Starbucks, one of the first companies to include support for rechargeable payment cards in Passbook, updated its app this week, adding a new iOS 7 display, “shake-to-pay” and digital tipping. Immediately apparent in Starbucks version 3.0 is the new design theme, which includes Apple’s “flat” iOS 7 look with an uncluttered interface and an abundant use of the Helvetica Neue font.
A refurbished dashboard has also been added where customers can quickly see rewards levels, available rewards, recent transactions and more. The app gives access to a user’s entire account history, including purchases, stars earned in the Starbucks’ rewards system and rewards redeemed.
Operationally, Starbucks squeezes in a few new features, including a digital tipping service for participating U.S. stores. Customers can tip the Starbucks barista up to two hours after buying a drink. Instead of tipping before tasting their drink, users now have more than enough time to decide if the beverage deserves a tip. The system will push out a tip notification and receipt after each eligible transaction. Finally, a new “shake-to-pay” mechanism lets users shake their iPhone to bring up the account barcode needed for scanning at the register. The app must be running for the feature to work.
Starbucks is a free 23.7MB available to download from the App Store.
