[olalonde]

Thanks but on Android I was getting "This item isn't available in your country". I tried to bypass Play Store and download the APK directly but was getting a bunch of errors. I am leaving tomorrow but I definitely will try to get an IC card/app next time I visit because manually purchasing tickets with cash all the time isn't great.

[cbhl]

It has been a few years since I last looked, but most Android phones outside of the Japan market didn't have NFC hardware that was specced to meet the tighter Mifare timing tolerances required for the Japanese version of the spec (iirc the phone had, like 1/10th the time to respond back vs US readers). On the other hand, every modern iPhone sold globally was specced to be able to support the Japanese variant of Mifare (and thus could have Suica in Apple Wallet).

[Cloudef]

Android would not work anyways unless you have local phone or modified firmware as the FeliCa is usually disabled by default otherwise.

[numpad0]

Has to be verified unrooted phones, which are mostly local Android phones + ALL iPhone 8/SE2 or later. e.g. SC-02K and SCV38 will work but SM-G960N won't. By the way, commuter passes works as regular cards outside of specified routes or valid-thru dates, so long it has seen use within last 10 years.

[shiroiuma]

It won't work on Android with a foreign phone because your phone doesn't have the Felica chip. All Japanese Android phones have this chip, and all Apple phones worldwide have it, so the iPhone users don't have this problem.

[thebitstick]

Apple adds FeliCa and NFC radios to all iPhones worldwide. Only Android phones sold in Japan have FeliCa radios, worldwide models only have a NFC radio.