Zac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Some Wear OS watches are starting to show Google Wallet photo passes with patterns like QR codes or barcodes.
- Standard photo-only passes still don’t appear, based on our testing.
- This may be an early test of limited support for scannable custom passes on smartwatches.
You’ve been able to add photo-based passes to Google Wallet on your phone for a while now, but none of these types of passes appeared on Wear OS smartwatches when you open the app. However, some early signs suggest this might be starting to change.
A new Reddit post appears to show one of these custom passes showing up in Google Wallet on a smartwatch. The interface is in Spanish, and the pass includes a label that translates to “Press to scan,” suggesting it’s the kind of pass that contains a barcode or QR code. The other screenshot below shows a disclaimer explaining that the pass was created with a photo and that some of its information might not be visible on the watch, with a prompt to open it on your phone for the full view.
Our testing showed this pattern. Photo passes that include a QR code or barcode appear to show up on some Wear OS watches, while passes that are simply photos, like an image of a document, don’t. That suggests Google may be experimenting with support specifically for scannable photo passes rather than full photo pass support.
There’s been no official announcement from Google, and its support pages still state that “private” passes aren’t supported on Wear OS. But this is the clearest sign yet that things might be changing.
We’ll be keeping an eye out for more confirmation. Let us know in the comments if you’ve spotted your Wallet custom photo passes on your wearable.
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