Implementing Apple Wallet in GoLang

Introduction

Apple Wallet, formerly known as Passbook, is a powerful tool that allows users to store and manage various types of digital passes, such as boarding passes, event tickets, coupons, and loyalty cards. If you're a GoLang developer and want to integrate Apple Wallet into your application, you're in the right place. In this blog post, we will walk you through the process of implementing Apple Wallet in GoLang.

Prerequisites

Before we get started, make sure you have the following prerequisites in place:

• GoLang Installed: You should have GoLang installed on your development machine. If you haven't already, you can download it from the official website.
• Apple Developer Account: You'll need an Apple Developer account to generate and manage passes. You can create one on the Apple Developer website.
• Certificates and Identifiers: Create a Pass Type ID and obtain a signing certificate from your Apple Developer account.
• PassKit Package: To work with Apple Wallet, you'll need a GoLang package that supports PassKit. A popular choice is github.com/alvinbaena/passkit.

Now that you have all the prerequisites in place, let's dive into the implementation.

Step 1: Set Up Your GoLang Environment

Create a new GoLang project or navigate to your existing project directory. Here I am following this directory structure.

• GO-PASS-WALLET/
  • go.mod
  • go.sum
  • server.go
  • .env
  • internal/
    • generatePass.go
    • registerPass.go
    • getListUpdatablePasses.go
    • sendUpdatedPass.go
    • unregisterPass.go
  • factory/
    • main.go

Step 2: Install the PassKit Package

Use Go modules to import the PassKit package into your project:

    go get github.com/alvinbaena/passkit

Step 3: Create Pass Certificate Files

You'll need to generate a pass certificate and a private key from your Apple Developer account. Once you have these files (.p12 and .pem), you can proceed.

Step 5: Generate the Pass

Now it's time to use the PassKit package to generate the pass. Here's a simplified example of how to do it.

Create route at server.go file to generate and download the pass

    router.HandleFunc("/generate/pass", internal.GeneratePass).Methods(http.MethodGet)

In the internal directory, create a function called GeneratePass that creates and downloads the pass template on the client side. Here is a sample code snippet:

    func GeneratePass(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    // Create and configure your pass here
    
    // Load signing information from your certificate and private key
    
    // Generate and serve the pass to the client
}

In this code, replace "yourSigningCertificate.p12", "yourPrivateKey.cer", "password", "icon.png", "logo.png".

Step 6: Distribute Your Pass

Now that you have generated your pass, you can distribute it to users. You can distribute passes via email, web, or a dedicated app. Users can add passes to their Apple Wallet by clicking on a link or opening the file on their iOS device.

Step:7 Register a Pass for Update Notifications

When a user adds passes to their Apple Wallet, the Apple Wallet app will make a request to your server using the URL you specified when creating the pass.

To handle this request and register the pass in your database, create a route in server.go.

    router.HandleFunc("/devices/{deviceLibraryIdentifier}/registrations/{passTypeIdentifier}/{serialNumber}", internal.RegisterPass).Methods(http.MethodPost)

Within the internal directory, implement a RegisterPass function to add the pass and its associated device to your database. Here's a streamlined code snippet.

    func RegisterPass(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
        // Extract and validate the pass's authentication token
        // Extract the deviceLibraryIdentifier from the parameter request.
        // Extract the passTypeIdentifier from the parameter request
        // Extract the serialNumber from the parameter request
        // Extract the Pushtoken from the request
        //Implement logic to register the pass and its associated device in your database for futur use
    }

By following these steps, you can efficiently implement Apple Wallet functionality in your GoLang application. Feel free to adapt the same principles for implementing functionalities such as getting a list of updatable passes, sending updated passes, and unregistering passes, all of which can be found in the full source code repository for reference Go-Pass-Wallet.

Conclusion

Integrating Apple Wallet into GoLang application allows you to provide a seamless and convenient experience for users who want to store and manage digital passes. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create and distribute passes effectively.

Please note that this example is simplified for demonstration purposes. In a real-world scenario, you should handle errors, securely store your certificate files, and customize your pass template to suit your specific use case.