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The Wallet app has offered Apple users a convenient way to use digital coupons and boarding passes for years. With the upcoming market launch of the associated payment service Apple Pay in Germany, the app's application possibilities will multiply once again. For this reason, we will take a closer look at Apple Wallet in the following.
Figure 1: A boarding pass in Apple Wallet on the iPhone and Apple Watch.
Wallet offers the user the possibility to store various types of tickets such as trading cards, credit cards, travel passes, etc. digitally on Apple devices in the form of so-called Passes. The user can then view, use and manage his passes in the app. Wallet is available on all iPhones with iOS 6 or later and on the Apple Watch.
Passes are the digital representation of classic tickets and credit cards. They can contain images and barcodes and be updated via push notification.
Figure 2: Server-client communication in Apple Wallet
Passes go through four phases in their life cycle: Creation, delivery, management and ultimate redemption.
Wallet covers the administration in connection with the user. The process of delivery, creation and redemption of the pass is defined by the creator, although Apple gives us a lot of freedom here. Depending on the pass type, the passes can contain a different arrangement of texts, images and barcodes, whereby the style, formatting, colors and inserted images are specified by the creator.
How the Pass is "delivered" to the user is also freely selectable. The pass can be stored in apps via the PassKit API, sent by e-mail or inserted on websites. Furthermore, Apple does not impose any requirements regarding the programming language to be used, since the "mechanisms" behind the provision of the passport come from the creator. Therefore, the conditions for redeeming the pass are also determined by the creator and must be coordinated and agreed with the internal organizational structure. In addition, the pass data can be updated at any time via push notification.
Figure 3: The five available pass styles
Let's first get an overview of the pass style sets provided by Apple. The style sets are part of the API and are fixed. There are five different styles for the Passes:
Each Pass Style has its own layouts and restrictions for the information fields it contains. The style is defined by specifying the corresponding key in the header of a .json file ( pass.json ), which contains all the information for filling the fields. The fields in the pass can basically be divided into four subareas:
Depending on the pass style, the layout and number of available fields differ. However, all Pass Styles have one basic thing in common: There is always a header, primary/secondary content areas, and finally a barcode field.
Figure 4: Layout of the boarding pass with corresponding code snippet of the pass.json file
The use of the different pass styles is explained in more detail below.
The coupon is the ideal basis for creating one-off vouchers for special offers, for example, and its perforated top and bottom edges simulate the familiar tear-off slip. Due to its small number of fields, it remains simple and clear.
For travel tickets of all kinds, Boarding Pass offers the right layout. The primary content area is divided into a variety of small fields to have all relevant travel data quickly in view.
By integrating a background image, Event Ticket is suitable for creating creative ticket designs for movie tickets or concert tickets, for example.
Although the layout of the Store Card is almost identical to the layout of the coupon, the Store Card offers other possibilities due to its prominent content field. The remaining amount of credit and bonus cards can be displayed and updated here. The user thus always has an insight into his current account balance.
If the desired purpose cannot be fulfilled by the four already mentioned pass types, Apple additionally offers the possibility of a versatile basis with the Generic Pass. The Generic Pass is usually used as a membership card, for example, because a profile picture can be integrated here.
The files that make up the Pass are then compiled in the so-called Pass Package. This consists mainly of the images present in the passport and the already mentioned pass.json. Additionally, subfolders for localized versions of the pass can be created in the package. The final compilation then ends with the file extension .pkpass, but in principle it works like a normal ZIP file.
In order to understand how we can fill which type of pass, we now need to take a look at the pass's files. If you unpack a .pkpass archive, you will get several files:
Figure 5: Typical file structure of a .pkpass archive
As already mentioned, Wallet also offers solutions for passes on the Apple Watch. The passes basically work the same way, but the layout of the fields is adapted to the square display of the Apple Watch; the user can then scroll vertically through the pass. For the creation of passes, Apple always uses the common barcode format when choosing the common QR code when choosing the barcode format, as this is the easiest to map on the display of the Apple Watch. Apple Watch display without causing space problems.
Figure 6: The layout of the boarding pass adapted for the Apple Watch
Mobile payment methods are revolutionizing the way people shop and pay. The Wallet system has positioned itself as one of the pioneers of this movement. Small or medium-sized companies in particular can benefit from Apple's sophisticated card system, offer their customers special added value with relatively little effort, and position themselves in the e-commerce sector at the same time.
Since the launch of the Wallet app in 2012, the digital wallet has enjoyed several revisions and represents a huge step forward for mobile payments to date. In the U.S. and other participating countries, a variety of popular bank and loyalty cards are now smoothly integrated into the app.
Unfortunately, the adaptation rate in Germany is still quite low, although the technology has been available for years. At least the technical implementation is no longer a problem, since the necessary infrastructure for the cards is provided by Apple. However, we are sure that the topic of Wallet will pick up speed again with the upcoming activation of the Apple Pay service.
Digital cards and tickets, such as those offered by Google Pay Passes and Apple Wallet (which we already reported on in an earlier article) are becoming increasingly important as a result of digitization, replacing paper and plastic cards. However, creating passes for your customers can be too much of a hassle for stores or other businesses.
We offer a solution for this: Kortpress. This solution allows you to create customized cards by choosing from a variety of different layouts and uses. The creation is done online in just a few steps without any programming knowledge. Easily adapt the existing layouts to your corporate design or existing design templates.
Kortpress was designed to be flexible to your individual specifications and also easy to integrate into an existing IT infrastructure. Automated distribution of passes or automated campaign management is also easily possible with Kortpress - we will be happy to support you in making this a reality.
Are you interested in Kortpress or would you like an individual automated solution to create passes for your company? Then contact us. We will be happy to advise you and work out a suitable solution for you.
