Like most people staying at home I’m trying to put downtime to good use, catching up on review videos. I came across the Apple Watch Journal channel on YouTube and highly recommend it to any Apple Watch user with some Japanese ability. It covers all kinds of tips and functions with a keen focus on smart efficient use. The delivery is tight, simple, well organized and wonderfully narrated. Videos covering Japan only services like Suica, Line and dPoint are well worth the time investment.
The standout is the Apple Watch Suica video, rightly called ‘the killer Apple Watch app.’ I cannot agree more especially in these COVID-19 social distancing times. Suica on Apple Watch is stress free without the hassle of using Face ID Apple Pay with face masks. I even learned a few new things like Suica auto charge works without a network connection. It’s hard to believe that after all these years the competition has yet to match Suica on Apple Watch. Apple Watch Octopus will be a killer app for Hong Kong users when it arrives there, hopefully soon. The 12 minute video covers:
0:46 Apple Watch版「Suica」の基本的な使い方 (Apple Watch Suica Basics)
2:27 Apple WatchとiPhoneで併用する際の注意点 (Gotchas using Suica on both iPhone/Apple Watch)
4:16 Apple Watchがロック状態、Suicaは使える？(Using Suica when Apple Watch is off wrist)
6:46 Suicaは画面側でタッチしなくても使える！(Apple Watch Suica and wrist positions)
7:45 Apple Watch単体（オフライン）でも使える！(Apple Watch Suica works without network)
8:45 JR東日本の新型改札、Apple Watchの使い勝手は？(Using Apple Watch Suica on the new JR gate)
11:08 Apple Watchを「右手」で使う方法 (Using Apple Watch on the right wrist)
The new JR gate section is particularly interesting and fully covers what is sure to be a sore point with many left wrist Apple Watch users: the reader is on the right hand side and the slanted position makes it impossible to comfortably reach over with the left wrist. After running through many left wrist use cases, the narrator simply concludes, ‘let’s learn to wear Apple Watch on right wrist, it’s not that hard,’ and devotes the last section with some right wrist tips.
Another video does an excellent job of covering the recent Wallet addition of dPoint contactless point card. All the Lawson POS systems options are explained with some very helpful tips dealing with dPoint and PONTA point cards on Apple Pay Apple Watch.
UPDATE
For the very first time ever Apple Watch Suica could be in for some serious competition next month with the planned release of Garmin Pay Suica. If you need any proof that Suica is the smartwatch killer app for Japan, this is it. Any smartwatch without it is a nonstarter. It’s an encouraging sign that Garmin is advertising Google Pay for the Garmin Suica recharge backend for linked Android devices and suggests they might have larger FeliCa ambitions than Japan. We’ll see if the competition is truly catching up to Apple Watch Suica in May.
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