Earlier quoted context omitted.
I added an image of my barcode to a location based reminder, so it pops up in a notification when I go to my local library.
That's amazing. Truly. I'm assuming you're on iPhone. Anyone know if there is a way to do this in Android?
Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way
31–40 of 181 posts
Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way
#32Oooh, now do Orca cards next. Seattle is one of the tech capitals of the United States, and on top of the metro system just being not great, it's also technically inferior to nearly every single other major city that I've used public transit. Pick any European city, CDMX, Denver. They're all light years ahead of Seattle. Denver might have been my favorite. Fun fact, one of the orgs that runs Orca actually wrote a blo…
Related: isn't there a way to "clone" an NFC card using (rooted) Android?
I have been looking into how feasible it could be doing so on iOS since my office door opens via an NFC card, but iirc Apple has a tighter grip on the NFC hardware than with general PassKit, meaning that a regular app can't do that.
Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way
#33Oooh, now do Orca cards next. Seattle is one of the tech capitals of the United States, and on top of the metro system just being not great, it's also technically inferior to nearly every single other major city that I've used public transit. Pick any European city, CDMX, Denver. They're all light years ahead of Seattle. Denver might have been my favorite. Fun fact, one of the orgs that runs Orca actually wrote a blo…
I wonder how much it costs to maintain a system to collect fares compared the small portion of funding most transit systems would lose from going fare free.
Going fare free would induce demand which would increase operating costs, so it's not that simple.
Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way
#34Oooh, now do Orca cards next. Seattle is one of the tech capitals of the United States, and on top of the metro system just being not great, it's also technically inferior to nearly every single other major city that I've used public transit. Pick any European city, CDMX, Denver. They're all light years ahead of Seattle. Denver might have been my favorite. Fun fact, one of the orgs that runs Orca actually wrote a blo…
My local transit system just added tap-to-pay that works with any credit card (or Apple/Google Pay etc.). As long as you use the same card it handles transfers, multi-day passes, etc. seamlessly as well—it will automatically ensure you're getting the correct rate (e.g. no charge for passes or rides after a certain number within a certain period).
This is how it works in London and I think New York as well now. Big upgrade over loading money on a card.
Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way
#35Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way
#36> Our local libraries, The Seattle Public Library and the King County Library System, issue pieces of plastic with barcodes printed on the back assigned to your borrower account.
I just memorized my account number for KCLS. It should take maybe 30 seconds to commit it to memory—though your mileage may vary, I have to believe it's faster than this. After that, you just type in the account number instead of scanning the bar code, and probably do it in less time than it takes to get your phone ready. I don't know if SPL works the same way, as I'm not in Seattle.
Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way
#37> for some reason, passes are cryptographically signed, and they have to be signed with a key known to one of Apple’s certificate authorities. Cryptographically signing these files makes some sense when you consider that passes were designed to get automatic updates from their vendors; for example, your boarding pass for a flight reflecting gate changes or changing your seat assignment. How does this make sense? Ther…
Having the initial pass specify the public key that it accepts for updates would be sufficient. Having an association with an Apple developer account doesn't help for the updates problem at all AFAICT.
The only reason I came up with for the blessed-by-Apple requirement I came up with is selling fake tickets. There is no way to tell (with or without that requirement) whether a pkpass file with a "ticket to concert X" is actually legit. So, one can try to combat the (potential?) problem by responding to complaints of fraud by revoking the corresponding developer's account. However, that doesn't seem like a solution either: developer account are probably way cheaper than how much you can gain on fraud before you get caught in that way.
Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way
#38> Our local libraries, The Seattle Public Library and the King County Library System, issue pieces of plastic with barcodes printed on the back assigned to your borrower account. I just memorized my account number for KCLS. It should take maybe 30 seconds to commit it to memory—though your mileage may vary, I have to believe it's faster than this. After that, you just type in the account number instead of scanning th…
If you don’t feel like memorizing it, you could also store it on your phone in your password manager of choice.
Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
My local transit system just added tap-to-pay that works with any credit card (or Apple/Google Pay etc.). As long as you use the same card it handles transfers, multi-day passes, etc. seamlessly as well—it will automatically ensure you're getting the correct rate (e.g. no charge for passes or rides after a certain number within a certain period).
This is how it works in London and I think New York as well now. Big upgrade over loading money on a card.
Clipper-accepting agencies in the SF Bay Area will have this next summer too.
Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way
#40Oooh, now do Orca cards next. Seattle is one of the tech capitals of the United States, and on top of the metro system just being not great, it's also technically inferior to nearly every single other major city that I've used public transit. Pick any European city, CDMX, Denver. They're all light years ahead of Seattle. Denver might have been my favorite. Fun fact, one of the orgs that runs Orca actually wrote a blo…
I wonder how much it costs to maintain a system to collect fares compared the small portion of funding most transit systems would lose from going fare free.
Depending on the agency it’s not very small.
New York MTA has a farebox recovery of about 40-50% in any given year, and few people or organizations could stomach a pay cut of half without serious damage.