The lightest software you can put in a customer’s pocket is a pass in Apple Wallet. There’s no app to download and no account to create: they add it once, from an email, a web page, or your app, and it’s on their phone when they walk in.

Membership cards
Event tickets
Loyalty and gift cards
Reservations and check-in
NFC door access

The pass stays current after it’s issued. Apple’s pass web service updates it in place, so a renewal, a tier change, or tonight’s reservation shows up on the pass without the customer doing anything.

The tap-to-enter version, where the phone talks to a reader at the door, is the rare kind. NFC passes need an entitlement Apple grants case by case, and reader hardware that speaks the protocol. I’ve walked the whole path: I worked with Apple to secure the restricted entitlement, evaluated the NFC hardware partners, and shipped with Dot Origin’s readers at real club doors.

Building a pass includes

Pass design and branding
The issuing and signing backend
Add to Wallet from app, email, or web
Live updates via Apple's pass web service
NFC entitlement and reader integration
Debugging tools for the field

I built Sonato Pass end to end: the pass, the issuing backend, and the tap experience at the door. It’s been live since May 2025, with private club members tapping in every day: production volume, not a pilot. NFC passes are rare in the Wallet ecosystem; I’ve shipped one.

A pass rarely ships alone. It usually rides alongside an iOS app or a web signup flow, and I build those too.

Also: iOS apps · Web apps · An existing product · Fractional work · All services

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I'm taking on new projects. Tell me what you're working on and I'll tell you how I'd build it.

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