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Apple 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
(View all)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.
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Passbook is the next Ping
Unlike Ping, I use Passbook daily.
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.