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READER INSIGHTS

The essential smartphone apps you need for living in France

These days there are apps for everything from transport to finding the best places to eat out. And there are some that are designed specifically for life in France. Here are 12 of the best.

Published: 14 March 2019 12:33 CET
Updated: 20 October 2022 17:32 CEST
The essential smartphone apps you need for living in France
This illustration photograph taken in Paris on July 13, 2021, shows the 'Doctolib' application button on the screen of a smartphone. (Photo by Olivier MORIN / AFP)

Apps are designed to make life easier, and for those living in a foreign country anything that can help you run things more smoothly is worth its weight in gold. 

That’s why we asked our readers to tell us what their essential apps for life in France were, and many of the same ones kept cropping up.

These covered a variety of subjects from transport and weather, to jobs, food, and entertainment. 

Many of you suggested language learning apps and we’d like to point you to an article dedicated to that subject here. 

Here’s our list of twelve of the best apps.

Meteo France

If you’re someone who likes to keep an eye on the weather around France, the Meteo France app could prove essential for your life here, according to our readers. The app provides a ten-day forecast for France and around the world so you can follow the weather in your home country too. 

It’s also handy for finding out when there are weather warnings in place in your area. 

READ ALSO: The best smartphone apps for learning French

We’d also like to give an honorable mention to the Meteo Consult Marine app, recommended by readers who live in coastal areas of France.

“It gives tide times, wind speeds and direction, sea state etc for any coastal location in France, essential for sailing,” said Chris Burdess.

And finally is you want to follow the French government guidelines and keep your heating below 19C this winter, but your boiler doesn’t have a thermostat, the app Room Temperature tells you how warm your room is right now.

SNCF Connect

Want to take a train in France? This is the app to use. You’ll be able to get up to date information, including traffic alerts, for your journey. You can also book tickets on the app.

Other recommended transport apps included the French capital’s transport operator RATP’s app – Bonjour RATP – is handy for finding out how to get around Paris and the greater Paris region of Ile-de-France. 

You can also use it to find out the time of the next RER, Metro, bus and night buses, trams and airport lines.

Another option for those in the Paris region is the “Ile de France mobilites” app. It functions similarly to Bonjour RATP, and you can even buy tickets on the app.

Doctolib

If you’re looking for a GP or any other kind of doctor or hospital near you and want to make an appointment, this is a great place to go. It’s free and very easy to use: you just type in what you’re looking for and where you live, and it comes up with choice of doctors closest to you. You’ll receive appointment reminders by text and maps of how to get there.

The app will also allow you to hold onto forms, such as prescriptions.

Ameli

Ameli is the website of the CPAM (Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie) which is the organization dealing with state covered healthcare in France. Many readers listed this app, where you can find anything relating to your French healthcare admin. Ameli keeps track of all your personal health information, including your refunds and is a handy app to have at hand.

Yoojo 

Finding someone to do odd jobs can be tricky, especially if you’re new to an area and struggle with the language. Help is at hand with Yoojo (formerly called Youpijobs) where you’ll be able to find a person to do a whole range of jobs from gardening to cleaning to looking after your dog.

“All the work is guaranteed, I can use the app to help translate and message my workers, I can use their review system to make sure I hire great people, and they don’t get paid until after the work is completed,” one enthusiastic reader explained. “I have been using it for a year, and it has been a lifeline to get things done here in France, especially for an Expat”.  

CAF

The CAF is the organization that deals with family state benefits and the app proves useful for families as it gathers all the admin relating to family benefits, but also housing benefits and some social benefits, and also features all the latest updates and information.

Another app recommended by several readers which comes in handy for personal admin is the government-run Impots.gouv app which allows you to access your personal tax information quickly and easily. You can also use it for paying your taxes when the time comes. 

La Fourchette

If you want to eat out where other French people do, La Fourchette (or The Fork) lists a huge selection of restaurants (around 40,000) in all of France’s main cities, with ratings, comments, photos and lots of special offers.

The app is easy to use, and, as one reader pointed out, if you’re not confident about booking a table over the phone, you can do it here without having to speak a word of French.

Deliveroo

If you want an alternative to Uber Eats, you might consider using Deliveroo in France. 

It functions in the same way – you can order your food on the app, either to pick up or to have it delivered. Sometimes the prices are even more affordable than Uber Eats. Also, if you cannot find the restaurant you are looking for on Uber Eats, it might be on Deliveroo instead.

MisterGoodBeer

This app will help you find the cheapest pints near you, and definitely comes in handy if you find yourself wanting to grab a drink in an expensive part of a French city. On the map, you can set your maximum price, and it will help you find the bars nearby that are in your price range.

You can also set the location to specific cities in France. 

Marmiton

You’ll need to understand French to use this cooking app, but if you do, you’ll find thousands of recipe ideas here which you search by typing in ingredients, types of dishes and there are a host of videos to help you cook. It’s a favourite with French people. 

Allocine

Another reader favourite. If you like going to cinema, this is the app to use. Allocine features the film listings and times of all the cinemas in France and a range of other useful information about anything related to films.

The Local 

And of course – if you have not already downloaded The Local’s app, now is the time to do so. You can stay up to date on all of The Local’s stories and content, all in the palm of your hand.

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READER INSIGHTS

‘We moved here for the healthcare’: How foreigners view France’s social model

As France mulls cuts to some services to reduce the country’s deficit, readers reveal their experiences of health and social care here.

Published: 10 April 2024 15:37 CEST
'We moved here for the healthcare': How foreigners view France's social model

From free taxi rides for patients to state grants for holidays and concert tickets, via a robust system of benefits and healthcare, the French social model – funded by taxes – has long been renowned as a generous one.

But finance minister Bruno Le Maire has indicated that some services will need to be cut as the French deficit is high and steadily rising.

So we asked our readers – is France’s social model really too generous? Or does it serve the people who live here well, in exchange for their hefty tax contributions?

Healthcare

We started off by asking people about their experiences of French healthcare, and whether they believe any changes should be made.

Overall, people were very positive about the French health system with most saying they had had good experiences and several people expressing gratitude for French medics who had saved their lives.

Pamela, from Bayeux, wrote that French benefits and healthcare services are, “Excellent”. “I pay a lot of tax and cotistations,” she wrote, “I feel like I get a fair return on this.”

Liz Barclay, who lives in Aveyron, wrote that an American friend’s six-day hospital stay and surgery following a heart attack cost around €11,000 in France compared to around $250,000 in USA. The care the friend received was ‘highly praised’ by an American cardiologist, she wrote.

She added that, “Regular doctor visits at €25 or even €30 seem very cheap.”

In fact, the general consensus among the responses is that care and services are mostly excellent – Alphonse Thompson went so far as to say it was: “Excellent, humane and a model for the Anglophone world”.

And Eric Stillwell, from Lot, said: “We moved here for the healthcare and believe it should be the model for more countries.”

D Packman, in Paris, wrote about the “Quality services, reasonable costs” of social and healthcare services in France.

READ ALSO How to get a carte vitale in France and why you need one

American Amy Freeman said: “I have used the system three or four times. I love the ease of making appointments and the bills were very low. I have never abused the system or asked for more than I needed. Probably because I am American and am terrified of getting a massive bill. I can’t seem to shake that mentality no matter where I live.”

Social benefits

France’s social benefits are also potentially in line for cuts, especially unemployment benefits, so we asked our readers who had used those services what they thought.

A Var reader pointed out: “[U]nemployment benefits are not unreasonably generous and only available if sufficient working contributions prior to losing a job.”

Richard Romain, who lives in Aude, described the French model as, “socially inclusive and allows people to get into employment”.

He added: “My employer received a grant over five years for employing me as I am disabled. I also got 100 percent grant for adapting my place of work.”

And Andy Parsons, who has lived in Calvados since 2007, said the system was: “Easy and generous. As a full time carer for a three children, one of whom has disabilities, the allowances were generous and the tax breaks enormous.”

But not everyone agreed. Aditya Das, who moved to Lyon from India, was one of a few respondents who felt France’s social model was ‘too generous’. Das argued that “some undeserving people” benefit from a combination of state aid that keeps, “able bodied people from working”.

And A McKnight, from Argenteuil, wrote: “Every area of benefits goes too far – there need to be clear conditions and termination points set in place.”

Carol Schoen, who lives in Strasbourg, argued unemployment payments were too high: “There is too much abuse and not much incentive to get a job … [and] child allowances are too generous and don’t always benefit the children.”

And Ceinwen Reeves Izzard, from Dordogne, said that the model may be weighted against some, pointing out the, “[l]ack of generosity in sick pay for self-employed people who are too ill to work when others get spa treatments on prescriptions”.

Cuts

And finally the million euro question – is there anything that is too generous and should be cut?

While some argued that unemployment benefits are too generous and don’t incentivize work, others looked for savings amid healthcare. 

Reimbursed taxi costs for certain appointments, prescriptions for spa treatments and over-medication were causes for concern.

READ ALSO How to get free transport to medical appointments in France

Most people, however, advocated limiting or means-testing certain services, rather than axing them altogether.

“France could certainly eliminate free taxi rides to appointments for people who can drive themselves or can easily find a ride,” wrote Barclay, an view echoed by Pamela, who added: “It’s more the abuse that bothers me than the existence of the service. I see a lot of Britons living here taking the mickey with it.”

Several readers – especially those living in rural areas – told us they had used the taxi service to travel to vital medical appointments including cancer treatments. 

Several people also flagged up waste when it comes to medication, or just general over-prescribing (and it’s true that the French are among the most highly medicated nations in the world).

Robert Hodge, living in the Vendée, said: “The amount of medication issued by pharmacies needs to be limited to that which is actually prescribed. Two pills a day for six days should be 12 pills and not 20 just because they come in boxes of 10.”

Ceinwen Reeves Izzard added: “They are overly keen to prescribe MRIs, I have had multiple. They oversubscribe medication. I have lots of morphine locked in a safe because the pharmacy wouldn’t take it back.”

Matthew Davison agreed, adding: “The big one is medication. My doctor might prescribe 3 pills a day for 5 days, but the pharmacy will give me the double because that’s the amount in one box. This creates so much waste. I have a cardboard box filled with leftover medicine I didn’t need.”

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