Tag: WWDC19

WWDC19 Keynote and Apple Pay

There hasn’t been a single Apple Pay mention in tech site iOS 13 feature roundups for the WWDC19 keynote. I think there will be a few. The WWDC19 Apple Pay wish list includes developer stuff to be covered in sessions. The keynote short list is…

New ‘Apple Card’ Wallet UI
Apple Card UI goodies are available to all iOS 13 Wallet cards.

NFC tag Apple Pay
Shown by Jennifer Bailey at the closed session Transact keynote last month, NFC tag Apple Pay is an important new development for the platform.

Apple Pay Transit
Apple only mentions Apple Pay Transit when they are planning to add new transit cards or new transit systems. In this scenario Express Transit support on TfL would only get a mention if Apple Pay Oyster is coming, which it is not. Nevertheless I think transit will get a mention for 2, possibly 3, new additions coming after the iOS 13 release:

The WWDC19 keynote is June 3, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. PDT

Dynamic Apple Pay Wallet Cards in iOS 13

Recent changes in iOS 12 Apple Pay Wallet are fascinating and unusual. iOS 12 started out with Apple Pay Suica Express Transit performance problems all over the place. By iOS 12.3 Express Transit issues were fixed with stellar performance, a new EMV Express Transit option was added, and Suica card had a whole new design that I call Apple Card Suica because it incorporates UI elements from Apple Card.

This is unusual because big changes like that are for big updates like iOS 13. I guess Apple decided not to wait for iOS 13 to roll out Apple Card, and made big changes to Wallet starting in iOS 12.2. It will be interesting to see what new Apple Card Wallet functions are offered to developers at WWDC19. My take is that developers will get to do all the things Apple Card does because Apple wants to encourage developers to migrate useful functions out of apps and into Wallet cards.

  • Dynamic Apple Card art
  • Dynamic Apple Card art

The dynamic Wallet card art of Apple Card is especially fascinating. One of the problems with static card art in iOS 12 Wallet is it doesn’t do anything and gobbles up precious screen space. Apple Card dynamically changes colors to give the user important information. This dynamic function is very useful and solves some Wallet UI problems.

Suica Commuter cards in iOS 12.3 don’t have enough space to display ‘Add Money’ and ‘Renew’ buttons on the main card along with the commute route. Instead, users have to dig down a level to find them along with the commute plan expiration date. Add Money, Renew, commute plan route and expiration date are important card items that need to be on the main card screen.

  • iOS 12.3 Commuter Suica
  • Important Commuter Suica functions and information are not on the main screen in iOS 12.3
  • Suica Commuter could like this in iOS 13 Wallet with dynamic card art

Dynamic card art elegantly solves this problem. Suica App already does this in the app by displaying the commute route and commute plan expiration date on the virtual Suica card, just like it does on plastic Suica. Dynamic card art in iOS 13 Wallet would be the perfect solution, all the important items fit on the main card screen. Card art is finally useful and saves screen space instead of wasting it.

Full coverage on the WWDC19 iOS 13 Apple Pay Wish List

EMV Express Transit Missing in iOS 12.4 Public Beta 2

Developers reported that the iOS 12.3 EMV Express Transit feature was missing in iOS 12.4 beta 1. The feature is still missing in iOS 12.4 Public Beta 2 (16G5027i), stay away if you use it. Suica Express Transit performance remains stellar and solid as it is in iOS 12.3.

It’s weird the new feature would be missing at this stage in the public beta beta cycle. I guess this means the under the hood Apple Pay Wallet construction that started in iOS 12.2 continues in the run up to Apple Card and iOS 13. I’m sure we’ll hear all about it at WWDC19.

  • Payment card Express Transit missing in iOS 12.4 Public Beta 2
  • iOS 12.3 Transit Card vs. Payment Card

NFC Tag Apple Pay Levels the Play Field with QR Codes

QR Codes has gotten a lot of hype in Japan, partly because merchants want to capture Chinese tourist money with AliPay and WeChat Pay, but also because the lower cost of QR payment systems appeals to small merchants who don’t want to buy or rent expensive NFC enabled POS systems.

Inexpensive NFC tags and NFC stickers are a logical payment alternative to full blown NFC POS systems and QR, but have remained out of the mainstream. NFC tags are great technology but they remain deeply geeky for the majority of users. The key is making NFC tags as friendly, easy and secure to use as Apple Pay. This is exactly what Apple plans to do.

At the TRANSACT 2019 conference Jennifer Bailey announced NFC tag Apple Pay. NFC tag Apple Pay works with or without apps. All the user does is tap a NFC tag and Apple Pay takes care of the rest as shown in the demo video using a SmartPlate NFC tag:

The easiest way to think of it is that instead of tapping a reader to pay with Apple Pay, NFC tag Apple Pay turns your iPhone into the reader. An NFC tag and iPhone is all that you need to Apple Pay at a store.

What does this sound like to you? Yep, this is exactly what QR Codes do and NFC tag Apple Pay is aimed right at the ‘but the store doesn’t need an expensive NFC reader to use QR’ sweet spot that QR Codes have occupied up to now. NFC tag Apple Pay levels the play field, neatly eliminating the QR advantage while offering security that QR Codes cannot match.

However don’t assume that the QR players are chained to QR Codes, it’s an inexpensive and convenient technology for building payment system app services, not particularly sacred. NFC tag Apple Pay also works in an app and this offers Japanese QR Code payment systems such as Line, PayPay, etc., a way to incorporate Apple Pay NFC support in their app, if they choose to do so.

A12 Bionic iPhone XR/XS are the only devices that support background NCF tag reading and the native ability to read tags without an app. The big question in my mind is how Apple plans to implement NFC tag Apple Pay on non-A12 Bionic iPhones.

More NFC tag coverage on NFC Tag Apple Pay and the Japan Softcream Cashless Index

Apple Pay Suica on Apple Watch: First Impressions

Now that iOS 12.3 is out with great Apple Pay Suica performance and no more bugs, I have a new side project: Apple Pay Suica on Apple Watch. I moved my daily Commuter Suica to Apple Watch and it’s an interesting experience. Some first impressions.

  • Apple Pay Suica performance on watchOS 5.2.1 on Apple Watch Series 4 is great, but not as great as iOS 12.3 on iPhone XS. Because A12 Bionic removes the iOS overhead for Express Cards with power reserve, Apple Pay Suica on iPhone XS/XR feels light and snappy like a plastic Suica card. I can’t wait for Express Cards with power reserve on Apple Watch.
  • Suica Recharge on Apple Watch sucks and I have discovered how wonderfully useful Suica App really is. I have a Commuter Suica on Apple Watch and a My Suica on iPhone. Both of these can be recharged and managed (with different credit cards attached to each Suica!) in Suica App. It’s super convenient and has opened my eyes to a major Apple Pay Wallet design weakness: iPhone Wallet and Watch App Wallet should just be one thing that manages all of my Wallets cards on both devices in one place. Apple Watch Wallet is great, in a pinch, but it’s a lousy UI experience for managing transit card options and Suica Recharge. Apple Pay transit prepaid card users access those card options far more than credit cards. I added a unified Wallet request for iOS 13 to the Apple Pay WWDC19 wish list.
  • Suica Reminders for low balance and commuter plan renewals are another Apple Watch weak point. They don’t exist. Suica App to the rescue again with Notification Sounds. The 3 beep Suica low balance reminder (¥1,000 or less) works everywhere and is a life saver. It’s far more attention grabbing than Apple Pay Suica Notification Center reminders on iPhone.
  • You cannot fully appreciate Suica App until you use it to recharge Suica on Apple Watch

A true story: I was buying lunch at a family owned Daily Yamazaki convenience store. You might know the kind, a Showa style convenience store stocked with Yamazaki breads, homemade sandwiches and bento, usually run by an older couple, a store from a different era that will unfortunately disappear.

I bought a bento and paid with Apple Pay Suica on Apple Watch. The Suica 3 beep low balance reminder sound from the reader caught the attention of the owner who looked to be in his late 70s. “Suica works on that? It’s so small.” I assured him Suica worked on Apple Watch.

He smiled and said, “That’s really convenient. You’ll never lose it or have to find it when it’s on your wrist.”

It is indeed.