Apple Wallet vs. Google Wallet

Adoption

Apple Wallet is a native app, so 100% of iPhones have it preinstalled. Not every Android device ships with Google Wallet, and some users need to download it first. Google Wallet ties in tightly with the user's Google account, which makes handling passes easy.

Google Wallet passes live in the user's Google account

When a pass holder saves a Google Wallet pass, Google stores it in their Google account, not only on the device. The pass appears on every Android device that uses the same Google account. To see the pass on their phone, holders must use the Google account they used when saving the pass.

Prerequisites

You sign Apple Wallet passes with a certificate that you create with your Apple Developer account. See How certificates work. Google Wallet needs no certificate. You must enable it for your template, though, because creating the Google Wallet version transfers data to Google servers. See Configuring a template for Google Wallet.

Structure of the pass

Apple Wallet passes have a front and a back. The front does not scroll, the back does. Google Wallet passes have no back but scroll as one page. The most important data sits at the top, comparable to the front of an Apple Wallet pass. The personal data and back fields follow below.

Back fields hold an unlimited amount of text in both wallets. Google Wallet crops long text and shows the full content only when the user taps the field.

Google Wallet locks the pass type

Google Wallet does not allow changing the type of a pass after the pass exists. Once passes exist, the template editor shows Pass type can't be changed for Google Wallet Templates after first Save. If you change the layout in the editor anyway, for example from boarding pass to store card, passes in other wallet apps change. Google Wallet passes keep the original layout, and Google keeps requiring the mandatory fields of the original type.

Links

On the back of an Apple Wallet pass you can link almost anything. Websites, email addresses and phone numbers all work. Google Wallet uses dedicated link fields, so a link inside normal text is not clickable. Passcreator solves this for you. The Links section of the template editor lets you define up to four link fields that work in both Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. For Google Wallet you can also configure a Button on the front of the pass (Google Wallet) with a label and target URL.

Logo

Google Wallet uses a different logo format. Logos are square with a minimum of 660×660 pixels, and Google Wallet displays them rounded. Leave a margin of about 15% so the rounding does not cut off your logo. The template editor has a separate Google Wallet Logo image slot for this. You can use the same square specification for your Apple Wallet logo as well.

Colors

Google Wallet sets the text color of a pass itself to ensure high contrast. Your label and foreground colors only apply to Apple Wallet. Google Wallet does not support colors that differ for each pass either.

Location based notifications and beacons

Both wallets support location based notifications via GPS coordinates. On Apple Wallet you define a custom message that the holder sees near a location. Google Wallet shows its own message, which you cannot customize. Notifications appear on the lock screen on both platforms. Apple Wallet also supports iBeacons. Google Wallet does not support beacon based notifications.

Barcodes

Both wallets display 1D and 2D barcodes. One special case exists. On Google Wallet, the ITF barcode type only renders values with exactly 14 digits, the ITF-14 format. Google Wallet also offers an optional security animation. Enable it in the Barcode & NFC section with Add security animation (Google Wallet only).

Passes in both wallets support personalization, and you can update them after distribution.

When you change the content of an Apple Wallet pass, the holder sees the change message as a push notification on the lock screen. Google Wallet passes update as well, but publishing a template change does not display a notification. The publish dialog says the same. Push notifications only work in Apple Wallet on iOS and PassWallet on Android. Google Wallet passes update but do not display a push notification.

To notify Google Wallet holders, use the send push notification feature on the template or on a single pass. Google's guidelines apply.

• Holders must have notifications enabled for their passes.
• Links in messages must relate to the pass. Anything else violates Google's Acceptable Use Policy.
• A pass receives a maximum of 3 messages that trigger a push notification within 24 hours. Google throttles delivery if it considers the messages spam.
• Google Wallet controls the appearance of the notification on the lock screen.