Is there a way to stop Apple Wallet from opening automatically when near a paying terminal.

I stumbled on this last night and was just getting ready to start looking for your post. Please follow this path;

iPhone > Settings app > Face ID & Passcode > scroll down to Allow Access When Locked > Turn off Wallet.

Fixed.

I had the Double-Click Side Button setting On. I also tried with Off. This setting has no effect in the Apple Wallet's behaviour of popping up by itself when brought closer to an NFC reader.

In other words, this behaviour cannot be controlled by user at the moment. That's the whole reason of this thread. (and there are other threads like this if you search for it).

The Wallet has a priority set at a system level. It will popup over other apps. That’s how it is designed. Apple has no provision for turning it off. But there’s a solution, albeit probably not what you’re hoping for.

All tickets, passes etc. are supposed to be stored in the Wallet app. Tickets, passes and other secure item need to be stored there. The only exception is a third party app.

The app developer needs to add code, that Apple makes available to registered developers, that will suppress Wallet from opening when the third party app is open first.

Download the app the ticket issuer has or use their website and add tickets to Apple Wallet the way intended. If you don’t want to do that, download a third party app and add your tickets there. Hope the developer added the code to the app.

Those are the options that work. Lastly, continue to do what you’re currently doing, but as you noted, that doesn’t work and you might miss your train or plane.

Hi Jeff,

I will give you a real life example. In the Netherlands, the machines that read the tickets to access the trains are multi device: the same machine reads QR codes, NFC tickets, and NFC devices (i.e., iPhones using wallet). When you buy a long distance ticket, NS, the national train company, does not issue Apple Wallet tickets, only QR codes they sent to your mail. Therefore, when you open the PDF reader or the photo app where you have the QR code so the machine reads it, apple wallet automatically kicks in overriding whatever there is in the iPhone screen before the machine has the time to read the QR code. This behaviour of automatically kicking in apple wallet when a NFC machine is detected cannot be cancelled. It always kicks in. Therefore, it is impossible to pass the barriers to access the train, because the machine cannot thread the QR code. Hope this clarifies.

It works for some users and apps. Have you tried this fix?

iPhone > Settings app > Wallet & Apple Pay > scroll down > Transit Cards > Express Transit Cards > make sure <None> is selected.

Any design flaw is caused the QR code and the poor implementation of the company using it. The airline I use frequently uses QR codes and they work perfectly as does Apple Wallet. So do several other apps I use regularly that use QR codes.

That doesn’t work, even when that button is on, cards still kick in when the phone gets close to a paying terminal. The only thing that having on such button prevents is that no charge is done to the card until you press double click. But still the card appears and overrides the photo app where the QR code is. This is a serious design flaw.

Please turn Double-Click Side Button On. That should work. Cards won’t automatically appear. You’ll need to double-click side button to choose your payment card.

Files is an Apple app and if they wanted they could give Files a higher priority than Apple Wallet, but they don’t want that. The issue is the millions of riders and fliers every day worldwide that want the wallet to pop up when they are near the NFC device. When you compare the millions to the few that want the Wallet to operate differently, I’m sure it’s a conscious design decision on Apple’s part.

I wish I had a better explanation. Apple welcomes your feedback at the link below. Apple regrets not being able to provide responses to individuals that provide feedback.

Feedback - Apple Pay - Apple

As explained in one of the other replies above, these are gates that do both optical QR code scanning and NFC payments. The ferry company doesn’t offer Apple Wallet support. The tickets only come as a PDF document that contains a QR code. The NFC module automatically triggers the display of the Wallet app, thereby preventing the scanning of the on-screen QR code.

This is not user error. This is iPhone getting triggered on NFC when it shouldn’t. I would never want my iPhone to automatically open the Wallet app. I’m used to open it myself or triggering it using a double click of the power button. This issue apparently has been around for years. This is the first time I encountered it. I’m a hardcore Apple user and I have never seen my iPhone act this user-hostile.

Very irritating. I almost missed my ferry because of this. For me the solution was keeping a finger pressed on the screen, which prevented the switch to the Wallet app.

Let me try to explain. I encountered this in train stations in two countries: Netherlands and France.

These stations have scanners at gate that accept both optical tickets (QR codes) and NFC tickets (like Apple Wallet). Here is a photo of the gates in Netherlands: https://hilario.bambooradical.com/benelux/images/train_02_check_in_gate_close_up.JPG

In both occasions, I had a QR code ticket as a PDF (not in Apple Wallet). When I brought my iPhone screen closer to the reader at the gate, Apple Wallet thought I wanted to pay using one of my Apple Pay cards and automatically brought the Apple Wallet screen. There was no way to keep it off. So the QR code in the PDF wasn't visible long enough for the reader at the gate to recognise it. I tried many many times but nothing helped. In the first instance I almost missed my train!

I already have the double click side button on. It doesn't matter, Apple Wallet automatically pops-up as soon as it detects an NFC reader.

Hope this helps clarify the problem.

>>In the US they do send links or QR codes for boarding passes. What country are you in? What transit company does this involve?<<

In Europe, American Express sends emails with a QR code within, which is a .jpg file attached. And in the Netherlands and Belgium that’s what you get, you don’t get that QR in the format of a travel pass. As I said and would like to emphasise, you just get a .jpg file within an email. And that code cannot be converted to a travel pass, or at least I don’t know how. If you know a way, I’d be happy to hear it, as I wouldn’t care anymore about Wallet popping up.

>>In Europe, American Express sends emails with a QR code within, which is a .jpg file attached. And in the Netherlands and Belgium that’s what you get, you don’t get that QR in the format of a travel pass. As I said and would like to emphasise, you just get a .jpg file within an email. And that code cannot be converted to a travel pass, or at least I don’t know how. If you know a way, I’d be happy to hear it, as I wouldn’t care anymore about Wallet popping up.<<

Have you asked American Express support team for assistance? The airlines in the US all support adding boarding passes to Apple and Android. Basically, I’m shocked the EU doesn’t support it. EU countries seem to adopt the technology long before they gain traction in the US.

The solution for you would be to create your own pass with the QR code on it. Do you have Pass2U in your App Store? Here’s a pass I created in Pass2U app and loaded into Apple Wallet.

Pass2U support QR codes too. You’ll have no issue doing what you want and then adding your tickets, passes etc. to Apple Wallet. A card can be designed in just a minute or two. After that, it’s a template and takes a few seconds to add the new QR code and add to Wallet. I’m sure there are other third party apps in your App Store that offer similar features. P

Please go to iPhone > Settings app > Wallet & Apple Pay > scroll down to Double-Click Side Button and please tell me what position it’s in?