You changed a pass and the customer still sees the old details. It's almost always one of four ordinary things. Work through them in order.
The checklist
- Did the change actually save? Reopen the pass in Passes and confirm the new value is really there. If a save failed you'd have seen an error, but it's a two-second check and it rules out the simplest cause.
- Is the pass actually installed? Look at the pass's detail page. If it hasn't been added to a wallet, there is no copy on any phone to update. This is the most common answer by a distance.
- Has enough time passed, and is the phone online? Updates arrive within a minute or two normally, but a phone that's off, in airplane mode or without signal picks them up when it reconnects.
- Is the changed field actually on the pass? If you edited something the template doesn't display, nothing visible changes. Check the field is in one of the template's regions - see Fields and regions.
Nine times in ten it's step 2 or step 3.
Forcing a refresh
If someone is in front of you and needs to see the change now:
- iPhone: open the pass in Wallet and pull down on it.
- Android: open the pass in Google Wallet; it refreshes when opened.
A quick decision guide
| What you're seeing | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Changed seconds ago, nothing yet | Normal timing | Wait a couple of minutes |
| Changed a while ago, still nothing, pass shows as issued | Never installed | Nothing is wrong - the customer hasn't added it |
| Most passes updated, one didn't | That device is offline | Wait, or pull to refresh |
| No pass updates at all, ever | Worth investigating | Check a test pass on your own phone first |
| Value looks blank rather than old | Empty value overriding a default | Clear the field so it falls back to the template default |
A branding change hasn't reached passes
Colours, logos and labels come from the template, so they reach existing passes - but only when each pass next updates.
To push a rebrand out immediately, send a notification. That prompts wallets to refresh and picks up the new design at the same time.
Ruling it out properly
Keep one pass on your own phone permanently. When something looks wrong, change that pass and watch your own device.
- Your test pass updates, the customer's doesn't - it's specific to their pass or their phone. Check whether theirs is installed.
- Your test pass doesn't update either - something more general is going on. Worth asking us.
Before troubleshooting anything, check the pass's status. A pass at issued has never been added to a wallet, and a pass at removed was deleted by its holder. Both are perfectly normal, and neither will ever appear to update. See Pass statuses.