Google Wallet replaces the Google Pay app

Google has started delivering the wallet presented at the I/O as a successor to the Google Pay app via the Play Store and to replace the old app. The Google Wallet is intended to better reflect the capabilities of the service, as it also allows numerous documents to be stored instead of being paid for.

The company explains that the previous Google Pay app will be replaced by the new Google Wallet in the next two days. With the correct settings, the update will be performed automatically via the Play Store, or must the new app manually are installed via a search for updates. The new Google wallet app was already available two days ago on a Nothing Phone (1) from the editors and recently a Pixel 5, Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 6a got the update.

At the I/O developer conference in May, the Google Wallet was announced as the successor to the Google Pay app. However, Google Pay itself will not be replaced by the update, the payment service will continue to run under this name and now lives within the Google Wallet. Google does it like Apple with the Apple Wallet and Apple Pay. The Google Wallet, in turn, should also have significantly more options than just paying in the future. The use of Google Pay for airline tickets, cinema tickets, gift cards and vouchers or digital car keys is already known.

Driving licenses and ID cards in Google Wallet

In the future, however, documents such as vaccination certificates, test results, driver’s licenses, ID cards or university access cards will also be able to be stored in the Google Wallet. To date, however, these functions have not yet been integrated. On the editors’ test devices, the Google Wallet still covers the same features as the previous Google Pay app with a saved credit card and multiple airline tickets.

Material where you move in

New to the wallet is the Material You theme, adopted from Android 12, so accent colors depend on the wallpaper you choose. Google has also removed the side-hidden menu and integrated all settings into the user’s profile picture. New cards can be added via a so-called “Floating Action Button” at the bottom right. Provided that the “Smart features and personalization in other Google products” setting is enabled in Gmail, cards and tickets from this app can be automatically transferred to Google Wallet. In addition to Android, the Google Wallet is also designed for use with Wear OS.