iOS 27 Wallet App Gets 7 New Features

[MacRumors]

Apple is making more of an effort to turn the iPhone into a physical wallet replacement in iOS 27, and there are several upgrades to the Wallet app.

Pass Upgrades

Apple upgraded airline boarding passes in the Wallet app with iOS 26, and in iOS 27, upgrades are coming to additional types of passes. Memberships, gift cards, loyalty cards, and rewards cards can use a bolder "Poster Generic" card style with full background images, primary logo, header fields, footer field, primary fields, and an optional barcode.

Each pass is able to include up to two actions that can be tapped from the bottom of the pass, such as getting directions to a venue or checking a rewards point balance.

Apple is also allowing users to check the pass issuer certificate to ensure that a digital pass is legitimate (not applicable to Create a Pass), and there are four new barcode types supported, including EAN–13, Code 39, Codabar, and ITF.

There is a new Pass Designer Mac app for developers that makes it easier to create a pass using a WYSIWYG editor.
Create a Pass

There's a "Create a Pass" feature in the Wallet app for adding tickets, memberships, and more using Visual Intelligence. If you have a ticket for an event and there's not a digital version available for the Wallet app already, you can create one using the physical pass.

You can scan a pass and add it with Visual Intelligence if there's a barcode or QR code, or a pass can be added manually. Pass templates include Standard, Membership, and Event.

Each type includes relevant information like name, location, or admission type, along with a scannable code drawn from an included barcode or QR code that you take a photo of. There are 12 background colors to choose from with different texture options, or seven custom backgrounds for categories like theater, music, sports, and movies.

Fields can be added or removed as needed when creating a custom pass, with options like label, date, membership, contact, coupon code, VIN, insurance, and more, so most physical cards are able to be stored digitally.
Hotel Keys

When you add a digital hotel key from a participating hotel to the Wallet app, you can now view more details about the trip. Hotels can provide updates on booked activities and allow access to different services.
AI Bill Splitting

Using the new Siri Mode in the Camera app, or a feature in the Messages and Wallet apps, you can take a photo of a bill and use Apple Intelligence to figure out what each person owes. Visual Intelligence scans the receipt and makes a digital copy of everything on the list, and each person can select what they consumed. Tax and tip portions are also calculated automatically.

Payments can be made using Apple Cash, which is a U.S.-only feature.
Insights

iOS 27 includes an "Insights" feature where you can add financial accounts to the Wallet app to monitor spending.

Insights is an expansion of the Connected Accounts feature in earlier versions of iOS, and it includes spending, recurring transactions, account balances, and more. It works for financial institutions that have implemented Connected Cards support, including several UK banks.
Order Tracking

Order tracking in the Wallet app is expanding to Australia and Canada in iOS 27. In iOS 26, it was limited to the United States and UK.
Tap to Share

Tap to Share is an iOS 27 feature that lets customers connect to a participating merchant's iPhone for quicker digital checkout.
Device Requirements

Visual Intelligence is an Apple Intelligence feature requiring an iPhone 15 Pro or newer. Many of the other features should work on all iPhones.

Article Link: iOS 27 Wallet App Gets 7 New Features

 

[nt5672]

All I want is secure payments, all these other things just increase the attack surface and make the wallet App bloated and unreliable just like Apple's other Apps.

 

[PsykX]

All I want is secure payments, all these other things just increase the attack surface and make the wallet App bloated and unreliable just like Apple's other Apps.

On the complete opposite, I'm eagerly waiting for the day I don't have to carry a physical wallet in my pockets anymore.

 

[dontwalkhand]

On the complete opposite, I'm eagerly waiting for the day I don't have to carry a physical wallet in my pockets anymore.

Which is fine, but my physical wallet isn't trying to show me my finances etc either. If they want the Wallet app to behave like a physical wallet, it should do one thing good and that is, allow me to store cards in it. Leave it to other apps for those financial insights etc.

 

[Elyzien]

I am down for more color saturation and warmer/darker tones. I'm a bit stretched on seeing pastel-ish/like wispy colors.

 

[sharprichnorth]

I've been using order tracking in Canada since at least iOS/iPadOS 26, but I am pretty sure for longer than that.

 

[rhetorique]

I just want a way to customize cards so I can differentiate them..... (I got several Business ramp cards)

 

[goobot]

Would be nice if the wallet knew which card offered the best rewards for when I’m going to pay

 

[PsykX]

Which is fine, but my physical wallet isn't trying to show me my finances etc

I'm not totally against it showing finances, but the problem is, such feature never really works. It would work if we have all the individual articles one buys, but it would be not only impossible to have, but would also go totally against user privacy. I think it would work in very specific countries such as Brazil, because the government has a database of pretty much every single thing you buy with your "CPF" (= social security number).

When I go to Costco, things get reported in my banking app as "personal expenses", as if I go there to have fun.
I would say ⅓ of my Costco bills is for food, ⅓ is for home-related stuff, ⅓ is for pharmacy stuff (pills, supplements, etc.).

 

[svish]

Ability to create passes will be very beneficial. Bill splitting too will be useful.

 

[d-klumpp]

I hope I'm never so cheap or desperate that I need an AI tool to split a tab so precisely. Have some grace, people!

 

[goobot]

I'm not totally against it showing finances, but the problem is, such feature never really works. It would work if we have all the individual articles one buys, but it would be not only impossible to have, but would also go totally against user privacy. I think it would work in very specific countries such as Brazil, because the government has a database of pretty much every single thing you buy with your "CPF" (= social security number).

When I go to Costco, things get reported in my banking app as "personal expenses", as if I go there to have fun.
I would say ⅓ of my Costco bills is for food, ⅓ is for home-related stuff, ⅓ is for pharmacy stuff (pills, supplements, etc.).

You’re credit cards are already selling all the info about what you buy, that’s why when you buy something or shop somewhere you start seeing ads about it

 

[lazyrighteye]

Just returned from long 5 days attending the U12 regional tourney in Salt Lake City. Players, plus parents/families, saw dinner parties at around 50 people, where team sat together and parents/families sat together. Made for some tricky “check please” moments at the end of dinner. The ticket-splitting assistance sounds like it could have been handy for that nightmare. Interested to check that out.