Getting started with Wallet passes

Wallet passes are digital cards, such as loyalty cards, coupons, event tickets, and boarding passes, that users keep in Apple Wallet on iPhone and Apple Watch, or in the Google Wallet app on Android. With Pushwoosh, you design a pass visually in the Control Panel, send it to users, and update it at any time without asking them to add the pass again.

What you can do with Wallet passes

• Design passes in the Apple Wallet or Google Wallet pass builder, without writing pass files by hand.
• Share a pass by install link or QR code, and on Apple Wallet also as a .pkpass file.
• Update pass content and deliver the change to every device that added the pass.
• Issue one pass design to many users and update shared fields across every issued pass from one place with Wallet Pass Campaigns.
• Issue a pass and send its link automatically from a Customer Journey with the Issue wallet pass element.
• Reach pass holders with a one-time push, pass update, or Customer Journey. See Message Wallet pass holders.

Single passes or a campaign

	Single pass	Wallet Pass Campaign
Best for	A handful of recipients, or one shared pass such as a common coupon	One pass design issued to many users
Where you design it	Pass builder	Campaigns tab in Campaigns → Wallet Passes
Updating a field	Edit each pass	Edit the campaign once, and shared fields update on every issued pass

Prerequisites

Developer assistance needed

Issuing Wallet passes requires a developer account with Apple or Google and a one-time setup in Pushwoosh. Share this section with your developer team.

Apple Wallet:

• Apple Developer Program: an active membership to register Pass Type IDs and create signing certificates. Enroll or manage your account

Google Wallet:

• A Google Pay & Wallet Console issuer account

Start working with Wallet passes

After the prerequisites are in place, work through this flow to issue a single pass. To issue one design to many users, see Start working with Wallet Pass Campaigns.

1. Configure Wallet passes in Pushwoosh

   Your developer team connects the wallet platform to your application in Pushwoosh. This is a one-time setup per application:

   • Apple Wallet: create a pass signing certificate in Apple Developer, then upload it in Configure platforms with SET UP PASSKIT in the iOS row. How to set up the signing certificate
   • Google Wallet: invite the Pushwoosh service account to your issuer and add the Issuer ID. How to set up Google Wallet

   You can upload the certificate even if iOS push isn’t set up for the application: Apple Wallet doesn’t need iOS push notifications.

   You can also connect Apple Wallet yourself in AI Assistant, without developer help. You need the Admin or Account Holder role in your Apple Developer account. Then:

   • Ask AI Assistant, for example, Set up Apple Wallet for my app. It gives you a certificate signing request file.
   • Follow its steps to register a Pass Type ID and create the certificate in Apple Developer.
   • Drop the .cer file from Apple into the chat. AI Assistant saves it, and you don’t need a Mac, Keychain Access, or a .p12 file.

   After the setup, AI Assistant helps you design the first pass and issue it as a single pass or through a Wallet Pass Campaign. When the certificate expires in 30 days or less, it warns you at the start of a Wallet conversation and walks you through renewing it.

2. Design the pass

   In the pass builder, choose a pass style or type, add your branding and fields, and check the live preview: Apple Wallet pass builder or Google Wallet pass builder. To issue one design to many users, create a campaign instead.

3. Generate the pass

   When the pass looks right, click Generate. For Apple Wallet, Pushwoosh validates the pass and prepares images at the required resolutions. For Google Wallet, Pushwoosh creates the pass in Google Wallet and returns a save link.

4. Send the pass to users

   Share the install link or QR code, or on Apple Wallet, the .pkpass file. See Share the pass with users. When users add the pass, their device registers for future updates.

5. Update the pass

   Edit the pass in All passes or through the API and save. Pushwoosh delivers the update to every device that added the pass, and users don’t need to add it again. See View and manage existing passes.

6. Message pass holders

   Once users add the pass, you can reach them with a one-time push, a pass update, or an automated Customer Journey.

   Message Wallet pass holders

Start working with Wallet Pass Campaigns

A campaign needs the same one-time setup as a single pass. Then work through this flow:

1. Create the campaign

   Design the pass once, mark each field as shared or personal, and click Create campaign. Create a Wallet Pass Campaign

2. Issue passes

   On the campaign’s Passes tab, issue a pass to each user by User ID, or attach passes you already created. Issue passes from a campaign

3. Send the passes to users

   Share each pass’s install link or QR code. To issue passes and send their links automatically, use the Issue wallet pass element in a Customer Journey. Share Wallet passes

4. Update every pass at once

   Edit a shared field in the campaign and confirm the update. It reaches the issued passes. To refresh fields automatically when a user’s tag changes, sync pass fields from tags. Manage a Wallet Pass Campaign