Google is giving Wallet on Android a fairly big refresh, with a redesigned homepage, improved search and a new live flight tracking feature all starting to roll out now.
The most noticeable changes land on the home screen. While your payment cards stay put at the top, everything underneath has been reworked. Passes like tickets, loyalty cards and boarding passes are no longer shown as full-width tiles. Instead, they now appear two per row, with more visual styling to help differentiate each one at a glance.
It’s not just cosmetic, either. You can now reorder passes by dragging them and choosing exactly which ones appear on the homepage. This gives the app a bit more flexibility than before.
Navigation has also been tweaked. The old floating “+” button in the bottom corner has been replaced with a new split button in the centre. One side still takes you to “Add to Wallet,” while the other opens a new “View more” page. This page finally introduces proper search. From here, you can look up transactions, saved passes and payment methods. There are separate sections and recent items are clearly laid out.
Alongside the redesign, Google is also adding a more dynamic feature for travellers. Wallet now supports Live Updates for flights on Android 16 and above. If you’ve added a boarding pass, the app can show a persistent, real-time progress tracker. This tracker includes departure info, an estimated arrival time, and a progress bar, and you will see it directly on your lock screen and always-on display.
Tap into it and you’ll jump straight to your ticket, with quick access to more details via Google Flights. The feature builds on existing Wallet notifications that already surface things like boarding time changes and check-in reminders through Gmail integration.
The redesign is rolling out gradually, so you might not see it immediately. Google says it should appear once you’re running the latest versions of Google Wallet and Google Play services (v26.15.33).
It’s not a full reinvention, but between the cleaner layout and better organisation tools, Wallet is starting to feel a lot less like a basic card holder, while the more useful travel features make it feel a bit more like a proper digital hub.
