What you can and cannot do with Samsung Wallet in Malaysia? | Ask Us Anything #51

Welcome back to another episode of Ask Us Anything, where we gather your questions from the internet and answer them.

In today’s episode, we find out how Google and Apple implement Crash Detection on their respective devices, and what you can and cannot do with Samsung Wallet in Malaysia.

Crash Detection on iPhone vs on Pixel

Google quietly introduced Crash Detection with the Pixel 4 as part of the Personal Safety app towards the end of 2019. Apple meanwhile introduced Crash Detection on the iPhone 14 series in September of 2022, almost 3 years later. The Crash Detection feature from Apple and Google works in a similar fashion but with a couple of key differences.

Pixel phones use location data, motion sensors like an accelerometer and gyroscope, and microphones to detect the possibility of a crash. You are then presented with a prompt to confirm if you’ve been in a severe crash or if it was a false alarm. You will be given 60 seconds to respond before the phone proceeds to call emergency services. The call will automatically be put on speakerphone and your approximate location will be shared with the emergency personnel by reading it out loud.

On an iPhone, Crash Detection works by using a high g-force accelerometer to detect up to 256 Gs, a barometer to detect changes in cabin pressure like when an airbag is deployed, a gyroscope, microphone, and location data. When the phone detects that you might have crashed, it will present a prompt to verify if you need help or is just a false alarm. The difference here is that you only have 20 seconds to respond before the phone proceeds to call emergency services. It will also read out loud your approximate location to the emergency personnel.

Additionally, if you’re wearing a supported Apple Watch, Crash Detection will switch from the iPhone to the Apple Watch, something the current Google Pixel Watch can’t do yet. Another thing the iPhone can do that the Pixel can’t do is contact emergency services by text message via satellite if a cellular or Wi-Fi connection is unavailable, but only if the phone can connect to a nearby satellite.

Now if you noticed, both phones will display a prompt first, asking to verify if you really did have a crash instead of just proceeding to call emergency services. Well, this is because the Crash Detection feature can be accidentally triggered by events that present similar characteristics as a car crash. Google states that “Your phone may not be able to detect all crashes. High-impact activities could also trigger calls to emergency services.”

For example, it was reported that going on a roller coaster can trigger a false crash detection on the iPhone 14. So, if you know you’re about to do a “high impact” activity, it’s best you turn off the feature.

As for supported devices, despite being launched on the Pixel 4, crash detection was made available for the Pixel 3 as well which was launched in late 2018 and is available on all models that came after the Pixel 4. And yes, as of now, this feature is exclusive to the Google Pixel.

On the iPhone, Crash Detection is only supported on the iPhone 14 series with the reason being that older iPhone models don’t have the required hardware for it. As for the Apple Watch, the feature is supported on the Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch Series 8, and Apple Watch SE (2022). So basically, the Apple Watch models launched together with the iPhone 14 series.

Crash Detection on the iPhone is officially supported in Malaysia, just without Emergency SOS via satellite. Since the Pixel is not officially sold here in Malaysia, we don’t know if Crash Detection will work on parallel import Pixel phones. Google even lists a handful of locations where Crash Detection on Pixel phones is supported, implying that the feature is region locked.

What you can and cannot do with Samsung Wallet in Malaysia?

Samsung updated Samsung Pay to Samsung Wallet in Malaysia in the first half of February 2023. Within Samsung Wallet, besides adding your payment cards, you can now also add loyalty cards, vouchers, health passes, and boarding passes.

To add payment cards, you can check with your bank if your debit or credit card is supported. As for loyalty cards, you can either choose from a list of featured cards or manually key in the information. You will also need to manually key in any vouchers you want to add. For Boarding Passes, only Korean Air is supported as of right now, which is a real bummer. Under Health passes, you can add your vaccination certificate.

To do this, simply screenshot the QR code for each individual dose on your MySejahtera app. After that, open the Samsung Wallet app, choose Health Passes, click the plus icon, and choose the gallery option at the bottom right corner of the screen. Select the QR code from the screenshot album and the certificate for that dose will be added. You will need to repeat this step for every dose you want to add.

Additionally, you can also add digital keys which are offered in select cars from BMW that allow you to use your smartphone as the car key. However, this feature is not available for Samsung Wallet in Malaysia yet. Apple on the other hand does support digital keys on select BMW models in Malaysia through their CarKey feature within the Wallet app on select iPhone and Apple Watch models.

Another thing that Samsung Wallet does not support yet in Malaysia is the option to checkout using Samsung Pay for in-app or online purchases. Apple meanwhile supports this feature on Apple Pay. Besides that, Samsung Wallet in Malaysia does not yet support mobile ID, tickets, and digital assets.

Finally, Samsung Wallet also integrates Samsung Pass, which is Samsung’s password manager app which previously, was a standalone app.

Samsung Wallet should be available for most Galaxy phones that support Samsung Pay. Even my almost 5-year-old Galaxy Note9, which no longer receives software updates from Samsung and runs on One UI 2.5 on top of Android 10, got its Samsung Pay app upgraded to Samsung Wallet. That said, here’s a list of compatible Galaxy smartphones from Samsung’s Malaysian website for your reference.

Do note that newer phone models like the S22 and S23 series are not on the list. But rest assured that I have checked the Ultra variants from both those series as well as the Galaxy A73 and Samsung Wallet is indeed supported on these models.