If you haven't already seen enough activity with Google Pay in the last month, there are a few notable things happening in the last couple updates. Version 2.80 brings changes to the notification settings screen by dropping the long list of loyalty cards and adopting a new setting to notify you about places those cards can be used. A teardown also reveals upcoming notification channels and a brand new feature that will automatically import relevant tickets and passes when they arrive in your Gmail account.
What's New
Unofficial Changelog: (the stuff we found)
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Added: Notifications for places you can use passes
Notification: Where you can use passes
Left: v2.79. Right: v2.80.
The only thing that appears to have visually changed in this update is the screen for notification settings. The first adjustment comes in the form of a new toggle for a notification that will let you know if you're in or near places where you can use your loyalty programs, reward cards, and so on. This is basically the same as the setting that tells you about places where you can use Google Pay for transaction, but with the distinct difference that it's for promotional payment and discount methods rather than outright payments.
Also note that this is distinct from the setting right below it, which lets you know if there are changes to your passes; except that one is referring to things like boarding passes and event tickets rather than loyalty programs. Hmmm, maybe "passes" isn't the best word to use for two different things.
Individual loyalty toggles removed
If you try to scroll a bit further down in the notifications screen, you'll also notice the toggles for all of your different loyalty cards have been removed. No reason has been given, but it's probably a safe bet that very few users were enabling or disabling cards one-by-one.
Teardown
Disclaimer: Teardowns are based on evidence found inside of apks (Android's application package) and are necessarily speculative and usually based on incomplete information. It's possible that the guesses made here are wrong or inaccurate. Even when predictions are correct, there is always a chance that products could change or may be canceled. Much like rumors, nothing is certain until it's officially announced and released.
The features discussed below are probably not live yet, or may only be live for a small percentage of users. Unless stated otherwise, don't expect to see these features if you install the apk. All screenshots and images are real unless otherwise stated, and images are only altered to remove personal information.
Notification channels [v2.79]
Most of the other Google apps have adopted disparate notification channels for the various purposes that might come up, but Pay managed to slip under the radar for quite some time. It looks like this one is finally joining the movement as the names and descriptions for eight different channels and five groups have been added.
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Nearby
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Where you can use passes Find out where you can use your loyalty programs, rewards cards, and more
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Where you can pay in store Find out when you’re near a store that accepts Google Pay
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Send & request money
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Alerts Get notified when someone sends you money, or requests it
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Reminders Get notified about your scheduled reminders to send or request money
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Passes
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Updates Stay up-to-date on events and flights, or when your saved offers are about to expire
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Important updates Stay up-to-date on account and payment method issues
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Payment activity
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Purchases See transaction details after you make a purchase
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Promotions
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Offers & tips Get offers and tips relevant to you
strings
<string name="notification_channel_nearby_group">Nearby</string>
<string name="notification_channel_nearby_passes">Where you can use passes</string>
<string name="notification_channel_nearby_passes_description">Find out where you can use your loyalty programs, rewards cards, and more</string>
<string name="notification_channel_nearby_pay">Where you can pay in store</string>
<string name="notification_channel_nearby_pay_description">Find out when you’re near a store that accepts Google Pay</string>
<string name="notification_channel_p2p_alerts">Alerts</string>
<string name="notification_channel_p2p_alerts_description">Get notified when someone sends you money, or requests it</string>
<string name="notification_channel_p2p_group">Send & request money</string>
<string name="notification_channel_p2p_reminders">Reminders</string>
<string name="notification_channel_p2p_reminders_description">Get notified about your scheduled reminders to send or request money</string>
<string name="notification_channel_passes_group">Passes</string>
<string name="notification_channel_passes_updates">Updates</string>
<string name="notification_channel_passes_updates_description">Stay up-to-date on events and flights, or when your saved offers are about to expire</string>
<string name="notification_channel_payments_alerts">Important updates</string>
<string name="notification_channel_payments_alerts_description">Stay up-to-date on account and payment method issues</string>
<string name="notification_channel_payments_group">Payment activity</string>
<string name="notification_channel_payments_purchases">Purchases</string>
<string name="notification_channel_payments_purchases_description">See transaction details after you make a purchase</string>
<string name="notification_channel_promotions_group">Promotions</string>
<string name="notification_channel_promotions_offers">Offers & tips</string>
<string name="notification_channel_promotions_offers_description">Get offers and tips relevant to you</string>
Follow-up: Nicknaming payment methods [v2.79]
We've already seen that it will be possible to nickname payment methods, but the feature has yet to go life. In a slight tweak from the previous version we saw, there are now labels for a button that will either add or edit nicknames.
<string name="detail_row_nickname_add">Add Nickname</string>
<string name="detail_row_nickname_edit">Edit Nickname</string>
It's not really a significant change, but I wanted to point it out just to show that there's still activity here.
Linking to Gmail
Many of the things we sign up for or buy online usually end up passing through our email accounts in some form or another. If most of those things are traveling through Gmail, you're about to have an easier time moving them over to Google Pay. Descriptions have been added for a new feature that will prompt users to enable Google Pay to import things like tickets, passes, and special offers directly from your Gmail account.
strings
<string name="consent_header">Get offers from your inbox</string>
<string name="consent_text">Connect to Gmail for easy access to things like tickets, passes and offers sent to your account, right here in the app.1010You can always update your choice in settings. %1$s.</string>
<string name="consent_button">Connect to Gmail</string><string name="import_valuables_from_gmail_opted_in_switch_title">Gmail imports</string>
<string name="import_valuables_from_gmail_opted_in_switch_description">Connect to Gmail for automatic access to things like loyalty cards, tickets and offers sent to your inbox</string>
<string name="loading_text">Connecting to Gmail…</string>/layout/import_gmail_consent.xml<FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" xmlns:aapt="http://schemas.android.com/aapt" android:id="@+id/ImportGmailConsentContainer" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent">
<LinearLayout android:theme="@style/ImportGmailConsentTheme" android:gravity="bottom" android:orientation="vertical" android:id="@+id/ConsentContainer" android:visibility="visible" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent">
<ImageView android:id="@+id/Background" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="0dp" android:layout_marginTop="@dimen/medium_spacing" android:layout_marginBottom="@dimen/small_spacing" android:src="@drawable/gmail_offers" android:scaleType="centerInside" android:layout_weight="1" android:contentDescription="@null"/>
<TextView android:textAppearance="@style/Text_Headline" android:id="@+id/MainText" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:text="@string/consent_header" android:textAlignment="center" android:layout_marginStart="@dimen/medium_spacing" android:layout_marginEnd="@dimen/medium_spacing"/>
<TextView android:textAppearance="@style/Text_Caption" android:textColor="@color/google_black" android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal" android:id="@+id/TosText" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginTop="@dimen/medium_spacing" android:layout_marginBottom="@dimen/medium_spacing" android:text="@string/consent_text" android:textAlignment="center" android:layout_marginStart="@dimen/medium_spacing" android:layout_marginEnd="@dimen/medium_spacing"/>
<android.support.design.button.MaterialButton android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal" android:id="@+id/PrimaryButton" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="48dp" android:text="@string/consent_button" android:layout_marginStart="@dimen/medium_spacing" android:layout_marginEnd="@dimen/medium_spacing" style="@style/Widget.GoogleMaterial.Button"/>
<android.support.design.button.MaterialButton android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal" android:id="@+id/CancelButton" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginBottom="@dimen/medium_spacing" android:text="@string/button_no_thanks" style="@style/Widget.GoogleMaterial.TextButton"/>
</LinearLayout>
<RelativeLayout android:gravity="center" android:id="@+id/LoadingContainer" android:background="@color/google_white" android:visibility="gone" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent">
<ImageView android:id="@+id/GmailImportAnimation" android:layout_width="80dp" android:layout_height="80dp" android:layout_centerInParent="true" android:contentDescription="@null" app:srcCompat="@drawable/gmail_progress_animated"/>
<ImageView android:layout_width="36dp" android:layout_height="36dp" android:src="@drawable/product_logo_gmail_color_36" android:layout_centerInParent="true" android:contentDescription="@null"/>
<TextView android:id="@+id/ProgressBarText" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginTop="@dimen/default_spacing" android:text="@string/loading_text" android:layout_below="@+id/GmailImportAnimation" android:layout_centerHorizontal="true" style="@style/Text_Headline"/>
</RelativeLayout>
</FrameLayout>
No other details are given, but this seems fairly straightforward. I haven't seen any signs that this has gone live yet, but I suspect it's probably not finished yet. At the very least, features like this typically have labels to indicate which things were imported automatically, otherwise users tend to get confused if they're seeing something that shouldn't be in the app.
Automatic imports will definitely be a big help for people that book a lot of travel and event tickets. It's not that those are difficult to add, but it's always good to remove the manual steps.
Download
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