American reacts to 10 apps you NEED in GERMANY
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
- Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to top 10 apps to have while in Germany.
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It's so crazy to me that people never used a train in their life. I am German and I drive to work by train every day. So that app is very helpful
Same here! The DB App is one of my most frequently used Apps
I live in germany too, but I live in a little city so I don’t go by train
I cant afford to be late, so train is no option to me. Plus I am not livin in a huge city. :) Maybe just look over your tellerrand. :)
Same ;)
Helpful in a way. We always know the amount of delay 😈
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.
The last time I took a taxi it was 16 euros for 6,7 Kilometers. And that was in 2021.
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.
@@JeanMarvin2000 The last time I took a taxi it was about 40 euros for like 3 kilometers. So the taxi prices definitly increased within a year
Can you please explain how ride sharing in Germany is legal? (Mitfahrgelegenheit) How is it legally different from Uber?
@@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.
@@Keelyn1984 well and in Asian coutries they use Line but otherwise yeah^^
@@Keelyn1984 how do iphone users chat with android users in the us tho?
@@jacksons8446 If they know their number of thier friend (or whatever) they are albe to chat with each other.
@@jacksons8446 I assume sms?
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.
Don't fear coming to germany, just go for it. You will love it here. And most germans can speak english :) at least for basic conversations :)
Conversation*
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. 🤣
@@Pidalin i am from Austria myself, and i would say most of us speak English quite good :)
@@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)
And its also just about the worst one in europe
@@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'
@@olgahein4384 and also the state is legally required to replace broken railway tracks so the DB doesnt maintain them because its cheaper
@@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.
@@fgregerfeaxcwfeffece spain is worde than france. Fuck renfe. Seriously but yes the french are on strike a lot:
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.
But I think the most important reason is Cross-Platform messaging.
@@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.
@@muiggmuigg PayPal is definitely the most popular payment service in Germany, I can't think of anything else that's even remotely as popular.
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.
most of them have been discontinued
@@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 RUclips.
Yes, at least in Germany. But some other European train companies still have them.
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??
Maybe a cartel.
@@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
"There are enough companies competing with each other " And thats where you are wrong. There is almost no competition, it's a fucking oligopol.
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 🙂
Wait what the hell?! You've never been on a train?! 😅🤯😅
You can get like everywhere with train/tram and bus over here :)
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.
Regarding the last paragraph: Confusion is not the reason but the fact that it does not belong to eBay anymore as they sold it.
"Kleinanzeigen" means classified adds (if Google translate is correct - yes average Germans have this app on their phone)
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
Same here.
Same
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 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!
and it knows basically ALL public transport in Europe :D
I used it to find busses in Spain and France, and it was pretty good.
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
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.
There is also an option, to get special offers, so you could take a less crowded train and maybe pay 20 or 30 EUR for about 300 km
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
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 .
Really interesting to watch your videos as a german. You celebrate stuff who are totally normal for us 😅
Keep it up with your videos.
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.
ebay Kleinanzeigen is completely free but you have no insurance or anything else when you buy or sell stuff.
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).
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.
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.
ebay-kleinanzeigen ist like Craigslist. it is not the "normal" ebay
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
My German mobile plans include an SMS flatrate for at least 15 years.
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.
60-100 euro per what?
@@herrbonk3635 month
Not anymore. You can get Unlimited data for 30 Euro and if you use your phone as a hot spot at home, you won't even need DSL anymore
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.
can only recommend using multiple platforms and cross comparing the results just to be sure you don't end up with something bad by accident.
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.
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
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.
BTW I switched from WhatsApp to signal (because of Facebook) and took my friends and family with me.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 👋😊
What other messaging app do you use?
@@ThePixel1983 Besides the good old sms I'm using "Signal".
Same here...my only reconsilation is that it is mostly used to clear up meetings.
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.
@@kreativuntermdach7351 I got Threema as well, but hardly anyone around me uses it.
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)
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.
Does the new SNCF app finally work? 😂🙈
@@ThePixel1983 it was working the last time I tried but I will need time to adjust to this new app !
"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.
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.
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.
Yes, you can use whatsapp on all Platforms. Im not sure, but i think Android Phones are much more Popular over here, theyre just cheaper.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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 🇸🇪
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.
Also, in addition to unis, WA has a good speed for transferring large files, matters when putting data together.
I use public transport regularly and DB Navigator is just really practical. For my hour-long train ride to vocational school twice a week, it helps me bookmark the trains I want to take in advance so I can quickly see by how much they're late (pure punctuality is rare) and if the train is driving at all. For longer train journeys, it's not only useful for that but also for booking a ticket and having it available digitally (I have a subscription ticket for the shorter journeys). The way DB supplies information to passengers also leaves a lot to be desired because of how frequent delays and other problems are and the DB Navigator is where you get the best access to information as it helps you see what is happening to the other trains that are affecting your train. In my case, the local transportation app is not so good and DB Navigator is helpful for that too. It has the information from the bus company on whether the bus is late or not and you can also plan out bus routes where it takes into account the physical distance between stations, so if the bus at your stop leaves in 30 mins but there's one leaving at a stop 100 m away in 5 mins, it tells you that even though you were only looking for connections from your stop. This is also helpful for transfers with significant walking distance.
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
But iirc not all trains. Just those within your „Verkehrsverbund“ you paid for with your „Semesterticket“
Why do you need an "app" for a website like ebay? (I never use any "apps", because I have no mobile.)
@@herrbonk3635 you don't "need" it but its convenient. It's just another opportunity to use ebay Kleinanzeigen. Thats it.
@@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 👍
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
DB Navigator is lit. Used it just once for buying a ticket, but is has literally EVERY public transportation timetable, local or national, and it gives you always the best connection where ever you want to go, be it two blocks away or the other end of Germany.
In Germany there is Uber. I worked for Uber as a driver, we do not use our own vehicles but company vehicles directly from Uber. The vehicle is wrapped with an Uber lettering outside.
The local transport app I used whilst living in München covered the subway (U-bahn), trams, buses, regional railways, and the rapid transit (S-bahn) all at once. Not only could I buy tickets, renew season tickets, etc, but it carried constantly updated info on when I could get the next train/bus to wherever I wanted to go, delays, engineering work, special info about overcrowding because of a sports events, and even weather which might cause delays on a return journey.
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?
He meant venmo
@@johannaottl7029 Hey Johanna, thanks for your fast response. I don't know that here in germany before 😀
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.
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
It‘s funny because I travelled from coast to coast in the US just via trains and busses and the apps (Amtrak, Greyhound, Flixbus) worked perfektly. Also I always downloaded the local public transport apps in bigger cities like New Orleans, Denver etc and was suprised how well they worked^^
On Kleinanzeigen, the normal user does not pay fees. They get their money from the sellers who want to advertise their stuff and pay for highlighting, or pushing of their listings. Also very useful if the stuff you try to sell is of considerable value. Just so that it stays on top. Also, every now and then youll see stuff from ebay, that fits your search. So Kleinanzeigen is like a billboard for eBay auctions and you paying eBay might give you a listing on Kleinanzeigen "for free".
The value of Kleinanzeigen for me comes from the fact that you can search locally for furniture (and everything else) which is very useful because you dont want to Lob that stuff around for hours. I mostly search in a 20km radius, so i dont have to drive too far.
One of the biggest advantages of the DB Navigator is that you can actually type in every route you have to travel and it will show not only show you the trains, but bus, trams and walking time too. Very practical
Ebay Kleinanzeigen is by marktplaats, it's a virtual black bord for announcements. The initial use was local selling and buying, in 2020 they optimized the service to selling by shipping.
It's free to sell and buy, the only fees are for the safe payment.
I remember, when it was Kijiji.
Ebay Kleinanzeigen is mostly all cash transfer. Also most ebay Kleinanzeigen sales are done in person.
It differs alot from normal Ebay.
Ebay kleinanzeigen is totally free and you keep all the money. It really is only used for byers and sellers to find each other. No money is routed through the website. You do not bid on products, you haggle. Usually you would sort by your region / city to only be shown stuff you personally go pick up. Once you agree on a price you would just drive or ride the bus to the seller, pay in cash (or sometimes haggle some more once you have held the product) and return home with what you bought. Absolutely no fees and no taxes paid. When you shop for things that are sent by mail you usually pay via paypal and then the seller just sends it.
9:30 You're right....never heared about this app here in germany and I never missed it.
The difference between Ebay and Ebay Kleinanzeigen is, that Kleinanzeigen is also local. You can pick stuff up instead of it getting shipped AND you can also look for help there (e.g. if you are moving or looking for a piano teacher) .You can define the search area where you want to see the results.
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.
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.
Yes, there are apps for public transportation and while the German rail system is officially a stock corporation, the state owns 100% of the shares. What she says about the two apps really makes sense since the local one knows all the bus stations as well and you can navigate from your home to wherever you want to go and it tells you e.g. "500 feet to this bus station, then take bus 401 to that station, then the train from there to that station, then it's 700 feet to your destination".
The cool thing about this whole transportation system is that they will introduce a ticket for 49 EUR (roughly 49 $) per month that allows you to use any local train, tram or bus all over Germany during the entire month. Local train meaning trains that may well go 200 miles but they stop frequently unlike the high speed trains. If you want to ride on the high speed trains, you need to pay separately for those.
In Germany the market share of IPhones is much smaller and WhatsApp is available on all platforms.
I love his reaction. like his horizon has drasticly expanded
Deutsche Bahn (DB) was once owned by the German state. But has been privatized over the years. However, the state still owns shares and compensates for the company's huge losses for years.
To call a cab is pretty difficult. Possibly you wait 20 minutes, you call again, they try again.
If you have a driver license, you can rent a car, that is parking on the streets and also left alone for the next customer.
In Austria I primarily know of the ÖBB which operates from anwhere to elsewhere, whether it be from Vienna to the airport or to Venice, they have pretty much everything. Then specifically there are the Wiener Linien which operate within Vienna. Then there are all types of different tickets, for just one ride, for the day, the month, the year, cheaper ones for students and apprentices, I'm also pretty sure there are cheaper ones for seniors.
Overall it's pretty well organized. Also it's said that the Deutsche Bahn tends to be late, the ÖBB is quite punctual, with some exceptions.
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
She forgot to mention the main difference between the two ebay apps. The "Kleinanzeigen" app is not an auction house it is a marketplace for used stuff. You don't have to bid. The DB "Deutsche Bahn" was previously government owned. It got privatized but the government is the majority share holder. With the high speed trains in Europe you can ride from Cologne to Paris in three and a half hour for 60 €. As European citizen you only need your national ID for travelling.
The DB App isn't just for trains, a few years ago they started integrating all of public transport, even when it's not a part of DB, such as metros, trams, busses and other train operators. It's called "Navigator" for a reason, you can use it to see where you want to go and at what times. A lot of people use it for navigation purposes only, not buying tickets.
Also DB is a state-owned company and the ministry of transportation has a seat in the board but usually they don't have as much (positive) influence on the company as we'd like
Most data plans are capped. So, when you get a 30 GB plan for example, about 5GB are full speed and the rest is capped to 1 MBit/s.
Deutsche Bahn used to be owned by the governement. Since 1994, it's a company. They own the major part of the rail network in Germany. And it is the largest rail network in Europe.
There used to be a really nice local transportation app that unfortunately has been discontinued. It had a really nifty feature: You could just buy single rides, and at the end of the day it would detect whether a day pass would have been cheaper, and then automatically changed all your rides to a day pass and only charge you for that.
And at the end of the month it'd even check if you'd have been better off with a month pass and do the same...
aka the capping system that's in place throughout most UK places (most people would know if from London) and that I dearly miss here in Germany :/
Regarding taxis in germany: We've got 2 kinds. Taxi and Minicar. The cars look pretty same but you can distinguish between those 2 with the company name like "Taxi Müller" or "Minicar Müller". Taxis are usually more expensive because the charge with time and kilometer they're driving and Minicars have a fixed fee towards different destinations. So look for a Minicar in germany. 👍
You got that right with WhatsApp, iPhone market share used to be a lot lower when it got popular, also it was about 2 years before iMessage became available, in a time where an SMS cost 10-20 cents depending on your cell provider. When iMessage became commonplace a lot of people were already using WhatsApp.
Regarding the Bahn App and public transport, it depends on where you live. For me driving + parking with a car to city center is cheaper and faster than local public transport with a bus that departs every hour on that route. For long distance it's quite often cheaper to go by car if you have at least another passenger, though one of you obviously needs to drive. Times are about the same, depending on traffic (for both transport variants).
For Ebay Kleinanzeigen. Since I work for that company I can tell you the difference.
Ebay is an international website where auctions are the main function.
Ebay Kleinanzeigen was born from the same company, but has become a thing of its own and is only used in germany.
Ebay Kleinanzeigen focuses on giving a marketplace for people to buy and sell their things in private. Auctions are not done its simple bargaining or fixed prices.
So it is similar but somewhat different and its two different companies. Also there is no fee to Ebay Kleinanzeigen, but you can buy ads.
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.
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
eBay Kleinanzeigen is a pool full of comedy potential. The conversations I've seen on there hilarious.
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
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.
We have regular ebay in Germany AND ebay Kleinanzeigen. Regular ebay is like you might know to sell and buy new or used stuff via the platform itself with all the protection mechanisms behind it. So you pay your fee as a seller to ebay as usual. ebay kleinanzeigen is more like a virtual garage sale person to person directly without anyone in between. So you negotiate all conditions to each other individually and do not pay some fee for the platform itself, but you take all the risks as well.
In DB Navigator you also get live updates during travel about delays, so you don't need to listen to the crappy loudspeaker announcements. Life saving if you don't understand what they say on loudspeaker.
Aaand you can check in when you are seated such that you don't need to show the ticket to the ticket inspector.
About the mobile data ... it's pretty much how you described it. You have a certain amount of GB per month (depending on what's in your contract) you can use with "high speed". If it's used up for the month you still have mobile data for the rest of the month, but so slow every snail would be faster.
"Kleinanzeige" means "classified ad" or "small ad". So "ebay Kleinanzeigen" is a spin off of regular ebay that is more like Craigslist. People can put up their small ad, either want or sell, and there is no bidding. You can contact the seller through the app and get or sell ur stuff. Anything from housing to second hand clothing or furniture.
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.
Kleinanzeige usually refers to the (kinda old fashioned) service of print newspapers to buy a lines of ad space to state what you are buying or selling. EBay Kleinanzeigen is basically the more modern Web version of this, somewhat comparable to Craigslist
obviously we have an app for trains, for the simple fact that we have trains.
They used to be state owned, but got privatized in the 90s and are still the biggest by far. They still own the vast majority of the rails, but are mandated to allow other companies to use the network to avoid a monopoly. Same as with telephone actually.
and in many regions the different public transport companies work together in a local network. and those networks often have their own apps as well.
Personally I prefer taxi over a friend picking me up and uber, it just feels more luxurious, it is one step below a limo for me. At least here in Czechia, the taxis are so good, the driver is fine with chatting, especially the night rides... The driver expects we are drunk a bit, so he gets our cheerful demeanor and is amused, not annoyed at all. It just feels nicer. And the cars, leather everywhere, great maintenance so it rides smoothly, smells nice, the AC works great, it is just luxury for decent price.
I think the big difference between "ebay" and "ebay Kleinanzeigen" is while ebay is more for auctions and regular marketplace, ebay Kleinanzeigen is more like a flea market and they charge only heavy users (more than 50 ads within 30 days) or for cars and real estate a fee and it is more for a local area usage