Apple Passbook service natively supported on Windows Phone 8.1

It has been noted that Apple's Passbook service, which was introduced with iOS 6 in 2012, is supported on the freshly launched Windows Phone 8.1 OS via the Microsoft Wallet app.

To recall, the Apple's Passbook service aggregates data like movie and sports tickets, flight tickets, loyalty and payment cards, coupons, and other passes from various iPhone or iPod compatible apps and shows them in one single screen for user's ease. With the introduction of iOS 7 in 2013, the Passbook app got the ability to scan QR codes.

However, this Apple-only service is now supported by the Microsoft Wallet app on Windows Phone 8.1 OS. The news comes via Tom Warren, a senior reporter at The Verge who tweeted "Windows Phone 8.1 supports Apple's Passbook natively. I've been using it for flights. Works perfectly."

Windows Phone 8.1 OS users can import their Passbook files into Microsoft Wallet app. For this to be possible, it implies the OS supports the .pkpass files natively, and renders them via the Wallet app.

Although the WP8.1 OS does support several features of Apple's Passbook service, some features are missing. Push-notifications to update Passbook cards, gate numbers on boarding passes, or remaining balance information, are not supported.

This reverse-engineering of the app by Microsoft has raised several questions. Since there's no agreement made between the two rival tech firms, Apple might soon force Microsoft to stop support for Passbook on its Wallet app.

On the similar note, Apple is expected to unveil its new Healthbook app at the upcoming WWDC 2014 event alongside the iOS 8. Previous reports indicate the Healthbook app to be a one-stop resource for tracking personal health as well as fitness, nutrition, sleep and exercise. The app is described as visually similar to Passbook, with a stack of colour-coded cards, each representing a different function.