This is great news. I can almost walk out the door without my wallet now! I've been having a terrible time with Apple Pay / Amex / TFL combo and invariably my phone will vibrate and authenticate but the gate won't open. I usually have to try 2-3 times before it lets me go through and typically just stand aside until the gate clears and try again. There is nothing worse than a crowded station and someone holding up the queue.
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Apple Pay's Express Transit Mode Working in Parts of London Underground
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You have always been able to “pre authorise” Apple Pay before approaching the card reader, to prevent any delays at the ticket gates.
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Weird. I’ve been using Apple Pay on TfL services for years, with several different iPhones, and it’s always been near-100% reliable for me.
I don’t have an Amex though, so I wonder if that’s the issue?
I have the choice of pulling my wallet out of one pocket or my phone out of the other pocket (I don't tend to walk around on the underground with my face in my phone and bumping into people). Both take exactly the same time. Apple Watch might make a difference.
You can’t just tap your whole wallet, though. That trick worked years ago when RFID cards were less common, but now days my wallet has many different RFID enabled cards.
You have to pull out the individual card, which takes additional time and adds the risk of accidentally dropping it.
Apple Pay is quicker, easier, more secure.
It seems you don't know how transit works. It doesn't take money out of your card. It CANNOT take money out of your card, because when you enter the underground, nobody knows where you are going to leave, so nobody knows how much your are supposed to pay.
Instead, TfL (transport for London) registers an event "Lahmy88 went inside Underground station X", later "Lahmy left Underground station Y", "Lahmy jumped on Bus Z", "Lahmy entered train station A", "Lahmy left train station B". At the end of the day, they collect the data, figure out how you travelled (this includes the possibility that some gate was missed), calculate your total bill for your card, and take it out of your account which includes a card that you must have registered with TfL.
Express Transit _never_ authorises any payment. It just gathers the location data. The payment authorisation comes from your contract with TfL.
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I’ve always “pre authenticated” with Face ID *before* getting to the ticket gate. Easy. Works perfectly and saves time.
I don't pull out any card. I pull out my wallet, it flaps open, and I hold one side against the card reader. Done that for years, and no problem at all. And since my phone is bigger than my wallet and less flexible, my wallet is easier and quicker to pull out.
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After about 2.5 seconds you just _feel_ that things around you get icy. After 3.5 seconds you get away from the gate and sort your problem out elsewhere, or you might get sharp instruments poked into your body.
Not exactly. You do not need any kind of contract with TfL to use Apple Pay / Express Pay. Anyone can show up with any random contactless card or Apple Pay device and it will work.
The terminals do “authenticate” cards/devices using standard EMV means. It’s just that it’s not a live, online transaction - they are batched into a single transaction that is calculated and applied at the end of the day.
This is a game changer. So no more fears tapping in when your battery is low.
So I would be able to pass through a TfL ticket gate even with a empty iPhone battery? I'm now tempted to try this...
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Express Transit working fine at the Victoria LUL gateline this morning.
edit : and Acton Town LUL
edit : and the 70 bus
Difficult to judge but seems faster than usual to recognise the tap, similar speed to using Express Transit Suica in Tokyo.
edit : and Acton Town LUL
edit : and the 70 bus
Difficult to judge but seems faster than usual to recognise the tap, similar speed to using Express Transit Suica in Tokyo.
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from apple:
Express Transit cards with power reserve
On iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, you can use power reserve with your Express Transit cards. Power reserve enables you to quickly pay for rides and is available for up to five hours when your iPhone needs to be charged.
To see if Express Transit cards are available when your iPhone needs to be charged, press the side button. Doing this often may significantly reduce the power reserve for Express Transit cards. If you choose to power off your iPhone, this feature will not be available.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209495
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Ahh, nice. Unfortunately I won't be enjoying this on my iPhone X, however. Maybe next year.
Not when actually out of battery. This just means your phone will turn off earlier when the battery gets low to save more for transit mode. Still a useful safety net though since Apple has started putting decent sized batteries in phones now anyway.
edit: see niji above
Used my Apple Watch to tap in at Ealing Broadway this afternoon and it worked on express transit. Whilst it may seem like a small change, there have been several times where a notification has come in just as I was double clicking the side button on the watch to bring up my Amex and the incoming has scuppered it, costing vital seconds in what is undoubtedly a ruthless environment!! Seconds count with a bunch of pissed off Londoners behind you. Great addition 👍🏻
So how does this work while it's only rolled out at certain stations? If I tap-in at a participating station with my iPhone, what happens if my exit station isn't yet supporting it?
I can confirm that it worked at Mornington Crescent station this morning. Tried it after reading this post on my way to work. Thank you MacRumors.
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I guess then you will have to authenticate the payment with TouchID/FaceID.
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I guess then you will have to authenticate the payment with TouchID/FaceID.
You would be charged the maximum fare for a journey starting at that station. But you would also be unable to leave your exit station so would start a new life as a mole person living on the garbage discarded by non-Apple Pay travellers.
Surely you'd just use touch id/face id to authenticate apple pay for the tap out?
I'm asssuming there is additional software on the card readers to tokenise the transaction so that you cannot be skimmed by a random criminal intercepting radio signals in the ticket hall?
Wonder when this will be rolled out at Southern run train stations. Norwood Junction is an absolute bastard for not recognising Apple Pay on the watch.
Wonder when this will be rolled out at Southern run train stations. Norwood Junction is an absolute bastard for not recognising Apple Pay on the watch.
Is funny people saying it only takes seconds, when I think even the fastest Credit / Debit Card NFC usage with or without Apply Pay is not even fast enough for Transit.
People should go to Japan and tryout Felica, where the whole thing takes 100ms. ( Which is still considered not as good by some, the best case it could go as low as 50ms )
When you are in a Transit that carries as many people as the Tokyo Metro. Every ms count.
Meanwhile the Octopus Card in Hong Kong ( Similar to Oyster Card in London ) were suppose to launch before the end of the year. Although I guess we have much more important issues and things to do and Octopus on Apple Pay is not of any importance right now.
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