Once a pass exists there are three ways to get it to your guest: share the link, text it, or email it. They are not interchangeable — each depends on different things and lives in different places. Here is what each does.
Share this pass (app and web)
Share hands over the pass link through your phone's share sheet — Messages, WhatsApp, AirDrop, whatever you like — or copies it to the clipboard. This is the most reliable option because it uses your own apps. In the app, Resend pass on the ⋯ menu opens the same share sheet again. Remember that the link is the pass: anyone holding it can present it, so send it only to the person it is for.
Text it (app at invite time, web any time)
In the app, entering a phone number on the invite texts the link to your guest as soon as the pass is created. On the web, the SMS button on the pass list sends it whenever you like. The text comes from your community's number: “You have a visitor pass for [community] from [you]. Show this QR code at the gate: [link]”. Two things can stop it:
- Your community must have texting switched on.
- If your guest has ever replied STOP to the community's number, they are opted out and no text will be delivered. The web tells you and copies the link so you can share it another way; the message explains that they can text START to opt back in.
Email it (app; web only at creation)
In the app, open the pass and tap Email, or choose Email pass from the ⋯ menu on the visitor's row. The email goes out from your community's own sender, in the community's language, so it looks like it came from the community rather than from your personal mail app. It needs an address: if none is on file for the visitor you are asked to enter one (“Enter an address and we'll email this pass.”). On the web you can email a pass only when you create it: enter the visitor's email and switch on Send QR code to visitor's email. The pass list has no Email button; use Share or SMS there.
Which to use
- Share when you already chat with the guest, or if texting is not available.
- SMS for a delivery driver or someone whose number you have but do not message.
- Email for a contractor, or a guest who wants a branded record they can find later.
Good to know
- You can send the same pass more than once and by more than one route; it is the same link each time.
- Sending a pass does not change its limits. Edit the pass first if you need to.
- Adding the pass to Apple Wallet is something your guest does themselves from the link.
Related
See “Why didn't my guest get the text?” and “Invite a guest & send a visitor pass”.