Comparison

Shinkansen smartEX App vs waySway

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Shinkansen smartEX App

Easily reserve Shinkansen seats, hotels, and activities. Enjoy discounts for early bookings and flexible changes. Access station and train service information, and use QR tickets or designated IC cards for seamless travel.

Highlights
  • Reserve Shinkansen seats
  • Book hotels and activities
  • Early booking discounts
  • Free reservation changes
  • Select seats from map
  • QR-Ticket and IC card boarding
  • Fingerprint authentication login
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

▼With the EX app, you can: - Reserve Shinkansen seats through the app easily - Discount for early booking - Reserve Shinkansen seats up to 1 year in advance - You can make as many changes as you need, free of charge, before getting on the train - Reserve a set of Shinkansen seats and hotel rooms! - Reserve activities, hotels and car rentals! - Select any seat from the seat map (*reserved seats only) - Information on services available in stations and trains - You can log in quickly by using fingerprint authentication. (only for compatible models) ▼ Main features - Membership registration - Purchase ticket/Reserve seats (time designation, train name designation, easy free seat reservation)) - Confirm reservation - Change and refund reservation (reducing the number of persons) - Display purchase history and receipt - Check, change member information - Display QR-Ticket for boarding - Designate or register IC card for boarding - Service status information (Link) ▼ Notes - Membership registration is required to use this app. For registration, personal information is required, such as member name, date of birth, and a valid credit card, etc. - Ticket purchase (reservation) payment will be taken from the credit card registered on the account. -- You need to register or designate IC card for public transportation (*) to travel ticketless with IC card. (*) Kitaca, PASMO, Suica, manaca, TOICA, PiTaPa, ICOCA, Hayakaken, nimoca, SUGOCA - You need the pickup code to pick up tickets from ticket vending machines, etc., at main stations of Tokaido Sanyo Kyushu Shinkansen, such as Tokyo, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka, Hiroshima, Hakata, Kumamoto etc. - Please do not use this app to make a seat reservation for Japan Rail Pass. - This service is available only in English. - For more details on this service, please see the website. *The email address below is for inquiries about application specifications. Please note that we cannnot answer inquiries about the service.

About

waySway

Discover destinations through user-generated videos to craft personalized travel itineraries. Explore attractions, food, and culture with engaging clips and bookmark your favorites for a unique planning experience.

Highlights
  • User-generated video content
  • Personalized itinerary creation
  • Location-tagged video exploration
  • Bookmark favorite spots
  • Integrated booking options
  • Community engagement
Features
Read full description

waySway is a travel planning app that harnesses user-generated videos tagged with locations to create personalized itineraries. Users explore diverse attractions, cuisine, and culture through engaging clips, bookmarking favorites to build custom plans. The app integrates booking, personalization via customer login, community engagement, and practical travel tools, transforming video browsing into an immersive planning experience.

Screenshots

Shinkansen smartEX App4 screens
waySway3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: waySway at 100% against Shinkansen smartEX App's 18%. waySway also leads on rating (5.0 vs 1.7) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Shinkansen smartEX App's advantage is ratings volume (576 vs 2) and chart position (#172 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

waySway holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shinkansen smartEX App has 576 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 18% of Shinkansen smartEX App's written reviews are positive against 100% of waySway's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shinkansen smartEX App ships an update every 2 months, waySway monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and July 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Shinkansen smartEX App versus waySway: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShinkansen smartEX AppwaySway
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.7 (576 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews17.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings576 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#172 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB389 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCentral Japan Railway CompanyLAND DIATOM PTE. LTD.

Customer experience

Shinkansen smartEX App

All ratings576 ratings
Positive16.7%
Neutral1.9%
Negative81.4%
Written reviews351 reviews
Positive17.7%
Neutral3.7%
Negative78.6%

waySway

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Shinkansen smartEX App

No in-app purchases

None

waySway

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shinkansen smartEX App free?
Shinkansen smartEX App is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is waySway free?
waySway is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Shinkansen smartEX App or waySway?
waySway is rated higher. Shinkansen smartEX App averages 1.7 out of 5 from 576 ratings, while waySway averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Shinkansen smartEX App or waySway have ads?
Neither Shinkansen smartEX App nor waySway shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shinkansen smartEX App or waySway?
Shinkansen smartEX App ships an update every 2 months, and waySway monthly. Most recently, Shinkansen smartEX App was updated on September 22, 2026 and waySway on July 31, 2026.

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