Passbook Proving Popular for Developers and Retailers

[Small White Car]

Originally Posted by Roessnakhan

I would prefer NFC, however.

Why? I keep hearing people say this, but in every way I can think of, screen reading is better.

[viacavour]

Originally Posted by zone23

I use the Wallgreens all the time because you don't get sale prices without a rewards card. I would love to see it come to Best Buy that would be useful.

Oh and I don't find it complicated at all, seems simple to me. If you can't figure Passbook out you certainly wouldn't understand how to use NFC if we had it.

I saw a BestBuy discount in one of the deal aggregator apps. It's a 10% off for headphones.

[RodThePlod]

Originally Posted by Risco

Totally useless in the UK for the mainstream. I am not a frequent flyer, nor a Starbucks fan so there is nothing else for me to use it for. If and when UK retailers such as Game, Tesco, Sainsburys etc. start adopting then I might find practicality in it. As it stands, I open it every now again just to see if there are any new apps...

I also didn't think I'd find much use for Passbook as I'm also in the UK. But about three weeks ago I went online to book some tickets for a show in London's west end. The booking was handled by a company called EventBrite.

In the confirmation email that I got it said "If you have an iPhone why not store your tickets in Passbook?" So I downloaded the EventBrite app and when I logged in, it let me see the tickets I just bought - and I was able to import them into Passbook.

Basically it meant that when I went to the show, the tickets popped up on the lock screen when I was near the location and I just had to show that, get it scanned, and we were in! Much cooler than printing out the tickets at home bringing the printouts with me

Granted - I don't go to west end shows that regular, but it was pretty neat and it worked well for me.

Hopefully more event companies will start making more use of Passbook!

RTP.

[dinggus]

How does Passbook work? Does it load up cards like shown in the pictures or do the cards pop up when it detects the location via GPS?

If it detects the location, can you disable that option?

I'm still on iOS 5, I'm just curious. I'd love to lighten the load in my wallet.

[KanosWRX]

Originally Posted by trilaemasu

The only time I use Passbook is to use Passhack and get rid of the useless stock apps.

And is anyone else annoyed that passbook turns the brightness up to 100% when running?

Thanks so much for mentioning that, I didn't know that existed. Now Passbook actually does something useful! Gets rid of the stupid Newstand app!!

[zioxide]

Originally Posted by viacavour

It probably means you are not a deal hunter. The major deal aggregators are already onboard.

The businesses would rather you pay full price for their products. So they won't seek you out explicitly. You have to go hunt for the discounts.

What companies exactly have these "deals"?

The only companies that do business near me that I actually would use and have a passbook app are Target and Livenation/ticketmaster. I have the target app but not once found anything to do with passbook in it. And the livenation/ticketmaster thing is venue specific so they don't even take it anywhere.

I hope it gets better because it seems like a good idea but unless there's widespread adoption it's completely useless.

[SpyderBite]

Originally Posted by Dur

I just used this app to redeem two target giftcards from shopkick! It saved my virtual gift cards to my passbook and the cashier had no problem scanning them off my iphone! It was so easy! Wish I could pay that way all the time.

Did the same via Shopkick.

[machpost]

When I added my Starbucks card to Passbook, it started eating data like there was no tomorrow, presumably while constantly checking to see if there was a Starbucks nearby. I deleted it, and things went back to normal.

[rnizlek]

I use it primarily for Amtrak and Living Social. I was flying on Lufthansa in October and used it for that also, and United just added support. I'm waiting on JetBlue - having it would have saved me a lot of hassle earlier this week!

I think it's a neat tool. I hope to see continued adoption in the future.

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Originally Posted by machpost

When I added my Starbucks card to Passbook, it started eating data like there was no tomorrow, presumably while constantly checking to see if there was a Starbucks nearby. I deleted it, and things went back to normal.

Turn off location services for Passbook. I was running into a lot of battery usage with my Amtrak tickets as it was searching for nearby stations. I could care less about the tickets appearing on the lock screen when I'm near the station, so I shut it off.

[tbayrgs]

Originally Posted by Jimrod

I've found it's easier to use "money" to pay for my Starbucks than apps or passbook. I hand over cash or my card and it pays for the drink. Putting money into something limited to one store or item as always seemed a bit of an annoying gimmick to me.

Heavier users like myself definitely get more out of it but there is significant benefit to using a Starbucks card for payment. I have a registered Starbucks card set up to auto-reload at a certain dollar amount--every time you pay with the card, Starbucks tracks it and give you a free drink after 12 payments. I just drink regular coffee but my wife loves the more elaborate drinks so for every $20-25 I spend there I get basically a free $5 drink for her.

You set it up for Passbook use in the Starbucks app one time (including identifying 10 most frequently visited stores) and you're done. Now whenever I'm in the vicinity of one of those Starbucks, a swipe to open notification appears on my lock screen which immediately opens the card in Passbook for scanning--very convenient.

I'll agree though that Passbook is not intuitive as all of the cards/programs usually require separate setup within another app and those apps often do not guide you through their setup process.

[Menel]

Have found Starbucks, Target ,and Fandango to be handy.

[nwcs]

What the results show is that people who frequent this site (including myself) are not representative of the average iPhone user. In addition, this is why Apple doesn't listen to people on this site for advice on how to build profitable features.

It's a humbling lesson but a good one once we accept it.

[UmichAg]

I wish Passbook had a section on the App Store.

-I don't want to download an entire company's app
-I just want to browse the available Passbooks and d/l them to my phone

[prowlmedia]

Originally Posted by EpicKris

I'm flying with Virgin Airlines in January and apparently if you check in online up to 24 hours before your flight, you're given the option to add a passbook which is sent to you via email. But it does not use its own app. So that's an extra one in the UK.

Typically I am flying with them... on Saturday.. but perhaps on the way back on the 6th Jan

[Roessnakhan]

Originally Posted by Small White Car

Why? I keep hearing people say this, but in every way I can think of, screen reading is better.

I would actually prefer if Passbook were a marriage of the two. I could use paypass terminals with NFC, and scan the screen at places like movie theatres.

[viacavour]

Originally Posted by dinggus

How does Passbook work? Does it load up cards like shown in the pictures or do the cards pop up when it detects the location via GPS?

If it detects the location, can you disable that option?

I'm still on iOS 5, I'm just curious. I'd love to lighten the load in my wallet.

Assuming you are in US...

Passbook works best with the deal aggregators like Valpak, Money Mailer, coupons.com, Zoomingo, etc. But you have to be a deal hunter to scout for your favorite deals. You don't need a retailer account for these.

Some stores like Target and Starbucks offer exclusive discounts or loyalty cards. For these, you'll need to sign up with the stores separately. It would mean you are already a frequent visitor.

Other incidental expenses are ticketing, travel and hotel stay. Those apps can generate Passbook receipts for you to claim your reserved seats and rooms.

Then there are Passbook gift cards from your friends, or loyalty gifts from your credit card providers. You may or may not need to redeem these gifts with the gifting app.

Finally, there are also wallet apps that can scan in paper cards and keep them digitally. These apps can export the scanned cards to Passbook so that the cards appear automatically on your lock screen if you're near the right location.

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Originally Posted by zioxide

What companies exactly have these "deals"?

The only companies that do business near me that I actually would use and have a passbook app are Target and Livenation/ticketmaster. I have the target app but not once found anything to do with passbook in it. And the livenation/ticketmaster thing is venue specific so they don't even take it anywhere.

I hope it gets better because it seems like a good idea but unless there's widespread adoption it's completely useless.

Go to the wiki link I posted. Start with the deal aggregator category.

[SmileyBlast!]

If you want to have at least one thing in your Passbook and you have a twitter account you could try:
the Klout app.

[mariana888]

Originally Posted by viacavour

Passbook keeps all the passes together. The apps are just vessels carrying the passes to the Passbook app. You can also get Passbook passes in Email and from a website.

I must be doing something wrong then. I opened passbook, I clicked App Store, selected Starbucks and downloaded the app, it appeared on the screen ascanybother app, even when I did all the log in at my Starbucks account :-(

[Tinmania]

Originally Posted by Jyby

Bluetooth has 79ish radios that run at 1Mhz
NFC has one radio at 13.5ish Mhz

With software any bluetooth device can become a NFC device

What does this have to do with Passbook other than to deflect attention to the fact that Apple devices have no NFC? Passbook is little more than a glorified barcode printer.



Michael

[jrswizzle]

IMHO - the real key for PassBook would be adding loyalty/rewards cards.

I know someone already mentioned BBY. They are the perfect example, and should've jumped on this from the beginning. A digital rewards card which shows your point balance and allows you to redeem the rewards certificates right then and there.

Or for starters, at least let me pull the RZ certificates from the app into passbook. I'm not one of those who cares about needing to DL an app to gain the pass from that business, because the app itself is used for other info than just the card, and its nice to have all the cards in one place when that's all I want to see.

Auto-updating balances (points/money) is the real gem of passbook.

[Westside guy]

Originally Posted by Biscuit411

I wanted to like/use it, but there weren't enough retailers for me to be interested. The Starbucks card was nice, but anything else I tried to use (like Target) had me download a separate app first.

I suppose one can argue consolidation is a positive; but since Starbucks already had an even more flexible app pre-Passbook I don't find the Passbook app compelling.

Originally Posted by adildacoolset

Apple just need to top it off with NFC

Given the security concerns with NFC, the recommendation is to leave it disabled until you want to make a transaction. If I'm going to have to turn something off and on to make purchases, I'd just as soon use an app.

[kingtj]

I get the concept, that it lets you get rid of carrying around extra pieces of paper (coupons or paper tickets), and can be a substitute for another piece of plastic (credit card/gift card) too.

But like other people said, it's still half-baked. If you have to download another app (like Target does) just to put passes into Passbook, that's pointless. Why not just let the app manage its own offers/purchases and save the extra step?

And really, I'm not sure I even *want* all this stuff trapped inside my phone or device? I mean, say I have a bunch of credit for items in Passbook but then I drop and break my phone? Now I've also cancelled out my ability to access those funds/credits until I get the phone replaced and get my data synced back onto it? Same problem if my device is stolen or decides to malfunction, or the battery runs down and I don't have access to recharge it. People might say, "Who cares?" about a Starbucks coffee, but it sure would be an issue on a non-refundable airline ticket I was about to use!

[viacavour]

Originally Posted by mariana888

I must be doing something wrong then. I opened passbook, I clicked App Store, selected Starbucks and downloaded the app, it appeared on the screen ascanybother app, even when I did all the log in at my Starbucks account :-(

You are doing it right. You just need to save/export the Starbucks loyalty card to Passbook. From then on, the pass should appear on your lock screen when you turn on your phone near a Starbucks store.

[pnoyblazed]

Originally Posted by gijoeinla

What FUD. Fandango charges a transaction fee regardless of Passbook. Check your facts. Do you think Fandango is is business for giving away it's service for nothing. 💵💰.

FYI - AMC stubs card number entered into your Fandango account info on their saves you the $2.00 service fee. Per ticket.

Clearly you've really never end used Fandango otherwise you'd know what I'm saying to be true

to be fair, there is an annual fee ($12) to use the AMC Stubs card

[mariana888]

Originally Posted by viacavour

You are doing it right. You just need to save/export the Starbucks loyalty card to Passbook. From then on, the pass should appear on your lock screen when you turn on your phone near a Starbucks store.

Doh! Thanks. It works, here I was like an idiot thinking I had a problem. :-)