Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to top 10 apps to have while in Germany. Go check out Simple Germany: / simplegermany Thanks for subscribing for more German reactions every weekday!
A thing about Uber: Germany's taxi business is regulated that you need licenses for running a taxi business and all your employed taxi drivers (Their salary, insurance, all that jazz) and Uber tried to crash into Germany's market with their contractor model and cut prices as they didn't want to deal with all the bureaucracy and the costs associated with them, so they could grow here. Germany was pretty much pissed about it and ruled that Uber is basically a taxi company and has to obey to all taxi business regulations, so they are not as cheap as compared to other Taxi companies, so they didn't took off like in other places. The same is also with Paypal. While in the US, Paypal is a seperate money service, Paypal in the EU has a banking license and is basically treated like a bank here in Europe with everything that comes with it. Paypal didn't want this, but they had to because they didn't want to get excluded from the European market. So knowing that Paypal has a bank license makes me feel better as I can easier enforce my rights towards them if they decide to do shady stuff like freezinh my account or something. We Germans basically don't like it when someone comes here and tries not to play along with the established rules.
Uber have repeatedly (more than 100 cases) been taken to court in Germany in different cities for running illegal passenger transportation services and violating state and national laws on running businesses. They have appealed to regional and state courts and even gone as far as appealing to the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal supreme court) and had their appeals rejected or dismissed at that level.
@@LythaWausW Ridesharing is an offer from a private Person who wants to go from A to B by his own car and has some more space in historischen car. By that he can also share the costs with others BUT he has no intention to make profit by that
Text messaging in Germany wasn't that cheap, even if you had a contract with a certain "free" amount of SMS so when WhatsApp came around, most people switched to that on their Smartphones and it became the Standard, so even Apple people need to have it now if they want to stay in contact, since WhatsApp is by far the most popular Messenger. (Which has concerns for it because it belongs to a certain guys' empire but it's still the standard)
Also Android phones are more common here than iPhones. In Germany the iPhone has a market share of like 25% while in the US it is more like 50%. Since Apple never released iMessage for Android people stuck with WhatsApp. Most of their friends can't use iMessage. The US is like the only country where WhatsApp isn't the absolute dominating messenger app.
There's a lot to complain about with Deutsche Bahn, but their app for booking tickets and viewing timetables is really good! You are informed about current delays, and there are plenty of them, about possible track/platform changes, connecting trains and, if necessary, directions are provided in case you have to walk from a station to a bus stop because your journey continues in a bus. It is also possible, albeit a little hidden, to view the maps of the larger stations with many tracks, in order to navigate quickly through the stations when transfer times are tight, as you can see in advance how to get from one track/platform to another. The app really offers all the information you need for a train journey.
Absolutely, it's hard to believe how well it actually works considering everything else wrong with DB and companies like them. I have been regularly using it for over 6 years now and I can still hardly believe it.
Also purchasing tickets is not the main reason most people I know use it. It like you said, checking timetables and planning your route. Similar for the local public transport apps. Most offer that you just input where you start and your destination, and they recommend the best routes for you. And most offer you a map option so you can check where the stations are and if you are at the correct one.
@@tisamon4070... and having real-time updates to the itinerary. Most valuable, if you have a connection to get and it's getting tough or doesn't work at all. No need anymore to chase after the ticket inspector to get infos about alternative routes like in the old days.
Do you think it's better than in Austria with English? When I visited Vienna, they understood me, but everyone was answering in German, only their muslim immigrants spoke English.
It depends. Many older people understand English quite well, but cannot speak it or do not dare. You have to stop the younger ones from speaking English if you want to learn the German language. 🤣
@@Pips-hw8nd Then why they answer in German? I for example ordered coffee with milk and she was repeating everything I said in German to me, so she obviously understood me and I had more such experiences. Or worker in hotel, he could speak English, but I barely understood something because of his accent and they I go to some random muslim shop and everything is fine, they speak English without any problem.
03:13 the Deutsche Bahn was once a state run system, but it has been privatized and is now is a joint-stock company (AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. The group is divided into several companies, including DB Fernverkehr (long-distance passenger), DB Regio (local passenger services) and DB Cargo (rail freight). The Group subsidiary DB Netz (network) also operates large parts of the German railway infrastructure, making it the largest rail network in Europe. (source: wikipedia)
@@LunarPenguin42 Cause the railways belong to a big part to private people. For them it's more expensive to keep them running than to just let them rot and replace every few years (aka buying new is cheaper than repairing). This results for a considerable part of the railways being unusable or prone to have problems, till they are replaced. So yeah, thanks to the idiot politicians who thought 'let's be like Murica and privatize that stuff'
@@LunarPenguin42 I''ll give that an enthusiastic "maybe". But only because the french are always on strike. Either that or I got really unlucky in the 2 months I had to use them.
Im shocked Americans don't use WhatsApp. Here in Germany litturally everyone has it and if you don't have it people will call you weird. Even my grandfather has it and he just figured out that his phone can take pictures. 😂
As a 30 years old Czech, I still don't understand popularity of what's up when everyone has unlimited SMS for like 10 years, so why they need some app which needs data? I know that SMS have some limitations, but I still don't get it why what's up is that popular. Maybe because you don't need any registration, it "just works somehow" and me as technical person have problem with that some app just knows all people around me, it even magially sees people I don't even have phone number for them and I really don't like that. Today kids hate facebook and what's up is ok for them? It doesn't make any sense, it's owned by facebook too and it steals your data even more than actually facebook because when you install what's up, even your facebook big brother knows all people you have phone number. I just send SMS when I need inform someone with short message and I am sure that person will see that even with turned off data, why should I use some what's up? I still don't get it.
@@Pidalin Because unlimited SMS wasn’t a thing in Germany for a long time (and I don’t even know if it is now). My plan includes the use of WhatsApp for free so making calls and texting via WhatsApp is way easier and cheaper than SMS and normal calls (although I still prefer doing normal calls). And things like „it knows all people around you“ has nothing to do with WhatsApp, there is no thing like recommendations
You are right. I do also prefer normal calls, but SMS costs money even now in Germany, unless you have an flat. Just normal with a Sim Card every SMS and Call cost money. This is why we use Whats App in Germany. I litterally use it since it's released and never had major Problems with it. Also Whats App only knows the Phone numbers and People that are around you you can not see there, that is a thing of Snapchat or other Social Media. I can't live without Whats App, it's the Number one thing you install on a New Phone. Have a nice day/night.
@@Pidalin probably the biggest advantage that WhatsApp has over SMS: Group chats. Every school class, every club i have been in had its own WhatsApp group chat for easy communication.
@@erdbeerschosch2839 it can be usefull in some cases, but when I chat in some group, I am mostly at home on PC, not on phone, chat groups were like plague when it started, especially on facebook, everyone was constantly adding me to some group and I had to remove myself to not be bothered by their talks 🙂
Ryan, you have never been on a train? You definitely need to check out the train restaurants and sleeper trains in Europe! It is so much fun to sit in a "restaurant" and see the landscape fly by your window.
@@silkwesir1444 Train restaurants yes, replaced by the Snackbar. But sleeper train services are picking up again. In particular the Austrian ÖBB opened up new connections connecting Northern cities like Amsterdam, Cologne, Berlin with Munich and onwards to Vienna and Rome. Pretty good videos on those Nightjet lines here on RU-vid.
Regarding Whatsapp, it was attractive to people not just for regular texting, but also because you could send photos/videos through it. Sending those through texts was extremely expensive, even if you had free regular texts (it was called MMS instead of SMS). Additionally that way you could talk to people abroad for basically free. This is useful when you have friends/family abroad, but also when you are abroad yourself and have access to wifi. Of course imessage can do the same, but regular texts is different, at least over here in Germany.
Of course everything you said is correct, but it is funny that it apparently took WhatsApp for most people to realise that free VoIP is a great thing, as for example Skype was already well established when WhatsApp entered the market. This is probably due to messaging being the larger market (than VoIP) and WhatsApp’s focus on only that for several years allowed for a simple enough service to draw people in.
Also, in my experience WhatsApp runs more smoothly on my smartphone than Skype. I mean, I don't know how it was in the beginning as I was really late in switching my old brick from Nokia for a smartphone, but if it was like that back then as well, then that could also play a role in that.
@@aphextwin5712 There were other VoIP apps as well, but most of them had to permanently run in the background which led to massive battery drain. Even if you did not used your smartphone, you eventually had to recharge it every day (or even often). Also, mobile data connection were extremly expensive in Germany, I paid around 10 € for 500 MB in 2012. This was ok for texting, but not for VoIP. Also, the "onboarding" process for WhatsApp is extremly simple: Just download the app, enter your mobile number and you instanly can text to everyone in your phone book who's also using WhatsApp. This was one of the major critics on WhatsApp, but most other text apps that were that simple to use like WhatsApp just copied this. So there's no reason to switch to another app that does exactly the same like WhatsApp only because it is not WhatsApp.
@@aphextwin5712 because when you hear Skype, you think of video calls over here. And most ppl here prefer text messages more than voice messages. And if you are in public, a lot of ppl look at you annoyed or angry when you make a call or listen to a voice message without headphones or (taking a call) you speak to loud. 🤷♀️ Germans are... different 😂
Regarding PayPal we don't only use it to send our friends money we also use it for online shopping. No matter what from amazon over clothes to concert tickets and booking hotels. I pay 99% with PayPal when I purchase it online.
Is PayPal really a thing in Germany? I use it only for online puchases. Here in Switzerland we use Twint. With this you - almost in real time - send money from one bank account to another. You only need the phone number of the other person or you can generate a QR-code that can be scanned by the other person. Twint ist also very common in stores where you can pay with the QR-code or via Bluetooth. In Sweden they use Swish instead which ist rather similar to Twint.
@@muiggmuigg yeah I'd say so. I just used it right now for an e-scooter or for a bike. And for PayPal you don't even need a phone number the email, nickname or qr-code us enough to send money to your friends.
As others already mentioned, Ebay Kleinanzeigen is more like the german Craigslist, where you can buy/sell stuff locally (shipping is of course possible as well, but local pickup is an option a lot of people also just use). Because a lot of people do not know the difference and are confused by the names, Ebay Kleinanzeigen will be renamed to just Kleinanzeigen in the near future.
Incidentally, mobile phone contracts in Germany and Europe are significantly cheaper than in the USA. In the U.S., it's not uncommon to pay $80 - $100 per month. Here in Germany, it's usually between 9 - 19 Euros. The services are also very similar, if not the same. I can't understand why it's so expensive in the U.S. either. There are enough companies competing with each other to lower prices in both the U.S. and Europe.
..and germany is one of the expensive countries in europe when it comes to mobile phone and internet data. just my example: my prepaid german sim costs 9,99 euro/month and has free calls, free sms and 16gb data. my prepaid italian sim costs 9,99 euro/month, free calls, free sms and 160 gb(!!!). 10 times more gb for the same price. in italy there is REAL competition,in germany internet is slow and expensive. unfortunately we are not good with digitalization and communications, compared to most other european countries. it would be really interesting to know why it costs soooo much in the US??
@@lilg2300 My uneducated guess as a german is, that it maybe has to do with costs due to population density. Europe is much more densly populated then the US so it's cheaper to cover everyone. Another factor is, that we like to buy our devices seperatetly, where in the US you have way more data plan and phone bundles. And as far as i know, there are no resellers like Drillisch, Aldi e.t.c. like we have here. So i think it's just a different business environment
From my understanding, the American market is a lot more focused on a handful of companies. I think there are like 5 big companies that control the vast majority of the US telecommunications market, which allows them to increase prices a lot. Here in Germany the market is a lot more competitive with all the different companies you can choose from
Lol, all my friends have google translater on their phone, it's just nice to have like ALWAYS the possibility to communicate with everyone without learning much more than englisch and german XD
DB Navigator is really cool. I know a lot of people (me included) are not fans of DB but the app itself is really useful. I take the train every day to university and it shows me all the different times trains leave and arrive. 10/10 would use again
The DB app for trains is for busses as well. You type in where you are and where you want to go and the app tells you the next available route and how many times you have to switch transport or how long you have to wait for the next. Also, you can see what train or bus goes on certain days or times. And my favourite: it shows you when a bus is late how long it is late!
If you want to look for public transport connection in Germany don't use the DB app. Use Öffi instead. Often imo it is even better then the local public transport services app. DB is mainly made for their trains. But Öffi shows you trains, busses, subways and so one. You can't buy tickets with it though. The "problem" is that we have a lot of local public transportation systems. DB app (and Google maps for example) and Öffi are using their APIs to collect and use their network informations to calculate its things but Öffi does by far the best job at that. Because unlike DB (or Google maps) has Öffi no other purpose than showing you public transport routes and connections.
@@FelanLP That is not true (anymore?) As an owner of a BahnCard 100, I use DB Navigator only to find connections and in the past three years I didn't run into any issues in any way anywhere in Germany. Maybe you could add some information where the DB Navigator does NOT work. 🙂 @Ryan In metropolitan areas you might even be in a situation not needing a personal car any more - very much depending on personal and regional circumstances. Using public transportation is more common in Germany compared to the US.
@@RustyITNerd I didn't say that DB Navigator doesn't work. And for country wide public transport this might be the best app too. I haven't tested Öffi for that yet. But local public transport is another story. Both Öffi and DB Navigator (and every other navigation app) are just using the API and network informations the local service provides. So both might show you the same information. But imo does Öffi simply have the more user-friendly interface and is therefor better to handle. (and Google maps just feels like "yeah, here are some public transport infos, I guess". In case some thinks about using that app for this purpose)
@@RustyITNerdThe big advantage of Ôffi is, that there are 3 Apps. In one of them You just put in the next Bus stop or railway Station and you get all transportation in the next time
At its core, "eBay Kleinanzeigen" is more of a quick way to sell from private to private without having to pay fees or wait for an auction. The final price can then be discussed with the interested party via chat, which often leads to meme-worthy conversations. In addition, it has become relatively important over the years when it comes to finding a new apartment or job offers.
The DB Navigator one is actually a bit difficult to explain. Deutsche Bahn (which literally means "German Railway"), the national train operator of Germany, is actually a "private" joint-stock company, however the only shareholder is the Federal Republic of Germany (the "Bundesrepublik Deutschland") The DB Navigator is the one universal app run by DB, that displays pretty much every form of public transport in the whole of germany. It will show you every bus route, every local or long-distance train, sometimes even ferry services and also every station, bus stop, metro station... It also has a handy feature that searches for the best connection between two stations/stops and lets you buy tickets for it directly in the app. It will show you delays pretty much in real time, so it's the perfect travel planner for public transport here in germany.
Additionaly: you can buy local tickets in most regions as well. In my case I don't use a local transportation app but just the db navigator. This depends on taste, the quality of the local app and how ofte one needs it.
eBay Kleinanzeigen (small ads) is the largest online classifieds portal in Germany. Following the sale of the eBay classifieds division with the local classifieds portals, it belongs to the Norwegian company Adevinta, in which eBay in turn holds 33 percent. Half of the portal's revenue comes from advertising, plus subscription fees from commercial sellers, paid options for greater reach from private users, and a small proportion from services such as escrow processing. Ebay, as in the USA, is of course also available in Germany. With fees. But the latter is used more for commercial goods or for higher-priced antiques.
Ebay Kleinanzeigen is convenient because it shows you things that are available in your area so you can pick them up personally ( like furniture and big items that are difficult to ship). You can choose the distance you want .
Of course I can only speak for myself, but I'd totally get rid of WhatsApp because I don't like the facebook/meta group.. But everyone around me has it so it's very difficult to get rid of 😅 DB Navigator can be useful if you're traveling a lot through Germany. Local transportation app can be useful as well if you're using the public transportation daily (in my case I can easily get everywhere by foot or bicycle). Google maps is pretty much preinstalled on every phone I know (not sure for apple tho) and the translator could also be accessed via chrome/google itself (preinstalled as well), so there wouldn't be a need to download these apps. For paypal I own an account but see no need (again speaking only for myself) to download the app to use it, like with the translator app. For the data cap it depends whether you're using prepaid or contract. I own an prepaid card and there is a limit to my data. But I can use mostly wifi at home and by friends/family so I don't need much data anyway. Lastly the ebay Kleinanzeige Most germans use it kind of lokal I think, a bit like your craigs list. Have a nice one and greetings from Germany 👋😊
Im using Threema with a group of my friends. It costs 2€ once and i can use it on every device ever since. Messages get fragmented at sending, then every Fragment takes another route and only get put together when they arrive . So your messages make no sense when they are on their way. Both parties need a key to unlock the messages, which they share and gets saved when they "befriend" each other in app.
Especially in bigger citys the local transportation apps are the way to go. Parking is just not as fun around the Fußgängerzone (streets with shops just for pedastrians) or pretty expensieve. So look around your neighboorhood for bus, train or subway stations, it might pay off ;) And the app in my area even shows you delays or any kind of problems, that you might face on your route (this function does not always work if there is an unforeseen event, but mostly it is really helpful).
Android Phones are way more popular around the world than Iphones. Apple likes to compare the iPhone to the Android Phone brands because that made them look to be the no.1 since the Android landscape is fractured into many manufacturers. But lately Samsung even surpassed Apple in this. Only in the US and a few other countries the Iphone is more popular than Android. For the rest of the world it's 80% towards Android. Because of this Android (and therefore Linux) has long surpassed iOS and Windows as the most used operating system on all digital devices.
Woe, you have never been on a Train??? America really is different. In germany, most people drive by train. especially inside bigger Cities, it often makes way more sense to go by train then to face the traffic and the endless search for parking. Hamburg for instance, where I live has a very well formed Transportation network called the HVV (Hamburger Verkehrs Verbund/Hamburg Transportation Orgnization) That handels most of the trains and Busses inside the City (There is one set of lines that still belongs to Deutsche Bahn instead of the HVV, but that's a complicated story... and you can still ride those trains inside of Hamburg with a HVV Ticket, so the avarage user doesn't even notice) But even when you go cross-country, many people take the train. Though by now, Traintickets are getting more and more expensive (Though with the Gasprices, maybe they soon will be less expensive then cars... urgh) But for instance may Husband drove twice year from Trier to Hamburg and back during his studies which is an 8 Hour Train ride, because most people in college don't own a Car in germany.
i think the most important reason for whatsapp being more popular in germany than using imessage is 2/3 of smartphones in germany are android. 1/3 are apple phones. i guess in the USA its maybe the other way around?!? and when whatsapp started, there were even less apple phones in use in germany. and to take away one of your fears: if you should visit germany and need any information (whether to change $ to €, nearest train station, etc.), most germans can at least speak enough english to be able to help. and if you happen to have just caught this one person who can't (or don't want to) speak english, then just ask the next one :) germans are always happy and surprised when foreign ppl speak german, or at least try it, but if not, most germans take it like an english training for free if you would approach them asking something in english.
The problem with SMS is that it's just that. A service for short messages. But short messages are to short for conversations. And that's why WhatsApp is so popular. Not only because of its features (long messages, voice mails, images AND videos, ...), because those are common, but also because seemingly everyone uses it. There are other apps like Signal and Threema but those aren't compatible with WhatsApp chats and therefor not as common.
SMS establishes a single connection to send a message. Each message costs €0.20 WhatsApp uses the data flat rate. This requires at least UMTS or 3G On Android, these are two different applications
For no. 6 I personaly would recomend the Klarna App in combination with the "Klarna Card". You can link your Klarna Account to your Bank Account and then you can pay with the Klarna Card in any currency. The total will be converted at the current international exchange rate at no additional cost.
Public transportation apps are a common thing in europe. There are lots in switzerland (where I live) And they are mostly Transnational. So I can buy a ticket for traveling cross borders to Germany or France with our national train app (SBB Mobile). I've seen such app-solutions in the Netherlands and UK as well.
With DB app you can buy tickets to nearly every city in Europe. I used it very often to visit friends or family. For public transportation in the city I always download the local transportation app. Mostly they are better than the DB app for these cases. I like that I don't have to look for timetables, plans and where to buy a ticket anymore.
@@hannahmuller6694 Ah! Initially the local apps were better here, but then they got bought up by SBB. What they bought was a service called EasyRide. You just Ckeck in at your Station and at your Destination you check out. It adds up every vehicle you used (Train, Bus, Ship) and charges your payment option without further interests. Very convenient!
Very true about public transportation apps being common in Europe. Here in Norway, I use the train company Vy and their app for ordering train tickets and in my city Bergen on the west coast, the transportation company Skyss has their own apps for their light rails, busses and ferries that I use frequently in the same way as well. Very convenient. Skyss is actually in the process of going fully digital with their ticket sales, the physical machines now have signs on them encouraging customers to use the app to purchase tickets instead.
Having a translator app comes in handy pretty often. When looking for an app that does a pretty good job at translating more than a single sentence I highly recommend "DeepL". It kinda understands context and translates pretty accurate compared to google translator.
of course a lot of people want to have unlimited data on their phones! The thing is, that shit is expensive af! 😅 I think with my provider I'd pay ~30€ for unlimited, but only 7€ for 3GB high speed and unlimited low speed internet. Since I've got wifi at home, that's totally enough.
Internet (mobile plans/DSL) is quite expensive in Germany, and a proper unlimited mobile data plan will set you back some 60-100 Euro. Der DB (German train company) used to be owned directly by the federal government until the 90s but is now privatised with the federal government owning 100% of shares, which has been bad for both pricing and punctuality, though generally, it is still very popular and usefull. There is actually an article in the German constitution that mandates the federal government has to take care of the train network, for the good of the general public.
Kind of hilarious to watch as a German and you use exactly... zero of these apps. I mean, I do use paypal, I guess... but not on my phone. That being said, WhatsApp is kind of an annoyance - I don't want to ever use it because of the other stuff that's connected to it (Facebook etc), but it's so widespread that this makes things rather inconvenient. Especially notable whenever some sort of group work at school or university comes up, because chances are all the planning will happen on WhatsApp and you need to have a way to stay in the loop.
I think "lieferando", "paybyphone" and "post & DHL" are also useful. The app "jodel" is popular among universitie/college students or for people age 18-30.
Hi there! I would also suggest DB-Navigator when using public transportation in Germany. Not only does it support the long distance travels with updated regarding delays etc. you can also book your seat reservations with it and even check in, once you are aboard your train. A specific advantage of the app imho is how it supports the local transportation networks: not only can you get tickets for your local networks (Rheinbahn was mentioned in the Video, being part of the VRR - travelnetwork Rhein-Ruhr) but it also calculates savings for your tickets. Example: if you get a single ticket for you local transportation it might cost you 2€. But you can buy a 4-Trip ticket, that costs only 6,50€ (all prices are just examples!), so now you can use this ticket for 4 independent trips of the same kind (length/range)... but maybe you do not know, if you will be needing all 4 trips, maybe you only need 2, or 3... becauste that one time a friend picked you up, that other trip you wanted to do got cancelled... and this is where the DB-Navigator shines: If you purchase a single ticket with it for your local transportation, it costs u 2€. The second ticket again: 2€ and the third? Guess what: 2€... but the FOURTH ticket will be 0,50€! Because that would be the overall cost of a 4-Trip Ticket, if you would have bought it in advance. This is a really smart way of making sure, you do not loose out on the bargain of the 4-Trip Ticket, and you are still flexible if you never get to this fourth trip. Have a great day, everyone! Love & Peace Shen
Regarding ebay-Kleinanzeigen: Imagine you're in Germany and in need of a bike. You don't have money for a new one, but you need it. That's the moment when you take a search on Kleinanzeigen. You can sort the search results by distance from where you are at the moment. If you've found a bike, you're able to afford, you can text the person who sells it, and maybe fetch it up on the same day. Just an example of a use case. It's like selling used stuff on the local news paper but in a modern kind of way.
What I really love about Germany is the wide local and far distance travel system. It works so well if nothing goes outside of plans. Sadly, the Deutsche Bahn is often left out of the equation, and the company is known for delayed and cancelled trains. The DB App often will warn the user if their train might be delayed. The best reason I ever read for a delayed train was "Stranger people on the tracks". Apperantly they tried to take selfies with by-driving trains. When the trains stopped because of the danger, the heavily drunk people damaged a piece of rail. And were promptly arrested.
That's a pretty normal Reason. I've Had that dozens of Times. My craziest experiences include 4-5 Fires, two of which in one Week and on the exact same Line (Hamburg-Flensburg), Trains being limited to 30 km/h because of defective Brakes, and a Train without a single functioning Door, meaning to say the Conductor had to manually open a Door, but only one Door instead of eight made Passengers disembarking and boarding the Train take much longer than usual.
The différence between Ebay and Ebay Kleinanzeige is that on ebay you bid on Things while Kleinanzeigen is like àn online fleemarket where people sell or often also give away stuff for free.
I'm french, living in France. I use WhatsApp a lot, I'm part of different family groups. It's more easy to send photos or even text when the area connection is poor. I rarely use now SMS or messenger. I have the french railways App too, can purchase train ticket directly from it, the train ticket will be in my App with my train card (weekend, senior...) I only need to show the QR code as ticket. And you have informations on your travel send. I too have Google Map, very useful, local transport App, PayPal, my Internet-phone-tv App.
The Deutsche Bahn (DB) is not really state owned although a growing number of people would like to deprivatize this essential public service. It kinda is closely tied to the government since it fulfills the transportation needs (public/private/business) between cities. It kinda has a hard to explain status between being a public service and a private company.
SimpleGerman is a very good channel to learn more about normal German life! The transportation Apps are not only to buy tickets. You write where you check in and out and the App show you the transportationvehicles you need and where. Alsoknow you when you arrive at the point where you go to.
as a german student, i only use whatsapp, paypal and ebay.. not even heard from few of those others.. when studying in germany you can just take trains n busses for free
@@Al69BfR yea thats right, but for me personally (living and studying in the same german state), there is no need to use the speed trains. but yea your right 👍
You don't really need the local transit apps, since the DB Navigator also has info on buses, metros, trams etc. and in most places also lets you buy tickets for them. Also DB Navigator has up-to-date info on delays, alternatives etc. This app was actually the reason to get my first smartphone back then. Since usually once a train has a certain delay, you won't spot any personnel on the train capable of helping you out, the app gives you the independence you need to still be able to figure out what to do. Definitely absolutely essential if you use public transport. --- About ebay Kleinanzeigen: You cannot compare it to ebay because it's not like ebay, duh! I suppose you can rather compare it to a polished craigslist.
I find it weird that she mentions PayPal... I live in Germany and we all just do direct bank transfers, since it's totally free and instant. PayPal is rather something that I had to use a lot in the US since you couldn't easily transfer money from one bank account to another, however in Germany it doesn't matter which bank you or your friends are using, you can just enter their account number and transfer money instantly.
I ride a train 5 days a week. I do have a subscription but the DB app is still good to check times and platform numbers. It also shows information for U-Bahn, S-Bahn, Bus, Tram, etc.. Honestly, public transportation is not always great as it comes early/late, doesn‘t come at all but I can‘t imagine my life without it. For me personally, it‘s so much better than driving. And bicycle ticket is literally a ticket for a bicycle so you can bring it with you on trains.
Just for some perspective: You said you have never been on a train before, period. So I live in Switzerland (just south of Germany) and for us trains (and trams and buses) are vital. We don't even own a car. My Dad never learnt to drive a car and I cant either. It just isn't necessary. Public Transport does it all. We use trains etc. for everyday life, getting to and from work/school etc. Almost every single Municipality has some form of public transport. So you saying that you have never been on a train before is quite a shock to me. In comparison I have not sat in a Car for more than a year.
Uber is banned in Germany since it won't allow unregulated transportion with no control of how many years someone gathered experience, having the needed insurances in case of an accident, etc You actually need an official license to transport people
Germany is a bit late on the unlimited high speed data phone contracts sadly. Currently they are so expensive that no one buys them unless from some business phones or if really needed. Other European countries already have unlimited contracts for cheap. However most phones have a build in counter anyways so these apps are not very important.
"Kleinanzeigen" are just like the small ads you'd find in a newspaper, where people would sell old stuff they no longer need. The difference is that you can't auction your stuff off, you just offer those items for a certain price and wait for people to contact you. I can't say for sure why they didn't integrate that into default Ebay, but if if a company like them does something one way instead of another, it's usually a safe bet to say it's for tax reasons.
eBay Kleinanzeigen (small advertisements) works almost like craigslist. It's designed to find things in close proximity or you have to arrange the shipping and payment yourself. And I think Uber is still banned because you need a licence to transport people, but you can get taxis through the app.
Hello Ryan, in Switzerland it's only one application for all public transportation, in all citys, all bus, trams, trains, suburb-trains etc.... And you go in train, do you push the application button on gree et wehn you're at distination, the button on the red and the application tack automaticly the charge on you credit card.
Yeah. "Like for the bus and stuff". The local transportation app has all the stops and the prices and can sell you a digital ticket for your phone so that you can just jump on the next bus, show it, if the driver wants to see and scan it, and go ... wherever. The public transportation apps have reached a high level of usefulness and reliability.
sending sms sounds so 2000s to me. maybe because germany/france was where it got invented is why we are long past that. ps.: ebay und ebay kleinanzeigen are different things. kleinazeigen means something around the idea of "a non regular seller who is a private person offering something he wants to get rid of". kleinanzeigen may sound long but even using an entire english sentence i struggle to concisely pin down the meaning
you pay the dollars to the US transferWise account and the company pay your bill from a EU account . so the money never leaves the country, so they got no transfer costs . you pay them for this service.they not really converting the money, that's how it works.
I belive that every german has a translating app on there phone. And most use it very often. I use it when i cant find the right english word or even when i forget the german word and can only think of the english one (latter one happens almost as often as the first one) and also when im pretty sure ive got the right word but dont want to embarrass myself Other use it for the many words that are eingedeutscht (english words that are used in the german language) which is getting more and more. So yeah... even as a german in germany a translator app is pretty common
Woow it's so strange to me that someone has never been on a train... I go to university by train every morning, takes about an hour and on the weekends I usually ride 4 hours home. Couldn't imagine life without them lol
btw ryan just a fun fact we now have even an "deutschland ticket" so you can travel the whole country on local trains, bus, tram and so on for only 49€ per month
I don't think I have ever heard anyone in germany use Venmo. I hear it in amrican TV all the time and I have no idea what it is. we use PayPal directly.
3:40 Almost every small village in Central Europe can be reached by train. Next to the car, and bus, the train is the most important means of passenger transport and the most important provider of local public transport. Unlike in the USA, the railway primarily connects communities with one another in addition to the major cities.
Ebay Kleinanzeigen is a digital version of a classified ad in old fashioned newspapers: Whatever you want to sell or are looking for, put it in there. And you can search by distance, cause a lot of people will not send their stuff (especially furniture) but expect you to come to their home and get it yourself. So it mainly is to organise the local second hand market, but nationwide (if that makes sense)
If you call someon throught whatsapp no mater how long you stay on the call its free you can stay for 3 days if your battery allows it and it will be free.
-Uber doesn't seem to have found a foothold in germany-, well what do you know,I was wrong. i haven't seen them in hamburg though but Also People usually don't use Taxis. i think in my 30 Years of life I have used a Taxi like 3 times. It always feels way to expensive whan i can also get around by Bus or Train (going back to the way Big german Cities are well connected) but it is possible that people use Taxis way more in rural areas where busses don't drive very frequently and I have know older People to use Taxis quite often, as they sometimes have trouble walking to a trainstation etc.
Most ppl I know who go to wok/school by public transportation have a ticket where they can drive a whole month with every public transportation in their region so they use these transportation apps not to buy tickets but to see when, what bus/train drives
In Germany there have been no “unlimited” per se data plans, that is where you have high speed data for the whole month. until a couple years ago, where they cost hundreds of € so I don’t think many had those. Nowadays Vodafone and Telekom offer quite cheap unlimited plans. Otherwise it’s exactly like you described that after your 5 or 10 gb plan you TECHNICALLY have unlimited data but it’s really slow and almost unusable in most coicumstances
Especially unusable due to the fact that nowadays most websites are designed in a way that assumes the user has a fast connection, for it to even fully load and work properly. This is not just technical necessity but developers being lazy. And ad companies messing it up even more because they want to do their thing on the side.
The Uber service you know isn't legal in Germany. We have very strict regulations when it comes to driving services. Operating a Taxi comes with big costs and licensing fees. Drivers also need to pass certain psychological tests etc... . In short, privately offering a driving service is illegal and that is the core of the Uber platform. In some towns Uber has a cooperation with local Taxi companys. And lately Uber Eats tries to set good here. But mostly Uber is dead in Germany atm.
The collection is really good for a tourist. As citizens i use mainly only whatsapp, Google maps, PayPal, eBay kleinanzeigen. Everything else is for me not needed because I use my car - no train,taxi,etc. Whatsapp is needed because we have different mobile contracts. In germany you pay for data and call minutes (units). Sms are rated as units and they cost extra,also they are limited to 250 characters each sms. Whatsapp chats are data so they charged in the data volume you have in your contract. (Yes most of our contracts have limit data volume, contracts with free volume are very expensive) Ebay kleinanzeigen is a second app from eBay. It's a platform for local and easy use. No fees, no costs, 100% of the money is yours. That's why it's so popular here (Kleinanzeigen means Classifieds, that's why the name is so long) By the way, you talked about a app as alternative to PayPal- we don't know that here. What is that, can you write down?
I‘m really wondering you guys don’t use a messenger 😂 could you send sms for free the whole time? I think using sms got unpopular in Germany because it was very experience back in the days and you could communicate via messenger for free if you had internet 🤷♂️
regarding your question about WhatsApp and video calls: I don't think it has anything to do with what phone people use (even here about 30% of phone users have an iPhone; in the U.S. it's about 50% btw), but rather that video calls in general are not really popular here. we use things like zoom (or back then skype) for video meetings, but I feel like there is not a big group of people who use video calls casually on mobile.
Apple has a 33% market share with its iPhone compared to 67% who use Android phones. To send platform-free short messages, other messenger apps are quite useful.
The thing with Whatsapp is, it was one of the first to arrive, with support for all platforms that were available. That was before facebook bought them. And yes, android has like 75-80% market share.
DB Navigator also contain nearly all local public transport in Germany and it is possible to also buy local public transport tickets within the app with your one and single account. This applies at least to all metropolitan regions in Germany.
3:31 I live in Austria and I take multiple trains a week, coming to about 8 hours of travel time total. Trust me - with European public transport, you NEED the apps.
Ryan, the transportation apps are both from private companies and municipality-owned companies customer interfaces where tickets are purchased but you also find travel info (which train/buss, station/busstop, time, often real-time info about delays and cancellations). Often rather useful when visiting unfamiliar places even if Trafic info exists 🇸🇪
