Mikey Campbell
Apple on Wednesday released an update to its iOS Apple Store app, adding support for the iOS 6 digital coupon and gift card management software Passbook, as well as integration with Siri.
The update comes less than a month after it was reported that changes were being made to the EasyPay point-of-sale system used in all brick-and-mortar Apple Stores, with the upgrades rumored to be in preparation of support for Passbook-based purchases.
According to the release notes, users will be able to purchase gift cards and email them to friends and family directly from the Apple Store app. Upon receiving the email, the digital cards can be stored in Passbook for use at one of Apple's retail locations.
At the time of this writing, the Apple Gift Cards were not yet available through the app, and a search for "gift card" brought limited results for App Store, iTunes, and iBooks cards, all of which are offered only with physical delivery options. It is unclear when Apple will activate the gift giving service.
The update also brought integration with Apple's Siri virtual assistant, which opens the Apple Store app when questions about price and availability are asked. For example, the question, "How much is an iPhone 5" opens the app directly to the dedicated iPhone page.
The iOS Apple Store app is a free 6.0MB download that can be found in the iOS App Store or iTunes.
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
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Christine McKee
18 Comments
You can already do that with Siri even before this latest Apple Store app update.. Don't upadte the Apple Store app and go ahead and try it..like ask Siri how much the iPhone 5 costs and she'll take you directly to the app.
I found the same as wurm5150. In fact, when I was pre-ordering the iPhone 5, in the week before preorders, I could not navigate to the iPhone 5 details page in the Apple Store App but Siri would take me there.
Passbook is going to turn out to be a real boon for retail.
After finally figuring out Passbook, I have to say its been great so far for movies, air travel, and Starbucks. But it took too long for Apple to organize it, there were very few apps at launch, and there were no clear instructions on how to use it. In particular, if you didn't already use the few apps available at launch, it was very difficult to figure out how Passport worked. That said, Apple really should have had Passport built into the iOS 6 App Store app at launch, if for no other reason than to show Apple customers how the thing worked -- you know, by the Apple employees in the Apple store when you bought your iPhone 5, or stopped in to see the iPhone 5. Could this be another reason Scott Forstall is no longer running anything?
[quote name="Mac_128" url="/t/154141/latest-apple-store-app-update-brings-passbook-and-siri-support#post_2229168"]After finally figuring out Passbook, I have to say its been great so far for movies, air travel, and Starbucks. But it took too long for Apple to organize it, there were very few apps at launch, and there were no clear instructions on how to use it. In particular, if you didn't already use the few apps available at launch, it was very difficult to figure out how Passport worked. That said, Apple really should have had Passport built into the iOS 6 App Store app at launch, if for no other reason than to show Apple customers how the thing worked -- you know, by the Apple employees in the Apple store when you bought your iPhone 5, or stopped in to see the iPhone 5. Could this be another reason Scott Forstall is no longer running anything?[/quote] Excellent points. There have been many great ideas that haven't taken off in the market because they were poorly executed and/or marketed. As much potential as Passbook has it doesn't seem to be widely known, used or even understood by most with iOS 6 installed. Despite that, it has great potential for Apple as [I]one[/I] part of service for replacing cash and plastic in our wallets. Another part of this is the Apple Store app that will charge your iTunes Store account for purchases. Put these two together with merchant support and they could change the world again. PS: Some issues I have is that Passbook is too dumb. If I use my Starbucks pass and then stay in the store reading/studying the pass will pop back up repeatedly. If I've recently used it or have already ignored it then it needs to go silent for reasonable time frame. Also, I need to be able to set the pass to not work for certain times of the day. If I'm driving by a Starbucks at 11pm at night it shouldn't be popping up. They could at least go by the store hours but having something you can set would be better.