Japan

Real-time transit information in Apple Maps has been expanded to Tokyo, Japan, enabling users to get live details of more than 20 railway, bus, and tram lines throughout the metropolitan area, Apple has announced. With real-time updates on ‌Apple Maps‌, users in Tokyo can view detailed schedules, real-time departure and arrival times, and transfers to help plan their journeys. Apple adds...

Emergency SOS via satellite expanded to Japan with the iOS 17.6 update that was released yesterday, according to Apple. Japanese customers with an iPhone 14 or an iPhone 15 can use Emergency SOS via satellite to get in touch with emergency services even when a Wi-Fi or cellular connection is unavailable. Apple first introduced Emergency SOS via satellite in 2022 alongside the ‌iPhone 14‌...

New legislation in Japan requires Apple to allow third-party app stores and payment providers on the iPhone. The Japanese parliament has passed the Act on Promotion of Competition for Specified Smartphone Software, a law that compels Apple to allow access to third-party app stores and payment providers on devices that run iOS. The legislation, which was passed by Japan's upper house and will ...

Apple today announced that support for national My Number Card IDs in Japan will be coming to Apple's Wallet app "late next spring," marking the first expansion of digital IDs in Apple Wallet beyond the United States [Google translation]. Over 100 million Japanese residents currently have My Number Card IDs, which enable them to receive services at over 60,000 convenience stores around the...

Apple has announced Tap to Pay on iPhone in Japan, allowing independent sellers, small merchants, and large retailers in the country to use ‌iPhones‌ as a payment terminal. Tap to Pay first arrived in February 2022 in the US, and allows iPhones to accept payments via Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets‌‌‌. All transactions are encrypted, and Apple...

Japan is preparing antitrust legislation to force Apple to allow app sideloading and alternative payment methods for in-app purchases, Nikkei Asia reports. The plans by Japan's Fair Trade Commission focus on combating Apple and Google's dominance in app stores and payments, search, browsers, and operating systems. The regulation could encompass a wide range of changes to Apple's practices,...

Apple's App Store policies may be violating Japanese antitrust law, according to a new report from the Japan Fair Trade Commission (FTC) that was shared by Nikkei. Japanese regulators do not believe there is enough "competitive pressure" on Apple and Google as the two companies have a duopoly in mobile operating systems and dominate the app market. Japanese regulators want Apple and Google...

When Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Japan earlier this month, he met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to discuss the App Store, Apple's investments in Japan, and iPhone features that could be adopted in the future, according to a new report from Nikkei. Kishida asked Cook to enable a digital version of Japan's My Number identification cards, which are issued to all Japanese residents....

Tim Cook today publicly paid tribute to Sony's long-term partnership with Apple in creating cutting-edge camera sensors for successive iPhone models for over a decade. In a tweet posted during his visit to Sony's camera development facility in Kumamoto, Japan, Cook acknowledged the company's successful partnership with Apple to create "the world's leading camera sensors for ‌iPhone‌," and...

Apple today increased the price of iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch models in Japan by up to 25 percent. The price hikes, first reported by Nikkei Asia, have been triggered by a fall in the value of the yen and a widening interest rate gap between Japan and the United States. The ‌iPhone‌ 13 previously started at 98,800 yen (~$730) in Japan, but now costs 117,800 yen (~$870), an increase of...

In iOS 15, Apple's Maps app includes the ability to use augmented reality walking directions in some big cities, and today we learn that Tokyo has become the latest place that you can use it. The AR mode can map walking directions onto the real world by using your iPhone's rear camera, making it easier to see where you need to go in built-up areas and reducing the need to look down at your...

Apple today hit back at a report from the Japanese government indicating that the company could be hit with new regulation to ensure fair competition in the smartphone operating system market, The Japan Times reports. The Japanese government's interim report expressed concern over Apple and Google's control of the smartphone operating system market, particularly with regards to pre-installed ...

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today announced an investigation into the "duopoly" of Apple and Google on mobile ecosystems, just one day after a similar investigation was initiated in Japan. The CMA will be taking a closer look at Apple and Google's "effective duopoly" on the supply of operating systems, including iOS and Android, the App Store and Google Play Store, ...

Visa has announced that starting today, customers in Japan will be able to use their Visa debit or credit card with Apple Pay. Customers with Visa cards issued by Aplus, SMBC Finance Service, NTT DoCoMo, Credit Saison, JACCS, Mitsui Sumitomo Bank Card, and Rakuten cards will be able to add their card to their Wallet on iPhone and Apple Watch. Japan has set an ambitious goal of...

According to research firm IDC (via GizChina), Apple dominated the smartphone market in Japan over the fourth quarter of 2020, with the iPhone brand accounting for over half of all phone sales in the country. As per the report, the mobile market reached 11.432 million shipments in Q4 2020, and 52.6% of all smartphone sales in Japan were iPhones, substantially contributing to a 10.6%...

Japan has followed the United States, Australia, and numerous countries around the world in preparing to heavily regulate big tech companies, including Apple, due to antitrust disputes and fears about market control (via Reuters). Japan is reportedly "laying the groundwork" to regulate big tech companies including Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook. Kazuyuki Furuya, chairman of Japan's...

Apple's ECG app and irregular heart rhythm notifications on the Apple Watch Series 4 and 5 have received domestic approval and certification from Japan's medical authorities, indicating that both features should go live in the country very soon. The approval was confirmed by the Japanese Association for the Advancement of Medical Equipment (JAAME) on Friday, September 4, and subsequently...

The ongoing dispute between Apple and Epic Games has spurred complaints from Japanese game developers about Apple's App Store business model and the way it handles third-party app submissions. Bloomberg reports that some developers in the Japanese gaming market have been emboldened by the dispute and are becoming more vocal about their own concerns, which including Apple's 30% commission rate...

Apple has included an ECG function in new Apple Watch models since 2018, providing users in select territories with the ability to measure the electrical activity of their heart. Apple now appears to be ready to extend the ECG feature to Brazil and Japan, based on recent government filings. According to MacOtakara, Japan's Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) recently updated...

Apple is set to start reopening its retail stores in Japan this week after having been closed for months because of the global health crisis. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman notes that Apple's website says stores in Fukuoka and Nagoya Sakae will reopen on May 27. Reopening dates for the country's eight other Apple stores have not yet been posted. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has lifted the...