StoreCard How to show a loyalty card barcode on Apple Watch
Install StoreCard on your iPhone and its Watch app on your paired Apple Watch. Every card you add on the phone copies over to the Watch by itself — no setup step on the Watch at all. At the till, open StoreCard there, tap the card and hold your wrist up to the scanner.
Why show loyalty cards on your wrist?
Your hands are full with a basket or a coffee, and the phone is at the bottom of a bag. The Watch app solves exactly that: raise your wrist, the door scanner reads it, nothing to dig out. It works just as well for a club membership card.
How do I get a barcode on my Apple Watch?
- On the iPhone, add your cards in StoreCard as usual.
- Make sure the StoreCard Watch app is installed on your Apple Watch. If it is not, install it from the App Store on the Watch or from the Watch app on the iPhone.
- Open StoreCard on the Watch. Your cards appear in a list with their names and companies.
- Tap a card to show its barcode, and hold the Watch face flat towards the scanner.
There is nothing to set up on the Watch. Adding cards happens on the iPhone; the Watch has no scanner or form of its own, and with no cards it tells you "Add cards on your iPhone".
How do cards get to the Watch?
Whenever you add, edit or delete a card, the iPhone sends the updated list to the Watch in the background. The Watch keeps its own copy of the cards, so the list is there when you open the app. The Watch settings screen shows Last Sync, the time of the most recent update.
If a new card has not arrived, open StoreCard on the iPhone with the Watch nearby and connected, then open the Watch app again.
Can I show only my favourite cards on the Watch?
Yes. In the StoreCard Watch app settings, switch on Show Favorites Only. The list then shows just the cards you marked as Favorite on the iPhone, which keeps a long list short on a small screen. If no card is a favourite, the Watch says No favorite cards.
Which codes read well on a Watch screen?
| Code on the card | Shown on the Watch? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| QR Code, Aztec | yes | square codes fill the round screen well |
| EAN-13, EAN-8, Code 128, Code 39, ITF-14 | yes | long barcodes are drawn small; hold the Watch closer to the scanner |
| PDF417 | yes | wide format, drawn small on the Watch |
| Data Matrix | no | StoreCard cannot draw it on any screen |
Common problems
- No cards on the Watch at all: add at least one on the iPhone and keep both devices connected for a moment so the first sync can happen.
- A card shows but not its code: the number may not fit the chosen format. Fix it on the iPhone with Edit and Change Format.
- Some older laser scanners simply will not read any watch screen, flat and square or not. Keep the iPhone as a backup for those tills.
The Watch app is free, and so are all its features.
Questions and answers
Do I need Pro to use the Apple Watch app?
Can I add a loyalty card directly on the Apple Watch?
Does it work if my iPhone is not nearby?
Why won't the scanner read my Watch?
You might also like
More StoreCard guides
- How to add loyalty cards to your iPhone
- A loyalty card wallet app that keeps every card in one place
- How to put a loyalty card barcode on your iPhone Home Screen
- How to organize your loyalty cards so the right one is always on top
- How to back up your loyalty cards and move them to a new iPhone
- Why are my loyalty cards not showing on my Apple Watch?
- Why is my loyalty card barcode not scanning from my phone?
- Is there an offline loyalty card app that needs no account?
- All questions about StoreCard
- Back to StoreCard