Mastering the Art of Designing Custom Apple Wallet Passes

Before the unveiling of iOS 27 at WWDC, rumors were swirling about Siri AI enhancements and Apple Intelligence features. Surprisingly, another prediction proved accurate: the introduction of custom passes in Apple Wallet.

The addition of custom passes raises the question of why Apple didn’t implement this feature sooner. Perhaps the incorporation of Siri into the functionality played a role in the timing.

Although Apple didn’t highlight this feature during the WWDC keynote, it was one of the first things users explored in the developer beta. The implementation aligns closely with the speculation from sources like Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, emphasizing Visual Intelligence as a key component.

New Siri remains a highly anticipated feature, and Visual Intelligence isn’t mandatory for creating custom passes. Users can opt to manually create a pass instead of relying on scanning capabilities.

To initiate the process of generating a new pass, users can tap the plus sign in the Wallet app. This action leads to the option to create a pass manually, bypassing the default Visual Intelligence setting.

Apple offers three distinct templates for custom passes:

1. Standard – includes custom text, number, and date fields.
2. Membership – similar to Standard with added membership-specific fields.
3. Event – tailored for event passes with admission and seating details.

All templates feature a QR code section that requires scanning a physical code with the iPhone camera for digital conversion.

Users can customize their passes by selecting from various templates, icons, and background themes. Additional fields can be added, and existing ones can be edited to suit individual preferences.

The Event template offers a specialized layout for event passes, allowing customization of details such as seating and admission specifics.

Custom passes remain editable post-creation, enabling users to update information like expiry dates on membership cards or add QR codes at a later time.

While the feature is currently functional in the developer beta, enhancements may occur before the public release in iOS 27.0. Customization options, such as background images, are limited for now.

As development progresses, improvements to customization features may be introduced, potentially enhancing the overall user experience.