This year, Apple Wallet is getting some Liquid Glass UI updates, just like all the other iOS 26 apps. However, iOS 26 is also a particularly feature-rich version for Apple Wallet. What’s new is this.
Upgrades to the boarding pass
Over the years, digital boarding passes have become a particularly prevalent feature of the Wallet app. And iOS 26 is going to make them even better.
Features of the new boarding pass include:
- Live Activities
- Airport maps
- Luggage tracking with Find My
Sharing your Live Activity with a friend or family member is a convenient feature of the Live Activities support.
The boarding permits included in iOS 26 should be a pleasant addition for your upcoming trip, provided Apple can secure enough airlines.
US passport support
Over a number of years, Apple Wallet has been gradually introducing digital IDs; each US state must adopt the feature independently.
However, there will be a significant improvement to digital IDs in iOS 26: support for US passports.
According to Apple, you can use your US passport as identification “at TSA checkpoints, in apps, and in person” if you add it to Wallet. However, before using a digital ID alone, make sure to review the relevant airport policies.
Apple Intelligence-powered order tracking
An interesting new order tracking feature was introduced by Apple Wallet in iOS 16 years ago. Its goal was to turn Wallet into a one-stop hub for tracking all of your online orders.
Unfortunately, in order to truly be helpful, the feature needed third-party vendor support, which has proven difficult to find. However, Apple anticipates that Apple Intelligence will provide the solution with iOS 26.
Apple Wallet is now able to recognize and compile order tracking information from emails received by delivery services or retailers. Users may view all of their order data, progress notifications, and other information in one place with this feature, which applies to all of their orders.
AI will be able to retrieve delivery tracking information directly from your inbox on compatible iPhones, giving Wallet’s order tracking more information to work with. All without needing support from third-party buy-in.
Saved credit card details
The ability to safely store credit card information has long been available through third-party password managers such as 1Password. However, there was no such feature in Apple’s new Passwords app when it was released last year.
However, the Wallet app is starting to enable storing your entire credit card information with iOS 26. You can now enter the complete card number, expiration date, and other details, but by default, you will only see the last four digits of the Apple Pay identity.
Apple Pay installments and rewards in-store
iOS 26 offers the option of making payments in installments through one of Apple’s current partners, such as Affirm, when making in-store purchases with Apple Pay.
Additionally, you can access incentives linked to your preferred Apple Pay card.
When Apple Pay is activated, these options will show up as part of the updated payment process.
Disabling promotional alerts is an option.
None of Apple’s published feature lists include this one. However, it was found that iOS 26 provides a provision for turning off promotional alerts in response to the criticism this week over a Wallet notification about F1: The Movie.
You can choose whether to allow or disable the new “Offers & Promotions” notice category in the Wallet app’s notification settings.
Apple Wallet in iOS 26: Conclusion
Apple Wallet is now more important to the iPhone than ever before due to the success of Apple Pay and an expanding list of new iOS features over time. It’s wonderful to see Apple acknowledge this by giving Wallet top priority among the many new iOS 26 features.