Four years ago I asked whether "Google Pass" was a thing that I needed to give a shit about and consensus was, "no, nobody uses that." But I have heard anecdotally, recently, that this might no longer be true. Thoughts?
The goal here is, "reduce the amount of time it takes for someone standing in front of my nightclub to wave their QR code at the door staff."
Note: I don't use Android and know as little about its ecosystem as possible, so please use small words.
https://jwz.org/b/yk45
If those of you using Android could click on this link and tell me whether it does anything even remotely useful, and if so, some detail about how horrible/stupid the whole experience is, that would be helpful: https://www.jwz.org/images/2026/test.pkpass
And tell me what version you're using, obviously. Possibly this requires some "Play" [sic] stuff to work.
UPDATE: Thanks! You can stop now.
(Unless you have read the dozens of replies and have had a materially different experience than those.)
@jwz hah. So, after following the replies from others here I can also confirm: Hitting "not thanks" on the "please give AI permission for everything" screen lets the flow continue on to add the pass. Apparently now me and one other can go on April 26 at 3 am to your club and watch Powerman 5000! 🎉
This is all on a Pixel8, Android 16, Google Play System Update Nov 1, 2025, Android Security Update March 5, 2026
jwz
Rebeca