This underestimated Google portfolio is my favorite thing about the application

Google Wallet, although it is not the most exciting application of the Google portfolio, is one of the Google applications that I use all the time. This is my default digital portfolio on each Android phone I use. All my awards / store membership cards are there, and it’s fantastic for concert tickets and leave them by plane.

In the past two months, I started using a little -known and often forgotten Google Wallet functionality that has started to deploy last summer: personalized passes. You have been able to add anything for a long time with a barcode or a QR code to the portfolio, but the implementation was quite naked. Last August, Google improved the experience to use AI to help you create a personalized pass for practically anything. And I have to admit: it’s incredible.

The creation of a personalized Google Wallet Pass is super simple. Open the portfolio application, press Add to walletThen press the Everything else Option at the bottom of the screen. This encourages you to take a photo of the card, membership, etc., you want to add to Google Wallet. Alternatively, you can download a screenshot or a photo that you have already taken.

The main difference here compared to how personalized passes operated before is that you can add items that do not have barcode or QR code – such as vehicle recording or insurance card. It was recently useful when my partner and I changed insurance plans.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has an Android application, 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 that it appears. Alternatively, I can add it to Google Wallet and have my information ready to immediately display the doctor’s office or the pharmacist. It’s so much more practical.

This convenience continues with other personalized passage also. I go a lot to my local cinema, and by default, the only way to find my ticket to scan in the hall is to search in my reception box. But I prefer the screenshot of the ticket just after ordering it and add it to Google Wallet. Not only does this facilitate the search for my ticket, but the pass also shows useful information like the name of the film, at what time it starts, in which theater it plays and what is my seat number.

In addition to relevant information that Google Wallet includes personalized passes, I also really like their appearance. Personalized leaves obtain a personalized design depending on what they are, and the presentation is fantastic. Cinema tickets, for example, have dedicated location / seats and seats and have a beautiful amphitheater design near the bottom. Compared, my insurance card has a cardiac icon with fields for the name of the plan, the identification of the member, the group number, etc. You can see what the different personalized passes in the gallery above.

These are certainly small touches, but they make personalized passes feel like an integrated part of Google Wallet rather than something nailed. At more than one opportunity, employees thought I was using a new application for the theater by showing them that my wallet of film tickets passes. They really look so well.

Google Wallet has no monopoly on personalized passes. The Samsung portfolio supports them (although much more limited), and Apple Wallet allows you to add personalized passes via third -party applications like Stocard. After trying them all, I can say that the simplicity and presentation of Google Wallet’s approach are unrivaled.

I like my digital wallet feels like an appropriate extension of my physical extension, and the way it manages personalized passes is a large part of the reason why Google Wallet is more like the other digital wallets. It is a simple, practical and intelligent feature, and it made my Google wallet more useful than ever.