One of iOS 6’s big new features is Passbook: a one-stop shop for accessing cards and tickets that is not only available from a single app, but is also location and time-aware to make coupons and loyalty cards appear near certain locations and tickets at the time of the event. Now, it doesn’t work with just anything, unfortunately. There’s a limited selection of apps that are available at the moment with support for Passbook. There’s been some confusion on how to activate it with apps, and this guide is here to help.

First, find an app that is compatible with Passbook. Launching Passbook for the first time will come up with a short description of what Passbook can do and launches an App Store section with apps to check out. Tap that, and a variety of Apple-curated apps with Passbook support are listed. Even for apps like the Starbucks app that have a card functionality already, the card needs to be added to Passbook through the app. To show how this Passbook functionality works, let’s download the Walgreens app and add the Balance Rewards card to Passbook.

Create an account with Walgreens and sign up for their rewards card, or log in to the account if you have one already. If you signed up in-store, you can add it to a new account. Now, go to the Rewards section of the app, and the card will appear. Below, there is an Add to Passbook button. Tap this, and it will prompt to tie it to a specific store location, which will make an alert pop up when near that location. Then, a final prompt to add it to Passbook with the location information attached will pop up. Tap Add, and boom, the card is now in Passbook.

Launch the Passbook app, and all added cards and tickets will appear, including the one we just added. Tap the (i) icon to modify the individual card’s settings. This automatic card recall works on the iPod touch as well, though location detection may be spottier due to only being able to detect location by nearby wifi hotspots. Once added, cards in Passbook are accessible offline.

While Passbook is still somewhat limited as developers continue to integrate into their apps, and apps that already had user cards need to be updated to support Passbook, this is still handy, especially with its handy awareness features. Know of any useful apps using Passbook that Apple didn’t feature? Let us know in the comments.

This week, August 22-26, Starbucks introduced a new promotion that features free app downloads for its ka-jillion coffee drinking-customers, similar to the company’s method of distributing free song downloads. 148Apps writer Carter Dotson notes, “What will be interesting to see the effect this has on apps offered in the promotion; Shazam Encore has jumped up to #6 in the App Store recently, which may be due to this feature. This could be due to each redeemed copy going toward the app’s sales, or it could be because the promotion is working exactly how it’s intended; by giving the app away for free, people are talking about it and recommending it, causing other people to pay for it.”

Read Carter’s full article on 148Apps.com.

Also, we celebrated the at-last launch of Peggle for the iPad. This PopCap gem has been a long-time coming, but writer Lisa Caplan assures it’s worth the wait: “This is classic Peggle, and for fans wondering if it’s worth buying the title one more time, the short answer is yes. If, by some chance, this is a first encounter of a Peggle kind, stop reading and start downloading.”

Read all of Lisa’s review on 148Apps.com.

$0.99

Peggle HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2011-08-25 :: Category: Games

Meanwhile, the kid-friendly folks at GiggleApps reviewed Sticker Factory, an app that, as writer Amy Solomon says, “is a great choice for grade school and up, and I would not be at all surprised if kids this age do much better at this game than I, as is the case in many speed-based games that I come across.”

Read more about Sticker Factory on GiggleApps.

$2.99

Sticker Factory

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2011-07-05 :: Category: Games

Finally, make sure you stop by and peruse our ever-changing map of apps on our 148Apps Lists page. Whether you’re interested in finding out the latest releases, or just keeping your finger on the most-popular charts, it’s all accessible through one handy page.

That’s it for this week! Until next time, make sure you check in with us on Facebook or via Twitter. There are always giveaways galore going out on both sites.

Coffee and apps are two things that have always been connected in some tangential way. The prices of apps are often described as being “less than a cup of coffee,” often spoken in derision at the people who think that a $0.99 app is too expensive to acquire legally. As well, people who use apps (and especially people like myself who write about them) often find themselves in need of caffeine. After all, that level in Angry Birds isn’t going to 3-star itself, even if it is 3:00 in the morning. What helps people feel awake and alert after these long nights of intense app usage? Caffeine! What does coffee contain copious amounts of? Caffeine! Someone at Starbucks has finally noticed this connection between apps and coffee, and decided to harmoniously bring the two together.

Starbucks is giving out cards with redemption codes for apps, along with various other iTunes content, that are available at Starbucks locations. The first app in the program is Shazam Encore, which is available for $5.99 regularly. This promotion isn’t going to be limited to older, already-existing apps, either; starting on August 30th, Starbucks will be giving away copies of SPY mouse from recent EA acquisition Firemint, which releases this Thursday.

What will be interesting to see the effect this has on apps offered in the promotion; Shazam Encore has jumped up to #6 in the App Store recently, which may be due to this feature. This could be due to each redeemed copy going toward the app’s sales, or it could be because the promotion is working exactly how it’s intended; by giving the app away for free, people are talking about it and recommending it, causing other people to pay for it. The question will be just how often apps are actually featured in this program, or if 2 of the first 3 promotions being apps are just an anomaly. It will be interesting to see how other apps perform with the Starbucks promotion, especially new releases like SPY mouse that have a big-name publisher behind them. As well, will apps from smaller independent developers make any kind of appearance in the program, and will apps share in the kind of sales bump that Shazam Encore is enjoying?

Still, any time a big-name company like Starbucks gets involved in the app business, it’s news worth paying attention to because of the effect they could potentially have on the business of selling and promoting apps. Starbucks appears to be offering a new free app every Tuesday, but it isn’t in all locations yet, so keep hunting, weary caffeine and app addicted traveler!

Source: GeekWire