As someone who has owned an iPhone since 2009, I'm pretty much stuck in Apple's walled ecosystem for life. So much of my life is tied to my Apple account that I simply could not imagine trading my primary device for an Android at this point. This extends, naturally, to the Apple Wallet app, where I keep everything from credit cards and movie tickets to my health insurance ID.
The power of having the right card at the right time
Why do I have to scroll endlessly just to get my movie tickets?
As mentioned previously, I have a ton of card data saved in my iPhone. Though my most-used payment cards are stored near the top (and you can re-order your cards at any time by pressing and holding a card to move it where you want), I recently learned about Google Wallet's nearby pass notification feature, which automatically pushes a notification to your phone that surfaces cards when you are near an area where a specific card would be used with just a single tap.
So, for instance, imagine you are shopping at the grocery store. Your phone will sense that you are shopping in-store and automatically send you a notification asking if you would like to use your loyalty card as you approach the checkout. You can then access your card with just a simple tap. Or you approach the movie theater with your friends. Instead of stopping awkwardly at the door to find your tickets in your Apple Wallet, your Android phone sends you a notification as you approach the theater and with one tap you're ready for showtime without skipping a step. This feature is honestly a game-changer and I cannot believe that Apple Wallet doesn't have anything similar.
Although not all cards support this feature yet, more are being added every day. If you use Google Wallet and would like to use this feature, here's how you can check and see if you can use Nearby Pass Notifications for a given card:
- Open the Google Wallet app.
- Select the pass or card you want to automatically open with Nearby Pass Notifications.
- Tap the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner.
- Toggle on Get notifications for this card.
Though Apple has been gradually working on improvements to Apple Wallet with iOS 26, such as better order tracking, I can't help but feel like Google Wallet is simply light years ahead of Apple when it comes to storing cards and payments, and as we enter a digital era that includes passports and IDs, I really hope Apple gets with the program and copies this extremely useful Google Wallet feature soon so I can catch up with my speedy Android-owning friends.