Apple pay is not a big improvement on normal tap to pay, although it still feels cool 5 years later to pay for stuff using my watch. The gamechanger exceptions are:
- Transit. I can use my watch/apple pay for transit in many cities. From experience, I have only used it in 2 cities. Slow and annoying in Vancouver, but much less annoying than the alternatives. In Japan, instant and more convenient than using my suica card or suica function of my phone. Back in 2016 I bought an Apple watch within hours of learning that it supported suica. The only slight inconvenience is that I prefer to wear my watch on my left hand, and the card reader at gates is always on the right.
- Online commerce. Only twice have I had the good fortune of finding something I wanted to buy online available using apple pay. But wow, was it a good experience. No login[1], no entering my address or details. Just approve apple pay by fingerprint or faceid, confirm my address, and wait for the goods to arrive.
[1] I have a common name, and an email address several dozen people think they own. Making a new account on any site/service is a nightmare. If I can even make an account, Logging in 1 year later is usually impossible because someone has tried to reset "their" password 50 times. Fixing an account on any service that profits from its users (eg venmo) is usually impossible. They won't cancel an account misusing my email so long as the transactions go through.
Apple pay is not a big improvement on normal tap to pay, although it still feels cool 5 years later to pay for stuff using my watch. The gamechanger exceptions are:
- Transit. I can use my watch/apple pay for transit in many cities. From experience, I have only used it in 2 cities. Slow and annoying in Vancouver, but much less annoying than the alternatives. In Japan, instant and more convenient than using my suica card or suica function of my phone. Back in 2016 I bought an Apple watch within hours of learning that it supported suica. The only slight inconvenience is that I prefer to wear my watch on my left hand, and the card reader at gates is always on the right.
- Online commerce. Only twice have I had the good fortune of finding something I wanted to buy online available using apple pay. But wow, was it a good experience. No login[1], no entering my address or details. Just approve apple pay by fingerprint or faceid, confirm my address, and wait for the goods to arrive.
[1] I have a common name, and an email address several dozen people think they own. Making a new account on any site/service is a nightmare. If I can even make an account, Logging in 1 year later is usually impossible because someone has tried to reset "their" password 50 times. Fixing an account on any service that profits from its users (eg venmo) is usually impossible. They won't cancel an account misusing my email so long as the transactions go through.