Vax Pass on Samsung phones

Posted on by vivsterNZ (she/her) in New Zealand Issues, Tech How-To

So, after setting up the vax pass diligently on my phone the week before the Traffic Lights, I go to use it for the first time, and the shortcut has disappeared! Because I’m very particular about this, I had also made a shortcut to Google Pay, so I didn’t panic, but it was annoying nonetheless.

I then found this tweet:

Screenshot of tweet says Kia ora, we are aware of reports from some people that their My Vaccine Pass has disappeared from their Android home screen. We have confirmed this is an issue with Google Play Services. Google have confirmed they are aware of this issue and are working on a fix.
Screenshot of tweet from Ministry of Health

Right, never to be one to be stumped by “waiting for some large corporate to fix things”, I decided to find a workaround.

Disclaimer: I have a Samsung S21 running stock-standard Android with no custom Launcher or anything like that. I’m not the techiest in the world, so if you tweet at me, I will try, but I’m just not sure if I will be super helpful 🤣 The following worked for me 🙂

STEP 1: Screenshot your vax pass

So the first step is to take a screenshot of your vax pass. Crop it to be “nice”. I cut mine off below the “Saved to this device” bit.

Screenshot of My Vaccine Pass (Photoshopped to take out my details)
Screenshot of My Vaccine Pass (Photoshopped to take out my details)

STEP 2: ADD A SECOND HOMESCREEN

I added a second home screen to the left of my main home screen. I made it to the left so that it was a quick swipe. (I also have my bank account and my calendar on the right-hand swipe, so it was helpful for me to be on the left).

To do that, I press down on a blank bit of my existing home screen, swipe all the way to the right and press the plus in the blank screen, and then move it to the right place.

STEP 3: Install the picture frame widget

Here are the instructions from Samsung. But basically, install the widget like you do for any other widget, and then put it on the home screen that you made in the previous step.

Again, I just have to hold down the blank screen and click on Add Widget.

The picture frame widget gives you the option to pick a photo from Gallery, which is where you pick the screenshot of the vax pass you made in Step 1.

STEP 4: YOU’RE DONE!

All done! Now swipe when you go to your favourite cafe, and you’re GOOD TO GO!

STEP 5: UPDATE IT!

Remember to put a reminder in your calendar or wherever you remind yourself things to do this whole thing again when your initial pass expires, or when you get your booster (I think perhaps the expiry updates then? I have no idea, I get mine in January!)