Early adopters so far satisfied by Passbook uptake
updated 03:20 pm EST, Thu December 20, 2012
American Airlines claims 1.5 million active users
Some of the early adopters of Apple's Passbook app are pleased with the response so far, a Wired report suggests. American Airlines, for instance, says it has witnessed a "high uptake" of people managing boarding passes through the app. The airline says it has about 1.5 million active Passbook users, and that 20,000 passes reach iPhone users daily.
Phil Easter, American Airlines' director of mobile apps, hints that the major advantage of Passbook is that companies can push content directly to the lockscreen. This means that a pass can be scanned without even having to launch Passbook or an originating app. Several other airlines have adopted Passbook as well, including Delta, United, Virgin, and British Airways.
Another early Passbook supporter is makeup chain Sephora, which says its app saw 38,000 extra downloads on the day Passbook was launched, and that 10,000 "Beauty Insider" reward cards went out. The company says it has 375,000 customers with cards linked to Passbook.
Passbook is currently restricted to the iPhone. Apple could conceivably bring it to the iPad, particular with the advent of the Mini, but hasn't expressed any intent so far.
