Passbook SUCKS

[madsci954]

Geeze, so much negativity. Give it time people, both features are brand new. Some people here are saying the ship will sink before the hull is even christened.

I for one am excite about Passbook. Last night, I used passsource.com to make a BB Rewardzone and Petsmart Petperks cards since I don't see either app being updated to use it (the BB app was last updated July 2010 ) and I can't wait to give them a try.

 

[parrotheadcubs]

2 questions.

1) I can delete the app after setting up the passbook portion correct? So I have my Walgreens rewards card in passbook but the Walgreens app is gone from my phone.

2) now that I have a card in passbook how do I get back to the main screen to go to the passbook portion of the App Store? It only shows my rewards card. Can't do anything else.

 

[rorschach]

I imagine because people became excited about the potential of Passbook, anyone that carries with them a wallet full of CCs, Store Cards and loyalty cards will have been excited by the unveiling in the keynote

The keynote never talked about stuff in your wallet.

When Scott Forstall announced Passbook at WWDC, he talked about apps that have scannable passes built in and how it's a pain to go from app to app to find passes.

The potential is there. It's just an API. It's up to companies/developers to actually use it.

 

[appswipe]

The keynote never talked about stuff in your wallet.

When Scott Forstall announced Passbook at WWDC, he talked about apps that have scannable passes built in and how it's a pain to go from app to app to find passes.

The potential is there. It's just an API. It's up to companies/developers to actually use it.

Im not disagreeing with you, but if a product isn't ready for prime time (regardless who is at fault) then should it really be pushed as a marquis feature?

We went through this last year with Siri where its an interesting idea and it was highly touted as a major selling point but the implementation just wasn't that deep. And this year (to a much lesser degree) Passbook is being proposed as this interesting solution to a problem that few people have so it's piqued curiosity, but when you actually use it then it's a bit of a mess.

Again, I'm not slamming it but lets be honest, when you saw the initial passbook slides then which card did you notice first? Id wager more than half saw Starbucks yet it's not even available yet.

Yes, I know you have to be patient blah blah blah, but I jumped through all the hoops of getting Walgreens and Target put in my passbook (which required downloading the app, registering and waiting for text confirmation) and just spent the last half hour using passsource.com to create a few unsupported club cards before giving up in annoyance. While it did work, theres not a chance in hell I'd tell my mom to try it. Its just not simple nor is it ready.

 

[HeatherA]

I guess I misunderstood the app because I thought the future of this app was that it would replace the need of having so many apps by only extracting the parts I need (Tickets, GC balances, Coupons). I'd love to have a passbook with 100 cards but if that means Id have to have the 100 original apps also on my phone then this doesnt necessarily make things easier to manage.

I deleted both Target and Walgreens from my phone and the Passbook entry remains. Cludgy work around but it worked...

 

[0970373]

Will you tell us how it goes using the pass at the airport? Thanks.

So at the airport now. I got bumped up so my electronic boarding pass became invalid. Not complaining!! lol. Will try it on the way back though.

 

[matrix07]

So at the airport now. I got bumped up so my electronic boarding pass became invalid. Not complaining!! lol. Will try it on the way back though.

Cheers. Waiting to hear your experience.

 

[Ramius]

I just updated to iOS 6 on my 3GS. And I dont understand it either.
You have to have some sort of link from the content and service providers?

You cant just add **** yourself?

 

[RxMac]

I just updated to iOS 6 on my 3GS. And I dont understand it either.
You have to have some sort of link from the content and service providers?

You cant just add **** yourself?

Read the thread.

You can too. Google "passsource"

 

[Rogifan]

IMO Apple needs to step it up on the software side. Maps, Siri, Passbook all have issues. I did a google search on iPhone 5 reviews in the last week. Nearly every one I read gave high marks in the hardware side - design, display, camera, speed, battery, etc. - and were very much 'meh' on the software side. Maps and Passbook don't seem ready for prime time but Apple touted them as major features. And I don't remember them saying either one was beta like they did with Siri. Clearly maps is a beta product.

 

[lonestay]

UK resident and i have passbook working ! there are 6 apps available 5 are airline apps and one is IHotel , I have booked an hotel room in this app and it sends all the details to the passbook so all information is available there . All i now need to do, in theory is turn up at hotel and check in !!!!
Iphone 4 used

 

[paulcdb]

Maps and Passbook have been the two big negatives from iOS6 IMO. Really terrible. The rest is awesome. Anyways, anyone know how to get back to the list of supported stores? One you add a store to Passbook, there is no link to the list of supported stores at all.

why are they terrible?

They are both version 1 right now... people forget google has been doing maps for years, they've had cars driving around almost every street mapping data. Google maps wasn't as good as it was when that first came out but people have short memories!

Passbook, again is new! Most companies work slowly and it's going to take time for them to figure out how to use passbook but apple has given them the tools, now it's up to companies to make use of them!

People really do expect the world these days yet how many people have actually thought about how (for example) maps which cover the world, every street, business... keeping it updated... are done?

I dread to think what the world will be like in 10 years with the way it's going now!

 

[esco]

Just used passbook on my United flight. Looking forward to new apps supporting it.

 

[cynics]

I'm upset...

I thought we were getting something like this....(excuse the terrible music)

http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_uri=/ <----NFC being used in real world places

Instead we get a folder for our coupons...whoopy....

 

[cynics]

Just used passbook on my United flight. Looking forward to new apps supporting it.

I have a united flight coming up, can you explain to me how you did this and what is the point? Do I need to sign up for United's MileagePlus frequent flyer program?

What do I get in return? An electronic boarding pass? They are going to hand me the paper one at the entrance so what use do I have for it being on my phone? Just too look cool?

I'm seriously missing something here. I'm not trying to give my information out to 20 different apps so I can avoid carrying a piece of paper.

 

[Rigby]

I have a united flight coming up, can you explain to me how you did this and what is the point?

You check in to your flight using the United app. After that you will have the option to receive an electronic boarding pass (if supported by the departure airport), which you then can store in Passbook. Previously it was only available within the app, i.e. you had to unlock the phone and call up the app at the airport. The point is to make the pass easily accessible. In this case it will automatically pop up on the lock screen once you reach the airport.

Do I need to sign up for United's MileagePlus frequent flyer program?

No.

What do I get in return? An electronic boarding pass? They are going to hand me the paper one at the entrance so what use do I have for it being on my phone? Just too look cool?

On most domestic airports you don't need paper boarding passes anymore. You can just hold the phone to the scanner at security and at the gate.

I'm seriously missing something here. I'm not trying to give my information out to 20 different apps so I can avoid carrying a piece of paper.

The problem is that people are misundersanding what Passbook is. It is not an app for *acquiring* cards/passes etc. It is only an electronic wallet that makes managing them easier. There are several ways to add cards, e.g. by downloading Passbook files with Safari, receive them as an attachment in an email, or through an app like United.

 

[cynics]

You check in to your flight using the United app. After that you will have the option to receive an electronic boarding pass (if supported by the departure airport), which you then can store in Passbook. Previously it was only available within the app, i.e. you had to unlock the phone and call up the app at the airport. The point is to make the pass easily accessible. In this case it will automatically pop up on the lock screen once you reach the airport.
No.
On most domestic airports you don't need paper boarding passes anymore. You can just hold the phone to the scanner at security and at the gate.
The problem is that people are misundersanding what Passbook is. It is not an app for *acquiring* cards/passes etc. It is only an electronic wallet that makes managing them easier. There are several ways to add cards, e.g. by downloading Passbook files with Safari, receive them as an attachment in an email, or through an app like United.

Thanks for taking the time to explain it. I was under the impression there was more too it.

 

[Appleseeds]

I do think it will be great once it matures. I would like to know however how do you get the apple gift card they showed in the preview on to the app. Kind of strange apple doesn't even support their own gift cards yet.

 

[fisherking]

it's certainly not intuitive to set up (ie 'apple-like'), but i got walgreens in it, target, and fandango. waiting (any day now!) for starbucks...so i can test it out (or will force myself to go to a movie to try that).

needs work, and apple needs to put a tutorial in front of it. 'out of the box' it is a complete mystery...

 

[Rogifan]

it's certainly not intuitive to set up (ie 'apple-like'), but i got walgreens in it, target, and fandango. waiting (any day now!) for starbucks...so i can test it out (or will force myself to go to a movie to try that).

needs work, and apple needs to put a tutorial in front of it. 'out of the box' it is a complete mystery...

Yeah after 5 minutes of not knowing what to do I gave up. If I want that I'll get an Android phone.

 

[Rigby]

Thanks for taking the time to explain it. I was under the impression there was more too it.

Well, personally I think electronic boarding passes are about the best thing since the invention of sliced bread. It can safe a lot of time because it allows you to bypass the check-in lines at the airport, or finding a kiosk or printer to print a paper boarding pass. If you travel a lot, you know that often every minute counts and stress levels are high enough as it is.

The value of Passbook will become apparent once there is broader support. Basically it bundles everything in one place, so you don't have to think about what app to launch to access your ticket/coupon/pass or whatever. I'm also curious to see what creative uses developers will find for the dynamic features of the cards.

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needs work, and apple needs to put a tutorial in front of it. 'out of the box' it is a complete mystery...

Agreed. Rather than putting a link to the app store, a tutorial or even a simple help text explaining the purpose of the app would have been much more useful.

 

[cynics]

Well, personally I think electronic boarding passes are about the best thing since the invention of sliced bread. It can safe a lot of time because it allows you to bypass the check-in lines at the airport, or finding a kiosk or printer to print a paper boarding pass. If you travel a lot, you know that often every minute counts and stress levels are high enough as it is.

The value of Passbook will become apparent once there is broader support. Basically it bundles everything in one place, so you don't have to think about what app to launch to access your ticket/coupon/pass or whatever. I'm also curious to see what creative uses developers will find for the dynamic features of the cards.

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Agreed. Rather than putting a link to the app store, a tutorial or even a simple help text explaining the purpose of the app would have been much more useful.

OK, so let me ask you. I entered my confirmation number for my flight into the united airlines app. It sees I have a reservation. Now what?

In the united airlines app it has a reservation but there is no mobile boarding pass or anything.

Half of the confusion for me is I had no idea what passbook was. To find out it relies on crappy third party apps is disappointing...

 

[danpass]

Passbook is not designed to take the place of a store's app. Passbook's purpose is to detect when you are close to that store/location and display the appropriate discount card, ticket, payment card to keep you from having to find the correct app and open it.

I don't have my 5 yet but this is a great explanation.

Thank you for helping me decide about NEVER using it (just like I never use gamecenter) lol

 

[Rigby]

OK, so let me ask you. I entered my confirmation number for my flight into the united airlines app. It sees I have a reservation. Now what?

In the united airlines app it has a reservation but there is no mobile boarding pass or anything.

Usually you can check in starting 24 hours before departure (you will then see a button in the app). The boarding pass will become available once you complete the check-in.

 

[fisherking]

Yeah after 5 minutes of not knowing what to do I gave up. If I want that I'll get an Android phone.

i LOVE my phone LOL; and am appreciating ios6; maps needs work, so does passcode...but that will happen.

if you were using an android phone, you'd find something wrong with jelly bean (or whatever os you're running)...and contemplate an iphone. we always think the 'other' thing is better...

am happy, just want to be MORE happy...