Documentation
These are the essential procedures for the Network build of cards.gov.vin. The current desktop build is a preview: the steps below describe the full workflow, but device operations are disabled in the preview and run against sample data.
Customise Wallet cards
Step 1: Connect and trust your iPhone
Connect the iPhone to your Mac over USB and make sure it is unlocked and trusted.
Step 2: Scan cards
On the Wallet Cards tab, click Scan Cards.
Step 3: Detect the card on the phone
Double-click the side button to open Apple Pay, authenticate with Face ID, then tap your card to trigger detection.
Step 4: Choose artwork
Click a card mockup or drag and drop an image directly onto the card.
Step 5: Flash the skin
Click Flash Skins, then force-close Wallet from the App Switcher (or reboot) to see the new design.
Apply passcode themes (.passthm)
Step 1: Open the Passcode Themes tab
Switch to the Passcode Themes tab at the top of the app.
Step 2: Load a theme
Drag and drop a .passthm file into the app, or click Choose .passthm File.
Step 3: Preview
The app inspects the theme and shows an interactive preview on the numeric keypad (0–9, *, #).
Step 4: Apply
Click Apply Passcode Theme, then restart the iPhone to reload the lock screen cache.
Edit a card name & colour
Step 1: Back up & load details
Open the editor and use Back up & load details. Opening the editor alone never reads or modifies Wallet files.
Step 2: Pick the display field
Choose the field whose current value matches the name you want to change: card description, issuer/organization name, or logo text.
Step 3: Choose a colour (optional)
Use the colour picker or a #RRGGBB value; a •••• 1234 preview updates the card-number colour.
Step 4: Review and apply
The “What you’re changing” review shows each pending change as current → new. Nothing is written until you press Apply.
After editing metadata
Reboot the iPhone before opening Wallet. Leave Wallet closed and the phone connected throughout each operation. Colour editing is disabled for WAL-mode Wallet databases; JSON name edits remain available after a successful load.
Backups and recovery
Backups are written to ~/Library/Application Support/cards.gov.vin/MetadataBackups/ when the editor is used. They contain private Wallet metadata and a complete database original — keep them private.
Restore only reverts files an operation attempted to change when their current bytes still match the recorded original or applied replacement; it refuses to overwrite newer Wallet data. After an ambiguous or failed write, use the retained records under recovery/*/recovery.json before running a normal restore. There is no automatic rollback.
Preview build
The desktop builds on the Download page are previews with device access disabled: scanning, flashing and metadata operations run against sample data so you can walk through the interface safely. Colour editing is disabled for WAL-mode Wallet databases in all builds.
Questions about the Network build can be sent to contact@cards.gov.vin.