Japan NFC Reader vs Sarotis
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Japan NFC Reader
Easily check the balance and usage history of various Japanese transit and e-money cards directly on your iPhone. Supports a wide range of IC cards and payment services for convenient financial tracking.
- Check e-money balance
- View usage history
- Supports Transit IC cards
- Supports Rakuten Edy, nanaco, WAON
- Supports Hong Kong Octopus card
- iPhone compatibility
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You can check Japanese e-money balance and usage history on your iPhone. Support: ・Transit IC（Suica, PASMO, ICOCA, SUGOCA, TOICA, Kitaca, manaca, nimoca, はやかけん(Hayakaken)） ・IruCa ・PASPY ・SAPICA ・icsca ・OKICA ・Ryuto ・Region Affiliate Transit IC（totra, Iwate Green Pass, iGUCA, HACHICA, AOPASS, nolbé, Shuhoku Orange Pass, AkiCA, Towada SkyBlue Pass, cherica, MegoICa, …and more!） ・Rakuten Edy ・nanaco ・WAON ・Japan Univ. Co-op IC Prepaid ・八達通 (Octopus) (Hong Kong) Devices that support card scanning: WITH iOS 13.0 OR LATER iPhone 14 Pro iPhone 14 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhone 14 Plus iPhone SE (3rd generation) iPhone 13 Pro iPhone 13 Pro Max iPhone 13 iPhone 13 mini iPhone 12 Pro iPhone 12 Pro Max iPhone 12 iPhone 12 mini iPhone SE (2nd generation) iPhone 11 Pro iPhone 11 Pro Max iPhone 11 iPhone XS iPhone XS Max iPhone XR iPhone X iPhone 8 iPhone 8 Plus iPhone 7 (sold in Japan) iPhone 7 Plus (sold in Japan)
Sarotis
Easily read, write, and manage NFC tags. Save tag data, import/export information, and clear or lock tags. Supports various data types like contacts, web links, and Wi-Fi configurations.
- Write/Read NFC Tags (NDEF Format)
- Save and Import NFC Tag Data
- Export Data to CSV
- Clear and Lock NFC Tags
- Text-to-Speech for Read Data
- Create vCards, Web Links, Wi-Fi, and more
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With Sarotis - NFC Writer / Reader you are able to write / read your NFC Tags. Additional, you have the ability to save your NFC Tags and write that data to other NFC Tags. The records of scanned NFC Tags can be opened directly, e.g. read contact record can be imported to your contacts or you can execute Siri Shortcuts directly in the app. Features - Write / Read NFC Tags (NDEF Format) - Save NFC Tag data - Import NFC Tag data - Export NFC Tag data (CSV file) - Load saved NFC Tag data and write it to other NFC Tags - Open read data directly - View / Copy raw data - Clear NFC Tags - Lock NFC Tags - Read out scanned NFC Tags (Text to speech) - NFC Tag history (read / write) - Protect NFC Tag with password Section Read NFC - Scan vCards and import it to your contacts - Open locations in map - Open Weblinks - Start FaceTime calls - Start phone calls - Send text messages (SMS) - Read plain text - Read and open eMails - Read Bluetooth - Read Wifi and connect - Read hex data Section Write NFC - Create vCards and write them to NFC Tags - Create locations from a map - Create Siri Shortcuts - Create weblinks - Create FaceTime calls - Create text messages (SMS) - Create eMails - Create plain text - Create phone calls - Create Bluetooth - Create Wifi - Create hex data - Create social media quick links For feedback or feature requests please use the feedback section in the app or send an eMail to support@sarotis-nfc.de. If you like the app, please rate it in the App Store to support future development.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Japan NFC Reader at 5.0 against Sarotis's 3.9. Japan NFC Reader also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 4 weeks) and device support (4 vs 2). Sarotis's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (79% vs 67%). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Japan NFC Reader sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Sarotis sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Japan NFC Reader holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 24 and 7 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of Japan NFC Reader's written reviews are positive against 79% of Sarotis's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Japan NFC Reader ships an update every 6 days, Sarotis every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Japan NFC Reader | Sarotis |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (24 ratings) — better | 3.9 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | 78.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 24 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days — better | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 48 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ryoga Tanaka | Tobias Hauss |
Customer experience
Japan NFC Reader
Sarotis
In-app purchases
Japan NFC Reader
- Hide Ads (General)$1.99
- Hide Ads (Advanced Features)$4.99
Sarotis
- Sarotis PRO – Monthly Subscription$1.991 Month
- Sarotis Pro - yearly subscription3 Days trial$11.991 Year
- Sarotis PRO (All Features)$7.99
- Sarotis PRO Lifetime$24.99
