4 ms·

Suica or any of the FeliCa-based cards in Japan are stunning really, the ecosystem is great. They're super fast, don't require sign-ups and work anywhere in the

by meibo 5y ago

Suica or any of the FeliCa-based cards in Japan are stunning really, the ecosystem is great. They're super fast, don't require sign-ups and work anywhere in the country nowadays, even in most shops.

marcan_42 5y ago
And you can get virtual ones on your phone these days, auto recharging via credit card. Best of both worlds, works in way more places than contactless EMV. And it still works even if you root your phone or install LineageOS, which is also a big plus for me (it's why I can't use Google Pay).
- tjpnz 5y ago
  I assume your phone was sold exclusively in Japan? Foreign phones don't work with this tech.
  - fomine3 5y ago
    Now worldwide iPhone supports Suica, but don't supported by almost all Android outside Japan.
  - marcan_42 5y ago
    These days some do. I have a Pixel 4a 5G. I bought it in Japan, but I don't believe it's a special Japan model in any way, and obviously doesn't have any special firmware either since I installed vanilla LineageOS on it. Worldwide models intended to be sold in Japan are starting to have the feature. As long as the hardware FeliCa secure element is there, all you have to do is install the relevant apps from the Play Store (the apps themselves might be region locked; I do have my Play Store account set to Japan)
    - fomine3 5y ago
      https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/7157629?hl=en https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/7157629?hl=en > Pixel 3 and later smartphones purchased in Japan have a FeliCa chip in the same place as the NFC chip. So it's special
      - marcan_42 5y ago
        https://atadistance.net/2020/09/15/pixel-4-felica-outside-of-japan-hide-in-plain-sight/ https://atadistance.net/2020/09/15/pixel-4-felica-outside-of... So it isn't; all phones have the hardware. However, it seems something blocks the FeliCa apps from running on non-Japanese phones. It could be just a region flag. (Don't trust customer support sites for technical information; the people writing those don't know how the real hardware works)
- meibo 5y ago
  The manual recharge works in a "don't spend so much money on snacks" kind of way for me, so I've never adopted the auto recharge :)

by meibo 5y ago

Suica or any of the FeliCa-based cards in Japan are stunning really, the ecosystem is great. They're super fast, don't require sign-ups and work anywhere in the country nowadays, even in most shops.

marcan_42 5y ago

And you can get virtual ones on your phone these days, auto recharging via credit card. Best of both worlds, works in way more places than contactless EMV. And it still works even if you root your phone or install LineageOS, which is also a big plus for me (it's why I can't use Google Pay).

tjpnz 5y ago
I assume your phone was sold exclusively in Japan? Foreign phones don't work with this tech.
- fomine3 5y ago
  Now worldwide iPhone supports Suica, but don't supported by almost all Android outside Japan.
- marcan_42 5y ago
  These days some do. I have a Pixel 4a 5G. I bought it in Japan, but I don't believe it's a special Japan model in any way, and obviously doesn't have any special firmware either since I installed vanilla LineageOS on it. Worldwide models intended to be sold in Japan are starting to have the feature. As long as the hardware FeliCa secure element is there, all you have to do is install the relevant apps from the Play Store (the apps themselves might be region locked; I do have my Play Store account set to Japan)
  - fomine3 5y ago
    https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/7157629?hl=en https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/7157629?hl=en > Pixel 3 and later smartphones purchased in Japan have a FeliCa chip in the same place as the NFC chip. So it's special
    - marcan_42 5y ago
      https://atadistance.net/2020/09/15/pixel-4-felica-outside-of-japan-hide-in-plain-sight/ https://atadistance.net/2020/09/15/pixel-4-felica-outside-of... So it isn't; all phones have the hardware. However, it seems something blocks the FeliCa apps from running on non-Japanese phones. It could be just a region flag. (Don't trust customer support sites for technical information; the people writing those don't know how the real hardware works)
meibo 5y ago
The manual recharge works in a "don't spend so much money on snacks" kind of way for me, so I've never adopted the auto recharge :)