I’ve always felt that Apple’s Passbook was a good idea that never really took off. I use it for boarding passes but have found very few other uses. (I know the poster child for Passbook retail use is Starbucks but I don’t drink coffee and don’t like their tea.) Either way, I’ve felt that Passbook has been in limbo lately. I’m sure the whole “pay with your phone” idea is important to Apple but it seemed like Passbook may be one of those things that just lingers until Apple unveils the next initiative to replace it.

That may still be the case but it appears Apple isn’t entirely ignoring Passbook. Today they added a new feature that lets you charge up your iTunes credit with Passbook in an Apple retail store. This makes a lot of sense with the upcoming Family Sharing feature. I would like to see Passbook (or something like it) take off. I’m tired of carrying bits of plastic around when I’ve got a really smart phone.

Josh Centers at TidBITS walks you through how to use Passbook in the Apple Store.