Passbook

Coupons.com integrates 20 big-box retailers with Apple’s Passbook

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 24, 2012

Coupons.com makes a living from distributing digital coupons, including online printable, social, mobile and loyalty card promotions, in Sunday newspapers. Yesterday, the company rolled out Passbook integration for 20 big-box retailers, allowing you to save a selection of its coupons to your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad running iOS 6.

The system is pretty straightforward. First, you add a coupon to the Passbook via the mobile app or web site. It comes with the expiration date, a scannable barcode and a description of the offer. Cashiers can scan the code or use a numeric code on the back of a Passbook card to process it and apply the offer to your purchase...

Get your Passbook ticket for today’s iPad mini event

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

With three and a half hours left to go, why not get your Passbook vanity ticket for today's iPad mini event? I first checked with digital ticketing company Flon Solutions because they already provide some nice novelty Passbook passes from historic events.

Unfortunately, the company hasn't yet updated their database with the iPad mini event ticket. Luckily, Twitter came to the rescue. Obviously this isn't a real event ticket so don't try to get into the press conference with it...

Apple said to start accepting Apple Store gift cards via Passbook soon

Cody Lee ∙ October 14, 2012

A new report is out this morning, claiming that Apple is preparing to push out an update for its internal POS (point of sale) system software later this month that will allow Apple Store shoppers to pay with Passbook.

More specifically, the update will allow Apple's retail employees to accept Apple Store payment cards via Passbook, the new digital wallet app in iOS 6 that stores boarding passes, event tickets and gift cards...

Some cool novelty Passbook passes from historic events

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

This is kind of cool: the folks over at Flon Solutions, a digital ticketing company that specializes in Passbook, has created a number of custom passes from historic events.

These events include things like the infamous Titanic voyage, the Beatles rooftop concert, and more. And you can download these passes and add them right into Passbook....

MLB says it’s seen impressive Passbook adoption thus far

Cody Lee ∙ October 10, 2012

When Apple unveiled its new Passbook app this summer, the tech world, for the most part, wasn't sure what to make of it. It seemed like a good idea on paper, but would companies, and more importantly users, take advantage of it?

Fast forward to today, three weeks after the public release of iOS 6, and we haven't quite seen the adoption we were hoping for. However, it does appear that the companies that have added Passbook support are seeing positive results...

Starbucks app now supports Passbook: get your skinny vanilla latte orders ready

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 28, 2017

Finally, the moment we've all been waiting for. The real reason Passbook was invented — Starbucks.

Indeed, the official Starbucks app was just updated, and it brings the long awaited Passbook support with it. This means that you can now create a pass to store in Passbook, and pay directly with said pass.

It's super easy to setup, and apparently, it uses the same scanners that scan the "touch to pay" feature inside the official app. In other words, it's ready to use out of the gate.

Lawsuit against Apple’s Passbook is Lodsys redux

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Apple is again in the sights of a company with patents and an itchy trigger finger. The iPhone's Passbook feature, which allows consumers to store tickets, loyalty cards, coupons and such digitally, is the target of San Diego-based Ameranth. The company is seeking triple damages, claiming in the lawsuit that the Cupertino, Calif. technology giant willfully infringed on Ameranth patents on wireless mobile payments.

The company has already sued the likes of Hilton, Marriott and Ticketmaster and gotten 14 other companies to ink licensing pacts. TechCrunch spoke to the CEO of one of the companies who'd rather pay than suffer some long drawn-out legal fight. The interview is enough to send cold shivers up Apple developers who survived the 2011 patent uproar from Lodsys...

Taking the American Express Passbook pass for a spin

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated March 23, 2018

Want a quick and easy way to access recent purchases and account balances made with your American Express card? If you're running iOS 6, then you can now do so with Passbook.

First of all, just to clear up any misconceptions, you can't actually purchase goods via Amex using Passbook — that functionality doesn't yet exist. What you can do, though, is sync your Amex card with Passbook to access the convenient features mentioned above — balances, recent transactions, and the like.

As someone who uses Amex exclusively for almost every purchase, large and small, I've been anxious to try out Amex's Passbook offering ever since it was first announced that they were on board. Here's what I found...

That didn’t take long: Passbook for Android lands

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 24, 2012

The brand new Passbook app in iOS 6 is garnering traction in both tech press and the real world with the likes of Starbucks, Target, theme park Accesso, airlines Delta, American Airlines, Virgin Australia and others all announcing they have or are implementing Passbook support.

As Passbook simply organizes digital coupons, tickets, loyalty cards and other items wrapped inside Apple’s new .pkpass file type, developer Attido Mobile was able to create a handy Passbook client for Android devices. It has been available for some time, is called PassWallet, does pretty much everything Apple's app is capable of and could easily be gone if Apple has any say over it...

Starbucks to update its iOS app for Passbook by month’s end

Oliver Haslam ∙ September 21, 2012

Been wondering when you would be able to take your shiny new iPhone into a Starbucks and use Passbook to pay for your grande skinny vanilla latte? Well, wonder no more.

We've just spied a Twitter update from the company itself in which we learn that an iOS 6 compatible version of the app, complete with Passbook support, will be with us by the end of the month!

What's more, Starbucks even added a little bit of geekery to proceedings by signing off with a spot of binary code, just for the lolz...

Apple Maps and Passbook could push 2012 App Store revenue to $4.9 billion

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 20, 2012

An interesting unintended consequence of a downgrade that is Apple Maps in iOS 6: people will grow to rely on transit apps and other third-party software to help get back some of the Google Maps functionality (until Google releases a widely rumored standalone iOS Google Maps app).

And with Passbook debuting in iOS 6, we should increasingly download and use shopping programs (like the Target app) that produce Passbook-compatible coupons, invoices, loyalty points, tickets and other digital items.

As a result of the new Passbook functionality and lacking Maps experience in iOS 6, cumulative App Store revenue for the calendar year 2012 could top nearly five billion dollars, a research firm has forecast...

Target updates its iPhone app to support Passbook

Cody Lee ∙ September 20, 2012

Did you update to iOS 6 yesterday? Well if you did, and you're looking for ways to try out the new Passbook application, Target just added support for the payment platform.

The national retailer updated its iOS app yesterday with support for the iPhone 5's larger display, iOS 6, and the new ability to push store coupons to the Passbook app...