This underrated Google Wallet feature is my favorite thing with the app

Google Wallet, although not the most exciting app in Google’s portfolio, is one of the Google apps I use all the time. It is my standard digital wallet on each Android -Phone I use. All my stores/membership cards are in it, and it is fantastic for concert tickets and flights boarding.

Over the past couple of months, I started using a little known and often forgotten Google Wallet feature that began to roll out last summer: Custom is passed. You have long been able to add something with a barcode or QR code to your wallet, but the implementation was quite bare bones. In August last year, Google upgraded the experience To use AI to help you create a customized passport for practically anything. And I have to admit: It’s incredible.

Create a custom Google Wallet Passport is super easy. Open your wallet app, press Add the walletand then press Everything else option at the bottom of the screen. This asks you to take a picture of the card, membership, etc., you will add the Google Wallet. Alternatively, you can upload a screenshot or photo you have already taken.

The main difference here compared to how customized passes that have been previously worked are that you can add goods that do not have a barcode or QR code – such as a vehicle registration or an insurance card. This recently came in handy when my partner and I changed insurance plans.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has an Android app, but it is often slow to load and is not the most reliable. Technically, I can see my insurance card on it, but there is a good chance that I will have to wait forever for it to appear. Alternatively, I can add it to the Google Wallet and have my information ready to view the doctor’s office or pharmacist immediately. It is so much more practical.

This convenience is also transmitted with other customized passes. I go a lot to my local cinema, and by default is the only way to find my ticket to scan in the lobby by digging through my inbox. But I prefer screens of the ticket right after ordering it and adding it to the Google Wallet. Not only makes it easier to find my ticket, but the passport also shows useful information as the movie’s name, what time it starts, which theater it plays, and what my seat number is.

In addition to the relevant information Google Wallet includes in customized passports, I also really like how they look. Custom passes get a custom design based on what they are and the presentation is fantastic. For example, movie tickets have dedicated venues/section/seat fields and have a nice amphitheater design near the bottom. In comparison, my insurance card has a heart icon with fields for the plan name, member ID, group number, etc. You can see what different customized passes look like in the gallery above.

These are small touches, but they make customized passes feel like an integral part of the Google Wallet instead of something tackled. On more than one occasion, the staff thought I used a new app for the theater when showing them my cinema ticket wallet. They look really good.

Google Wallet does not have a monopoly on customized passes. The Samsung Wallet supports them (although it is much more limited), and the Apple Wallet lets you add customized passes through third -party apps like Stocard. After trying them all, I can say that the simplicity and presentation of the Google Wall’s approach is unmatched.

I like to have my digital wallet feel like a proper extension of the physical, and the way it handles customized passes is a big part of why the Google Wallet feels like that more than other digital wallets out there. It is a simple, practical and smart feature, and it has made Google Wallet more useful than ever before.