Starbucks Adds Passbook Support to Its iPhone App - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Starbucks Adds Passbook Support to Its iPhone App

Starbucks has added Passbook support to its iPhone app [App Store], as perhaps the highest profile app to embrace the feature. Starbucks customers can use its app to store gift cards and use QR codes on the phone to quickly pay for food and drinks without needing cash or credit cards. Additionally, the company keeps track of purchases for its rewards program.

NewImage
It's a near perfect use of Passbook; presumably why Starbucks is prominently featured in Apple's marketing. Passbook is designed to get users directly into gift cards or event tickets from the lock screen, using time and location information to discover when a user is near a Starbucks and put a link to the Starbucks gift card directly on the lock screen.

The Starbucks app is a free download on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Other apps using Passbook include Ticketmaster, Fandango, American Airlines, United Airlines, Lufthansa, Major League Baseball, Eventbrite, and McDonalds (as a limited test in France).

Thanks Will!

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
deep black iphone 18 pro

Apple Says iPhone 18 Pro Max Sold in U.S. Differs in One Way

Saturday September 12, 2026 3:27 pm PDT by
As noted by Nicolas Lellouche, who writes for the French tech website Numerama, Apple has updated its tech specs pages for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max to clarify which models are equipped with its new C2 cellular modem and where. Apple now says the iPhone 18 Pro has a C2 modem worldwide, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max uses the chip in every country except for the U.S. According...

Top Rated Comments

182 months ago
Updated to support Passbook and iOS 6, but not iPhone 5?
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KindredMAC Avatar
182 months ago
And Apple themselves do not make a gift card version for passbook....
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple... Avatar
182 months ago
The Apple Store app still doesn't support iPhone 5 :mad:
...or the iPad.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
182 months ago
To bad Passbook isn't supported for the Canadian version, nor is it updated for iPhone 5 resolution yet.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iorangutan Avatar
182 months ago
Cool - Shame they don't make decent coffee

All very well, but they'll need to make something other than buckets of milky slop
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jlake02 Avatar
182 months ago
I noticed this right after it came out.

I didn't turn on the location feature, though. Something tells me that if my phone is checking if I'm at a Starbucks 24/7 it won't exactly extend battery life. ;)

Besides, only takes 3 seconds to get to Passbook.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

🔗 Related Apple News & Rumors

Stay updated with the latest Apple ecosystem news and verified rumors