Google Wallet is introducing a pass sharing feature

By wazup on July 7, 2023 Comments Closed / 66 views

Passes that can be shared will be clearly marked with a ‘share’ logo above them.

By Jess Weatherbed, a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews.

a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Illustration: The Verge

Google Wallet is set to get a new pass sharing feature that some users have been asking for since the days of its predecessor, Google Pay.

9to5Google spotted that the search giant mentioned “adding a way to share your valuables in Google Wallet” in the Google Play system update list of features for Android devices for July. That rather vague entry has since vanished from the update list, but the Google Wallet support page can provide some additional information.

A new entry at the bottom of the support page now says that users can share “some passes” from their own Wallet with other Google Wallet users. “We are working on a feature that will allow Wallet users to share select passes,” Google spokesperson Leismer Schulten also confirmed to The Verge. Event tickets and boarding passes were provided as examples, though it’s up to the companies who issue passes through Google Wallet to enable the feature.

The new Google Play system updates will roll out throughout July. No specific services supporting the feature have been announced yet, but you’ll be able to identify which passes can be shared by a Google “Share” icon that will appear above them. The support page warns, however, that you can’t unsend anything once you’ve shared that link, and the recipient can then forward that pass to anyone they like.

Google has been adding a bunch of other features to its Wallet app in recent weeks, including support for state ID and driver’s licenses in Maryland and the ability to upload passes by taking a photo of them. This latest addition to the Google Wallet toolbox could make life a bit easier for those of us who get stuck organizing entertainment and travel arrangements for friends and family. Google is a little late to the party, though — Apple Wallet has supported pass sharing for years.