This is the capability that makes a wallet pass more than a PDF. Change a pass in PocketPass and the copy in your customer's wallet changes too - no new link, no re-send, nothing for them to do.
It's also the feature people most often forget they have.
What triggers an update
Anything that changes what the pass says:
- Editing a field value on the pass.
- Changing the template - labels, colours, images - which reaches every pass built from it.
- Deactivating or voiding a pass, which marks it unusable in the wallet.
- Sending a notification, which adds a message to the back of the pass.
What the customer experiences
Nothing dramatic, deliberately. The pass in their wallet quietly starts showing the new information.
If you send a notification, the message appears on the lock screen and is kept on the back of the pass so they can look back at it.
They don't get a new pass, they don't get a duplicate, and they don't have to re-add anything.
How quickly it lands
Usually within a minute or two, but it isn't instantaneous and it isn't guaranteed to the second.
The phone has to be reachable. A device that's off, in airplane mode or without signal picks the change up when it comes back online. Both Apple and Google also make their own decisions about timing to protect battery life.
Treat updates as reliable but not real-time. Don't build a process that depends on a change being visible within a specific number of seconds.
If someone is standing in front of you and needs to see a change immediately, ask them to open the pass in their wallet and pull down on it. That prompts a refresh rather than waiting for the next natural one.
A worked example
A gym upgrades a member from Standard to Premium.
- Someone opens the member's pass and changes the tier field to
Premium. - They save.
- The member's phone updates the pass shortly afterwards.
- Next time the member glances at the card, it says Premium.
No email. No "please delete your old card". No confusion at the door.
When nothing appears to happen
Four ordinary explanations, roughly in order of likelihood:
You changed something the pass doesn't display. Internal-only data, or a field that isn't on the template's layout, won't show up. Expected.
Not enough time has passed, or the phone is offline. Give it a few minutes.
The pass was never actually installed. Check the pass's page - if it hasn't been added to a wallet, there's nothing on any phone to update. This is much more common than people expect.
The change didn't save. Reopen the pass and confirm the new value is really there.
There's a full checklist in Why isn't a pass updating?.
Design implications
Once you internalise that passes are live, it changes what you put on them. It becomes reasonable to show:
- A balance or a points total.
- A status or tier that can change.
- A next appointment or renewal date.
- A valid until that you extend on renewal.
None of that would be sensible on a printed card or a PDF, because it would be wrong the moment it changed. On a wallet pass it stays true.
The flip side: information on a pass is your responsibility to keep current. A tier that's been wrong for two months is more damaging than not showing a tier at all. Only put something on the pass if something in your process actually updates it.
Where to go next
- Sending a notification.
- Why isn't a pass updating?.
- Webhooks - to have your own systems react to installs and removals.