A Quick Guide To Passbook Enabled Apps

What was the first thing you noticed after you upgraded to iOS 6? For me, it was the Passbook icon, which was prominently out of place on the first screen. I am not OC when it comes to my icons – at least not like some people who are bothered about their colors, and hence group them accordingly. Still, the Passbook was a new thing, and it jumped out at me.

Passbook

And, presumably, just like many upgraders to iOS 6, I was not exactly sure what to do with Passbook. A quick peek into the App Store gives the answer, though.

Passbook is the simplest way to store your boarding passes, tickets, coupons, gift cards and more in one place. With Passbook, you can scan your iPhone or iPod touch to check in for a flight, get into a movie, or redeem a coupon. Wake your iPhone or iPod touch, and passes appear on your Lock screen at the appropriate time and place. Explore our collection of apps that work with Passbook and check back often as new partners will be added regularly.

It’s a brilliant idea, but there are still kinks that make it a pain to use, mainly due to the process of determining which apps are Passbook enabled. You can always manually check the App Store, but it can be tedious if you want a complete list. If this is what you need/want, it’s your lucky day. Here is a list of some of the most useful passbook enabled apps.

Passbook Enabled Apps

Airlines

• American Airlines
• United Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Virgin Australia

Coupons/Rewards/Loyalty Cards

• 10Stamps
• Belly
• gyft
• iSlick
• MeNetwork
• Sephora to Go
• Shop Your Way – Sears
• Target
• Walgreens

Finance

• American Express – web application
• BillGuard – US only for now

Hotels

• iHotel Hotel Search

Movies

• Cineplex Mobile
• Fandango
• Flickd Movies with Netflix

Live Events

• Live Nation
• Ticketmaster

Not There Yet

It’s a good concept, but we have to admit there needs to be more collaboration, more apps, and a more user friendly way to browse Passbook enabled apps in the App Store. With time, I think Passbook will become one of the most used features on the iPhone.

Now let me ask you, have you ever used a Passbook enabled app?

[Image via Apple]