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."
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FYI, this is what it looks like on iOS. No intervening clicks needed besides "Add".
@jwz Downloaded as a standard file. Added to Google Wallet, don't typically use Wallet for passes so had a wallet of TOS including "can our AI look at this?" and after a few clicks through got this:
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FYI, this is what it looks like on iOS. No intervening clicks needed besides "Add".
@jwz Duck Duck Go on a Pixel suggested I download it, but I have my setup pretty well locked down.
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@tibi2 Ha!
jq .relevantDate < pass.json => "2026-04-27T02:00Z"
@jwz damn so Google is the only correct one. well good to know I can't rely on any of the foss apps!
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@talexb Did you try opening the file? Did that do anything?
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@jwz damn so Google is the only correct one. well good to know I can't rely on any of the foss apps!
@tibi2 I mean I guess it's NBD if a ticket displays the wrong time, right?
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@mu Cool story very helpful
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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 sort of does. It sends me to a scary page asking permission to apply AI to my pictures, and I'm conflicted whether to say yes so I can tell you what happens next or say no because I don't want Google to start applying AI to all my files (as if they didn't already, though, permission or not)
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@DamonHD Did you try opening the file? Did that do anything?
@jwz not visibly. Obvs you may now have all my secrets or something.
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@jwz not visibly. Obvs you may now have all my secrets or something.
@DamonHD You know what you did
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A story in 4 pics. This was as far as I was willing to go without knowing exactly what that file does. (And I only downloaded it because you have earned that trust.)
To clarify, I don't think the file does anything harmful, but I don't know if I want whatever it actually does.
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@jwz sort of does. It sends me to a scary page asking permission to apply AI to my pictures, and I'm conflicted whether to say yes so I can tell you what happens next or say no because I don't want Google to start applying AI to all my files (as if they didn't already, though, permission or not)
@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
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@tibi2 I mean I guess it's NBD if a ticket displays the wrong time, right?
@jwz foss wallet has a closed issue about time zones
May I use your test file if needed to reopen that issue? -
@jwz foss wallet has a closed issue about time zones
May I use your test file if needed to reopen that issue?@tibi2 Sure
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@DamonHD You know what you did
@jwz maybe, though the best bits involve indistinct memories. I still have a paid-for Netscape CD somewhere, but don't tell anyone...
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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 I didn't see any replies that observed whether this kind of ticket should be a private pass in the first place, as that seems to be more about PII? See https://support.google.com/wallet/answer/13026633?sjid=6403602199517994500-NC
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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 Android 15, downloaded a pkpass, the phone didn't let me open it or guide me to open it.
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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.)
If someone has an explanation for who gets "Unsupported file type" and who gets "Download / Open / Pick wallet app", that would be nice. I assume it has something to do with "Play" [sic] having its claws in?
