Google Wallet

Google Wallet widely rolling out Apple Wallet pass support, but it doesn’t work everywhere

Ben Schoon | Apr 4 2024 - 7:57 am PT

Google Wallet can now import passes from Apple Wallet, but it doesn’t work for everything. Here’s what you should know.

In March, Google Wallet opened up the ability to import “.pkpass” files for some users. That functionality is now widely available in our testing through the latest Wallet and Play Services updates.

What is a “.pkpass” file?

In short, that’s the file type used for passes in Apple Wallet. The file contains the needed data for a pass and, now, Google Wallet can also read and properly import those files. In some cases, that means the “Add to Apple Wallet” button in an email receipt or on a website can work with Google Wallet. Awesome!

However, in our testing, this doesn’t seem to work everywhere.

One case in which this did work for us was an “Add to Apple Wallet” button in a parking pass from the Charlotte NC airport. Tapping the “add” button in the email receipt led us to a page where a “.pkpass” file is downloaded which can then be immediately imported to Google Wallet.

But in another case, this was blocked. Tickets for a minor league baseball game led to a website with an “add to wallet” button, but the attempt was blocked as it required Safari. More than likely, that’s an error users on Android will run into semi-frequently.

Beyond even that, in many cases the “Add to Apple Wallet” button appears in an app, but not in Android apps. As such, many services won’t ever present Android users with the “.pkpass” file needed to import that pass to Google Wallet. Our Max Weinbach, though, did find an interesting workaround for that.

In the Apple Wallet app, users can share a pass via messaging and other apps, and it uses a “.pkpass” file to do that. As such, any pass you have in Apple Wallet can be ported over to Google Wallet assuming you have access to an iPhone. A handy workaround, definitely, but admittedly pretty cumbersome.

Max shared screenshots of how the process works as seen below.

In theory, Google Wallet’s support of “.pkpass” files should make it considerably easier for companies that are distributing these passes to make them available to Android users. That will likely take time but, even now, there are certainly benefits as this support has widely become available.