to use the *.xcworkspace file to open your project in Xcode, instead of the .xcodeproj file.

In the future, to update to the latest compatible version of the SDK, just run:

pod update StripeTerminal

Manual

  1. Navigate to our releases page, download StripeTerminal.xcframework.zip, and unzip it.

  2. Drag StripeTerminal.xcframework to the Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content section of your Xcode project’s General settings. Make sure to select “Copy items if needed”.

When new versions of the SDK are released, repeat the above steps to update your installation.

Configure your app

Location services must be enabled in order to use the iOS SDK. Add the following key-value pair to your app’s Info.plist file:

  • Privacy - Location When In Use Usage Description
    • Key: NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription
    • Value: “Location access is required in order to accept payments.”

Note

Stripe needs to know where payments occur to reduce risks associated with those charges and to minimize disputes. If the SDK can’t determine the iOS device’s location, payments are disabled until location access is restored.

For your app to run in the background and remain connected to the reader, add this key-value pair to your Info.plist file:

  • Required background modes
    • Key: UIBackgroundModes
    • Value: bluetooth-central (Uses Bluetooth LE accessories)

    Note

    Note the value is actually an array that you will need to add bluetooth-central to.

For your app to pass validation when submitting to the App Store, add the following key-value pairs as well:

  • Privacy - Bluetooth Always Usage Description
    • Key: NSBluetoothAlwaysUsageDescription
    • Value: “This app uses Bluetooth to connect to supported card readers.”

Previous API References

We maintain an archive of the API reference for the previous major version.