South Australian drivers' licences will enter the digital era in October, with the State Government to make them available on a smartphone app.

While drivers can use the app to replace their physical licence, Police and Road Safety Minister Chris Picton assured South Australians who are not ready to part ways with their card that it is an optional system.

"People can have the faith that if they want to continue using their licences in exactly the same way that they currently do, they will perfectly be able to do that in the future," he said.

The digital licence has more functions than a physical licence, which Mr Picton said makes it less open to forgeries and fraud.

It updates in real time to show if a licence has been suspended or expired, and has a "shake" feature to show the licence is not a screenshot.

Anyone, including pubs and clubs, can also scan the licences to make sure they are genuine.

The system is already in use for proof-of-age cards, boat licences, land agent and land sales representative registrations and vehicle registrations.

Mr Picton said work has been done to make sure the cards are secure and cannot be hacked.

"There's been a number of testing processes on the system already before it went live in May. They're continuing to roll out now and there's going to be further testing before it goes live in October as well," he said.

The app can be downloaded on the mySAGOV website.