Apple Wallet and Google Wallet have a lot in common. They’re both digital wallet apps that make it incredibly easy to store your cards and passes in one place, whether that’s credit cards, loyalty cards, concert tickets, transit passes, you name it. They both also make tap-to-pay seamless, so you rarely have to pull out your actual wallet anymore. So much so that I can’t even remember the last time I didn’t pay for coffee or gas with my phone.
That said, while Apple Wallet and Google Wallet share many similarities, there are still a few key differences. One feature Google Wallet has that Apple Wallet doesn’t is the ability to add custom passes. For example, if you have a library card or gym membership, Google Wallet’s “Everything Else” feature lets you snap a photo of it, which automatically fills in any details about the card, saves its QR code if it has one, and lets you add it to your wallet as a custom digital pass.
This is hands-down one of Google Wallet’s best features, and one that Apple Wallet has sorely lacked. However, with iOS 27, that might finally be about to change.
Apple Wallet might soon add custom passes
It’s reportedly part of a wave of new Apple Intelligence features
With iOS 27, Apple might finally add a feature that lets you scan the barcode/QR code on a physical pass and create a digital version of it to store in your Apple Wallet. Reportedly, Apple will use Apple Intelligence for this feature to help identify the type of pass you’re trying to add.
This news comes from MacRumors, which reports that Nicolás Alvarez first discovered this functionality being worked on in “backend code,” which MacRumors was then able to confirm.
This is a pretty exciting prospect, and if Apple actually does this for iOS 27, it would be a huge win for Apple Wallet users who just want to easily add custom passes to their wallets. Whether it’s an event ticket, library card, gym membership, transit pass, loyalty cards, or the like.
Apple is expected to officially announce iOS 27 at WWDC 2026 this June.
It is worth noting that third-party apps have allowed you to add custom cards and passes to Apple Wallet for a while now, but having the feature built directly into Apple Wallet will no doubt be more convenient and secure.
Apple is expected to officially announce iOS 27 at WWDC 2026 this June. Apple always holds a keynote event on the first day of WWDC (which runs June 8-12), so it’s possible the company could announce this Apple Wallet feature then, along with any other Apple Intelligence features it’s been working on, such as its long-delayed AI revamp of Siri, which is expected to launch later this year after numerous delays.
Additionally, a few other new Apple Intelligence features have been spotted in backend code, alongside custom passes for Apple Wallet. These include a Visual Intelligence tool that lets you scan nutritional labels to get more details about what you’re eating, and another that can scan phone numbers and addresses and add them to your contacts, similar to how calendar dates already work. Lastly, Apple is reportedly working on a feature that can automatically name Safari tab groups based on their contents.
iOS 27 is expected to launch this fall, likely in September, so the wait for these new features won’t be too long. Hopefully, we’ll get official confirmation that all of them are actually happening at WWDC 2026.
