New Aadhaar App 2026

What Is the new Aadhaar App?

On 28 January 2026, UIDAI launched a completely new Aadhaar app. Not an update to mAadhaar. Not a redesign. A separate, new app built from scratch with a fundamentally different purpose.

Where mAadhaar was designed as a service dashboard - downloading Aadhaar, generating VID, managing updates. The new Aadhaar app is built to be a digital identity wallet. It's designed for the everyday act of proving who you are, with a heavy emphasis on privacy, selective sharing, and offline verification.

Why a New App?

The way people use Aadhaar has evolved, but the verification tools hadn't. Here's a look at what each traditional method gets wrong, and how the new app fixes it:

The new app resolves all three in one go:

New Aadhaar App vs mAadhaar

mAadhaar is for managing your Aadhaar. It handles administrative tasks like downloading your Aadhaar PDF, generating Virtual IDs (VID), generating TOTP, locking/unlocking your Aadhaar number, offline eKYC, scanning QR codes, and verifying Aadhaar validity. Think of it as the backend control panel.

The new Aadhaar app is for using your Aadhaar in daily life. It's a digital identity wallet that lets you carry, show, and selectively share your Aadhaar from your phone. It introduces Face ID authentication, selective data sharing, offline QR verification, a contact card feature, and the ability to update your mobile number without visiting a centre.

How to Download and Set Up the New Aadhaar App

Download

Step 1: Open the Google Play Store or Apple App Store on your phone.

Step 2: Search for "Aadhaar" and look for the app published by UIDAI.

Step 3: Tap Install and wait for the download to complete.

Setup Process

Step 1: Enter your Aadhaar-linked mobile number and complete OTP verification.

Step 2: The app will prompt you to set up Face Authentication.

Step 3: Once set up, your Aadhaar profile loads in a wallet-style interface. You'll see your Aadhaar card displayed with your photo, name, and a secure QR code.

Step 4: You can add up to five Aadhaar profiles on a single device (for family members), as long as those Aadhaar numbers are linked to the same registered mobile number.

Key Features

1. Digital Identity Wallet

The home screen shows your Aadhaar card in a clean, wallet-style layout. Your photo, name, and a digitally signed QR code are displayed. This QR code is encrypted and can be scanned for instant, paperless verification by authorised agencies (banks, government offices, hotels).

2. Selective Share

Traditional Aadhaar verification: whether through a photocopy, an e-Aadhaar PDF, or even a masked Aadhaar; shares your entire document. The verifier sees your name, photo, date of birth, gender, address, and either your full or partial Aadhaar number. Even if they only need to confirm your age, they get everything.

Selective Share changes that completely. Before sharing your details, the app lets you choose exactly which fields to include. You can tick or untick individual data points:

• Photograph
• Name
• Date of birth
• Age status (just confirms whether you're above a certain age, without revealing the actual date)
• Gender
• Address
• Mobile number

So if a movie theatre needs to verify you're over 18, you share only your age status, not your name, address, or anything else. If a hotel needs your name and address for check-in, you share just those two fields.

The shared data is digitally signed by UIDAI, so the verifier can trust it's authentic. But your Aadhaar number is never exposed. The verifying agency doesn't see it, doesn't store it.

This is built to comply with the DPDP Act's data minimisation principle. You share the minimum information required for the purpose at hand.

3. Offline QR Code Verification

The app supports identity verification without an internet connection. This is a big deal for locations with poor connectivity: rural areas, underground facilities, or just places where mobile data is unreliable.

Here's how it works: the requesting entity (a hotel, a bank, a service provider) generates a QR code. You scan that QR code using the new Aadhaar app. The app generates a digitally signed response with your selected credentials, which the entity can verify offline.

No internet required on your end. No real-time connection to UIDAI's central database. The verification happens locally using the encrypted, digitally signed data stored on your device.

This also means UIDAI's servers aren't involved in every single transaction. It reduces the load on the system and removes the dependency on server uptime.

4. Face Authentication

The app uses face verification as a primary authentication method. When you set up the app, your face is captured and linked to your Aadhaar profile. After that, you can use Face ID to log in, authorise actions, and verify your presence.

This is particularly useful in two scenarios:

1. Proof of presence: If a service provider needs to confirm that you are the actual Aadhaar holder, physically present (not just someone holding your phone), they can request face verification through the app. Your face is matched against UIDAI's records in real time.
2. As a fallback for fingerprints: For people whose fingerprint authentication fails (elderly, manual labourers, people with skin conditions), face authentication provides an alternative that doesn't require iris scanners or special hardware.

5. Update Mobile Number from Home

Until now, updating your Aadhaar-linked mobile number required a physical visit to an Aadhaar Enrolment Centre. If you changed your phone number and didn't update it with Aadhaar, you'd lose access to OTP-based services, biometric unlocking, VID generation, essentially everything.

The new app lets you update your mobile number directly from your phone. Here's the process:

• Step 1: Open the new Aadhaar app and log in.
• Step 2: Go to the "Services" section on the home screen and select "Mobile Number Update".

• Step 3: Enter your new mobile number.
• Step 4: Verify your identity using OTP (on your old number, if active) and Face Authentication.
• Step 5: Pay the applicable fee of ₹75.
• Step 6: Submit the request. The update typically reflects in UIDAI's records within 15 to 30 days.

6. Address Update

Similar to the mobile number update, you can now update your address through the app without visiting an Aadhaar centre. You'll need to upload supporting documents (Proof of Address), and the update is processed digitally.

7. One Family, One App

The app supports up to five Aadhaar profiles on a single device. This means a parent can manage Aadhaar profiles for their children, elderly parents, or spouse; all from one phone.

Each profile addition requires OTP authentication from the registered mobile number linked to that Aadhaar. Once added, you can switch between profiles and access each person's Aadhaar features individually.

8. QR-Based Contact Card

A smaller but genuinely useful feature. The app lets you generate a QR-based contact card that you can share with others. Instead of dictating your phone number or sharing a screenshot of your Aadhaar, you show a QR code that contains only the contact details you want to share. The other person scans it, and your details are saved on their phone.

9. Biometric Lock/Unlock and Authentication History

These features carry over from mAadhaar but are now accessible with a single tap. You can lock or unlock your biometrics instantly, and view your complete Aadhaar authentication history. When, where, and by whom your Aadhaar was used for verification.

10. Auto Logout on Lost Phone

UIDAI has built in a security measure: if your phone is lost or stolen, you're automatically logged out of your Aadhaar account on that device. This prevents someone who finds or steals your phone from accessing your Aadhaar profile.

Real-World Use Cases

The new app is designed for situations where you currently hand over a photocopy or show a physical card. Here's what it looks like in practice:

Hotel check-in: Instead of handing over a photocopy of your Aadhaar at the front desk, you scan the hotel's QR code using the app. You share only your name, photo, and address. No Aadhaar number is revealed.

Age verification: At a movie theatre, event, or liquor store that needs to confirm you're above a certain age. You share only your age status. The verifier gets a yes/no confirmation that you meet the age requirement, nothing else.

Hospital visits: For visitor verification or patient admission, the hospital scans your app's QR code and receives only the necessary details - name and photo for visitors, name and address for admission.

Gig worker verification: Platforms that onboard delivery partners, drivers, or freelancers can verify identity through the app without collecting and storing Aadhaar numbers.

Bank or government office: For any in-person verification, you show the app's QR code instead of a physical card. The QR code is digitally signed by UIDAI, making it verifiable and tamper-proof.

Important Notes