applestoreappApple has updated its Apple Store app today with "various improvements and performance enhancements", with international users in several countries also gaining the ability to use gift cards purchased in the app within Passbook.

The company introduced Passbook gift card support for the app in October 2012, but the feature was exclusive to users in the United States. Now users in a select number of countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and others have attained the same ability.

What's New in Version 2.9

- Gift cards by email now available in select countries. Buy and email them to friends and family right from the app. These gift cards are easily integrated with the Passbook app to use at your favorite Apple Retail Store.
- Various improvements and performance enhancements.

The Apple Store app is available for free in the App Store. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

Futurix Avatar
152 months ago
So you can now buy retail gift cards in the UK not just iTunes vouchers?

Yep.

:D
Values from £25 to £2000 - but only via Passbook, not paper/plastic ones.

----------

Passbook is the next Ping

Unlike Ping, I use Passbook daily.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
larrylaffer Avatar
152 months ago
I'm surprised that they didn't already have support for this. At least... I think that would have been the obvious thing to do.



I had Target and Walgreens for a while but in my experience it was often difficult to scan. Even if it wasn't, getting it to pop up on the lock screen didn't work very consistently (for one, it detects the main store where I live, but not the one near my school).

Even if both of those were fixed I can still type my phone number faster than it would take me to even remember which pocket I put my phone in.

Which is ironic because I wouldn't have that phone number if it weren't for getting an iPhone.

I feel like Starbucks got it right. They place a scanner in front of the register pointing in your direction. It's very easy to bring the card up, and then just turn your phone around and point at the screen.

What a bunch of the business are missing is a scanner positioned in a way such that your effort is minimized.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...