Z5P - Tap & Pay setting - not working as expected

[TDS123]

Hi - on my Z5P I have two Apps that provide "Tap & Pay" feature.  I set one of these two Apps as the "Payment Default" and I have set Use Default to "Except when another payment app is open".

I have tried as many combinations including swapping the default app, closing all other apps etc.  In all cases I have not been able to achieve a payment via the non-default "Open Payment App" - the default App always seems to be used.

Any tips on how to achieve a payment via the Open App and not the default app?

[TDS123]

Uliwooly

I disagree. Tap and pay phone settings explicitly give the option to use an open payment app instead of the default payment app. Something 'outside of the apps' needs to
1 detect that a "tap and pay / nfc" event has occurred
2 based on phone settings determine if a payment app is open and if so get the open app to service the event instead of the default app

If app developers are able to override the above then the phone settings become useless.

[Uliwooly]

@TDS123

You can follow @CameronT's suggestion or my suggestion, do check the playstore's comments, you will see other users with similar issues, you should really contact the app developers, or if you think its something at Android level, you can contact the Android developers.

If the apps work fine when you don't have the other app but not when you have both apps, that kinda point out that the apps are creating issues.

You can also contact Sony directly >>> Local support but it might not be a good idea as Sony has no control on such apps. 

Let us know if you contact the app developers. 

[TDS123]

@uliwooly
I don't know how to be any clearer... There are no issues with either app either when both installed or singularly installed. The issue I have is that despite having settings set to "use an open payment app" instead of default the default app is always used.

Maybe you can advise whether the "tap & pay" settings are Sony or Android developer domain...

[Uliwooly]

@TDS123

That's Android, did you read the comments on other users having problems with the app, you are clearly experiencing problems, it will be wise to contact them. 

https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/3470787?hl=en

[TDS123]

@uliwooly

Thanks for trying to assist. Yes I have read comments from other users - majority of issues are problems with app functionality / Phone compatibility etc - I am not having any of these problems.

The fundamental premise here is that there is a setting that indicates that if set an open payment app will be used in preference to the default payment app. If this setting is dependent on app coding as you suggest by your advice to contact app developers then the setting will be useless. There will be many more wallet / payment apps coming to market over the next 12 months - all of them will want to be selected as the default payment app because most will have a business model based on transaction value and volumes - and therefore coding to support this setting will not be a priority for them.

[TDS123]

@CameronT

I have "Cleared Data" / "Cleared Cache" / "Force Stopped" / de-installed / re-installed both Apps

I have re-tried both of the following scenarios

Scenario 1

• Payment default = App1
• Use Default = Except when another payment app is open
• App2 is open on my phone
• Attempt to make payment at my local coffee shop (coffee) ... payment successful ... but payment has been made via App1 and not App2 as the settings would suggest

Scenario 2

• Payment default = App2
• Use Default = Except when another payment app is open
• App1 is open on my phone
• Attempt to make payment at my local coffee shop (muffin) ... payment successful ... but payment has been made via App2 and not App1 as the settings would suggest

@uliwooly has suggested this is best raised in an Android forum ... before doing this I am going to try and see if I can find someone who has the same apps on a non-Sony phone and see if their settings are working okay (i.e. the open payment app is used in preference to the default).

[CameronT]

@TDS123,

Where exactly are you setting "App1/App2" or setting these apps as default in the phone? Could you provide screenshots?

[TDS123]

@CameronT

I have found a couple of other people with Payment apps on non-Sony phones.  Based on what I have seen this issue is NOT a Sony issue but is likely to be an Android issue.  I have found various other people with multiple payment apps (including the ones I use plus more!) on non-Sony phones - their phones have a similar setting as the "Except when another payment app is open" and they are experiencing the same behaviour that I am i.e. the defualt app is the only app that is ever used to make a payment.

From what I can gather, Android rely's on the App to have "coding" that indicates that it is "open" / "in the foreground" so that it can detect this and therefore allow the open App to be used.  Based on my quick research there are at least 5 apps in market that aren't coded in this way.  Per my previous post I can't see why the App providers would want to do this as they are all wanting to be the default payment app of choice on as many phones as possible - if they support this feature and others don't then they are likely to be relegated to "non-default".  In my opinion this will need to be something "enforced" by Android OS in some way.

Thanks for your attention and help on this.

As a final pioint, to answer your question (and screen shot) please refer below.  At the moment the second setting is basically useless and doesn't work across many payment apps (haven't found one yet where it does work).

Settings > Tap & pay

[CameronT · Accepted solution]

@TDS123,

Interestingly, I do not have the 'Tap & Pay' option on my handset. It might be carrier or region specific firmware. 

I understand your issue better now. I recommend you report it to Google and the app devs.