Essential iOS Build and Release

Chapter 7. Passes

Apple introduced Passes with iOS 6 to allow merchants to create digital wallet contents for the iPhone/iPod touch Passbook app (at the time of this writing, Passbook does not run on the iPad or iPad mini). This chapter covers setting up the Passes development framework (Pass Type IDs, certificates, and keys), so you can create and sign Passes locally in order to verify the Pass Type signing certificate is set up correctly. In a production environment, Passes are generated on a server, signed, and compressed into a binary. That binary is then delivered to your customer(s) using push notifications. For more information on the development aspect of Passes, refer to the Passbook Programming Guide.

Pass Type IDs

This section covers creating a Pass Type ID followed by the configuration process necessary to generate a signing certificate that can be used to sign your Pass. On the iOS Provisioning Portal, a Pass has a globally unique identifier used to distinguish the different Passes a developer is creating for different products and services. A Pass has the format Team_ID.Pass_Type_ID, where Team_ID is the 10-character account ID for your iOS Developer Program, and Pass_Type_ID is what you define when creating the Pass. Because the Pass consists of your Team ID along with your Pass Type ID, the Pass becomes unique throughout the Apple system.

Creating a Pass Type ID

Things to note regarding Pass Type IDs:

• Similar to App IDs, Pass Type IDs can be created or configured only ...