Passes That Appear When You Arrive

Q: Does location relevance drain my battery or track me?

No — the relevance check is done by iOS itself using the same efficient region monitoring that powers all Wallet passes. The locations live inside the pass; the app isn't tracking you, and nothing about your movements is sent anywhere.

Q: How close do I need to be for the pass to appear?

iOS decides the radius (roughly a city block, tuned per pass type) — you can't set it manually. In practice, walking up to the storefront reliably surfaces the pass on the lock screen.

Q: Can one pass cover multiple store locations?

Yes — add up to 10 locations to a single pass (Apple's limit). One supermarket loyalty pass can trigger at every branch you actually visit.

You've seen the magic with boarding passes: walk into the airport, and there it is on the lock screen. That's not airline sorcery — it's a standard Wallet feature called location relevance, and your homemade passes can have it too.

How the trick works

Every Wallet pass can carry a list of coordinates. iOS quietly watches for you entering those neighborhoods — using the same battery-friendly region monitoring the whole system shares — and when you do, the pass surfaces on the lock screen. One swipe, barcode up, scanned. No app opened, no searching Wallet's stack while the cashier waits.

Setting it up in WalletKit

Open your pass (or create one — the any-card guide covers that).
In the Locations section, search for the place — the MapKit-powered search autocompletes addresses and businesses.
Add up to 10 locations per pass — Apple's own ceiling. Your supermarket card can know every branch on your routes.
Re-add the pass to Wallet. (Stable serial numbers mean it updates in place, no duplicate.)

Combinations worth building

Coffee loyalty + the three shops near work — the card appears as you queue.
Gym membership + your gym — check-in barcode ready at the door.
Warehouse club card + both branches you use — membership scan at entry, painless.
Event ticket + the venue — the boarding-pass experience, for everything.
Library card + your library — small joy, every visit.

Privacy note: the locations are data inside your pass, evaluated by iOS on your device. Nothing tracks you, nothing phones home — it's the same mechanism trusted by every airline pass since 2012.

Give your cards a sense of place

Up to 10 locations per pass, MapKit search built in. Free to try.

Download on the App Store

FAQ

Does location relevance drain my battery or track me?

No — iOS's efficient region monitoring does the work, on-device. No tracking.

How close do I need to be for the pass to appear?

Roughly a block — iOS tunes the radius. Walking up to the door reliably triggers it.

Can one pass cover multiple store locations?

Yes — up to 10 per pass.