Android and iPhone users may be jealously protective of their cell phone platform of choice, but secretly, both camps believe that other phones have features that their phones don’t have. I know. Google now appears to be addressing one issue that has made it underperform by improving Google Wallet to help the iPhone do better things like digital tickets and boarding passes.
Google Wallet is starting to look more like Apple Wallet.
Updates for March 21st are as follows. This post was first published on March 18, 2024.
Apple Wallet and its Android smartphone counterpart, Google Wallet, are both suitable for storing digital versions of your credit and debit cards. But the iPhone version has always been strong when it comes to passes, and it’s no coincidence that it was originally called Passbook.
This is done for a long time, so apps for airlines, theaters, concert halls, etc. regularly include buttons designed to add to your wallet that are easy to find.
It looks like the passes that easily slide into your iPhone’s Wallet app could be pulled into Google Wallet just as smoothly. Android writer Mishal Rahman It was posted on X that you can now import files in the .pkpass format used by Apple into Google Wallet.
And while 9to5Google has followed up with confirming that other users were able to do the same, it doesn’t appear to have been rolled out to everyone yet.
If this becomes more widespread, it will be much more convenient. Websites and apps that have buttons that prompt users to click to add passes to Apple Wallet often don’t include an equivalent feature to download to Google Wallet.
One Reddit user said: “For several years, Google didn’t have its own digital ticketing system, so now you can download movie and train tickets in Google Wallet format, whereas previously Apple’s tickets were the only option” in PK Pass format. Also, since the Apple Digital Ticket format has been around for quite some time, there are still some places that only offer this format. ”
Google offers similar compatibility, so Android users should be able to click the same Apple Wallet link to add the pass to their Android smartphone.
There have been third-party apps that could have the same effect, but an official way to do it using Google would be welcome.
What’s not yet clear is whether Google will have the same versatility as Apple, such as the ability to update your boarding pass if you change seats on a plane.
Updated on March 20th. Android smartphones continue to receive rapid updates to major Google apps. Contacts, an app we all rely on, has been updated in two major ways. First, it’s been given a gentle redesign. The rows for category filters like Phone Contacts, Email Contacts, and Company are gone, but you can get them by tapping the filter icon near the account name. Eliminating this will make your app look smoother and cleaner.
Secondly, and this is even more interesting, a new section has been added to the app. at the bottom right of the screen (in a slightly more practical way)[修正と管理]Tap the tab marked with to display the adjustment method page. There are useful items like merge and fix. This means that one person no longer has to have seven different cards, which is how things get a little unwieldy over time, and instead he can keep everything in one place.
And as it was discovered, 9to5Googlee, there’s a new section called Contact Ringtones, designed to set custom ringtones for individual contacts, so you’ll know who’s calling you even if you flip your phone over . Choose from dozens of ringtones. Google Pixel also lets you import your own ringtones using Pixel Sounds.
This may seem like a small change, but it’s enough to, for example, select a ringtone and assign it to individual contacts, or manage your contacts and change their ringtones.
In other words, it’s not just Google Wallet that’s being upgraded. Google has plans for major apps across the Android user experience.
Updated on March 21st. Additionally, the Google Play Store app has also been updated. I don’t know how successful it was, but let’s give it a try. The first change is to the search bar that previously appeared at the top of the screen, now featuring a magnifying glass and a text bar marked “Search apps and games.” The new design increases the number of rows of tabs at the bottom of the screen from three to five. Previously it was just games, apps, and books, but now two more items have been added, search is in the middle, and offers account for 4 out of his 5.
Initially, I had high expectations for this renewal. All hell broke loose a few years ago when Apple reconfigured his Safari on his iPhone to put the search bar at the bottom instead of the top. There were so many complaints that Apple pulled the plug, but to this day Safari still has two layouts for users to choose from: one with a search bar at the bottom; is in its old location at the top.
In fact, I tried placing the search bar at the bottom and found it to be very useful. It’s easy to access with your thumb and adds a cute extra feature. Move your thumb over the search bar to swipe between open web pages.
So I thought, this new arrangement has significantly improved reachability, and this must be what’s happening here. I was wrong.[検索]When you tap on a tab, the search bar you need to use will reappear at the top of the display. This makes little sense to me.
To be fair, there are additional features here as well. Below the search bar, your search terms appear in multiple panels under several headings. One is ‘You may like’, with suggested categories such as AI apps, offline games, and mobile payment apps.
Below that is the heading “Explore Games,” which includes suggestions for action, simulation, role-playing, and more. Each has its own icon, like a cute helicopter for action or a puzzle piece for puzzles.
Maybe Google will come up with more, but right now we’re missing a nice mod for wallets and contacts.
