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Metrolinx: Presto Fare Card

New Presto Fare Machine:

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Express mode should be working at St Clair and rolled out to the rest of the network soon (maybe mid-September). Testing for Apple Pay virtual cards has started.

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It's hard to give definitive dates long before because not everything goes to plan and features get added and dropped. For example, the virtual cards were initially only supposed to be for Google Wallet and were supposed to be launched somewhere between mid-August and this weekend. However, since there was feedback about people wanting it on Apple Pay, the launch was delayed so the two could possibly launch together. You could apply this to the Crosstown and other projects Metrolinx is working on.
I don't understand what they were thinking in not releasing the feature for Apple Pay too. I don't know a single person who owns a Google phone and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
 
I don't understand what they were thinking in not releasing the feature for Apple Pay too. I don't know a single person who owns a Google phone and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
It's a combination of reasons.
  • The big reason is that around 90% of the code for Presto is written in India. iOS's marketshare in India is less than 5%. The developers have more experience with Android, so it helps speed up development if the Android version is done before iOS.
  • TTC survey data from last year also suggested that virtual cards would disproportionately help low income riders pay their fare.
  • Apple Pay was also seen to be more difficult to integrate, but less difficult than expected.
Fwiw, the Android version has been ready for launch for about a month now. But if it was launched now, iOS users would be complaining.
 
Odd you can't buy TTC tickets, like you can at some of the older (outdoor) machines. But ... UP tickets?
I want to specify that this is located at the Finch GO. I didn’t get a chance to try out the interface so not sure what is available.
 
I don't understand what they were thinking in not releasing the feature for Apple Pay too. I don't know a single person who owns a Google phone and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Apple is an absolute pain in the ass to work with on NFC deployments because they don't have generic 'do whatever you want with it' APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) like Android does. Apple wants their cut of every transaction, and you don't even get to know what the APIs are until the lawyers are done their negotiations and the financial contract is in place. When your devs finally do get the APIs, they work differently than expected and they have to rethink their entire approach, and what they implemented years ago without issue on Android can't simply be ported to IOS without a major redesign that has to be backfilled over into Android for a common backend interface and user experience. It's painful.
 
So what is more secure: Android or iOS?

Studies show that mobile malware targets Android much more than iOS, so for this reason, and all the others stated in this article, iOS is more secure. While you can remove malware from Android and iPhone, it's better not to get it in the first place.

See link.
 
Of those measures in the link, if you are committed to Google provided devices then two of the five measures goes away (i.e. manufacturing and patches). Both of those two measures are really measures of openness and are just saying you can buy Android devices from a wide array of manufacturers and the quality and security of each depends on you picking one that is trustworthy. Yes, Play Store is more open so like a PC if you are installing random software from noname companies you are putting yourself at risk. Again this measure is tied to openness and allows you to create software easily and get software from small businesses and independent developers easily, but not all those should be trusted.

Based on this expect that established companies would try to bring software to iPhone first because there is higher spend and less alternatives in Apple Store, but new and experimental software or start up companies or independent developers will deliver to Android first.
 
So what is more secure: Android or iOS?

Studies show that mobile malware targets Android much more than iOS, so for this reason, and all the others stated in this article, iOS is more secure. While you can remove malware from Android and iPhone, it's better not to get it in the first place.

See link.

This is not an easy question to answer. While in general, iOS is indeed more secure than Android devices, especially given how many of them are out there with various unpatched operating systems, there is one thing that iOS has going against it. In general, iOS users are much more likely to be on the same version of the operating system, and thus are kind of a monoculture. So, if you develop malware that works on iOS, it is likely to work on most iOS devices, whereas on Android, there are so many different types of phones and patch levels, that you don't know who has what.

In general, that makes Android more vulnerable to attacks of opportunity, where various malware is distributed across different sites and via old Play Store apps, whereas iOS users are more vulnerable to targeted attacks, especially when a highly motivated actor is going after you.
 
Anyone able to use Google Pay (via Android NFC) at a TTC fare-gate? I've used that mechanism to pay for GO and UP rides but it's rejected at Dufferin and Union Station. Tried both debit and credit at a couple different banks.

A physical card was accepted.
 
Anyone able to use Google Pay (via Android NFC) at a TTC fare-gate? I've used that mechanism to pay for GO and UP rides but it's rejected at Dufferin and Union Station. Tried both debit and credit at a couple different banks.

A physical card was accepted.
Amex works, but it shows up as TTC Toronto without a location.

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Screenshot_2023-10-01-19-26-32-40_f7aa348215f5d566f9e4ca860f474209.jpg
 
Anyone able to use Google Pay (via Android NFC) at a TTC fare-gate? I've used that mechanism to pay for GO and UP rides but it's rejected at Dufferin and Union Station. Tried both debit and credit at a couple different banks.

A physical card was accepted.
what phone are you using and are you in any beta for the operating system. The only reason why I'm asking is that sometimes with Pixel phones when they are in a beta they sometimes have an issue with Google wallet working as it should.
 

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