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GENEVA

7 essential apps that make life in Geneva easier for foreign residents

It is nearly impossible to function today without mobile apps that make life easier and more convenient. These essential apps will help international residents navigate life in Switzerland’s second-largest city.

7 essential apps that make life in Geneva easier for foreign residents
A number of mobile apps make life in Geneva easier. Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

If you own a smartphone, you probably have a number of applications on your phone already.

Chances are that most of them are the kind that people across Switzerland routinely use, such as the SBB and public transportation app, Twint, Swiss Post app, as well Coop and / or Migros app, among others.

READ MORE: Seven apps to make your life in Switzerland easier

You’ll also likely have food delivery apps like Uber Eats, Smood, or Eat.ch, all of which deliver in Geneva as well.

But if you have just moved to Geneva, or even have lived here for a while, you need some city-specific apps to make your life here more pleasant.

These are some very useful ones ranging from practical to fun — and you are likely to need and use them, even if occasionally:

‘Geneva in your pocket’

This very helpful app offers direct access to practical information about life in Geneva, including weather, maps, and calendar of sporting and cultural events.

It also contains a “street harassment” tab, which allows people who are victims of inappropriate gestures or comments in the public space to immediately report the incidents to the municipal police.

Download the application on Google Play or in the Apple Store

A woman with a phone

Here are apps that make life in Switzerland easier for foreigners. Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash

Public transportation

The city has a dense network of buses and trams that travel not just in Geneva itself, but also cross the border into neighbouring French towns.

You can see the timetable, buy tickets, and check for any disruptions with the Geneva public transport (TPG) app.

Download the application on Google Play or in Apple Store

Recycling

You know how obsessed the Swiss are about recycling their trash on the correct days and in a correct manner. This has become even more important since September, when Geneva’s parliament adopted new legislation which includes the sorting obligation for households, businesses, and public entities.

This particular app aims to facilitate the task of daily waste management: when to take out your trash, where and how to sort it, and what to do with your bulky items. It’s a must for anyone learning the rules of the country! 

Download the application on Google Play on in the Apple Store.

Cultural trails: walks off the beaten track

The Geneva Cultural Trails application includes seven audio-guided tours centred around various themes: museums and their collections, as well as monuments and their architecture and history.

Download the application on Google Play Store and in the Apple Store

Nature lovers: Geneva Parks

Thanks to the Parcs Genève mobile application, you will be able to geo-locate and recognise nearly 300 trees in the city’s parks.

This application also makes it possible to find the nearest locations of playgrounds, dog areas, public toilets, wi-fi zones, and police stations.

Download the application on Google Play or in the Apple Store.

Geneva airport

If you live in the Geneva area — including parts of Vaud and nearby France — you have likely used the airport on many occasions.

This app allows various travel-related functions, including flight and check-in information, the number of free spots in the various car parks — also keeping track of where your vehicle is parked — schedules of the buses and trains departing from the airport, and other functions.

Download on Google Play or in the Apple store.

Hop delivery

This service will deliver a variety of products right to your door anywhere in Geneva.

You can order food from restaurants, groceries from shops, flowers, from florists, health products from pharmacies, and many other items you may urgently need but forgot to buy.

Download the application on Google Play or in the Apple Store.

READ MORE: 10 essential apps that make life in Zurich easier for international residents

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For members

CRIME

Geneva commuters warned over public transport ticket scam

A fraudulent Facebook page, allegedly an account belonging to Geneva’s public transport company (TPG) offers fake annual subscriptions for 2.35 francs.

Geneva commuters warned over public transport ticket scam

The ‘real’ cost of a yearly subscription to the TPG Unireso network costs 500 francs for adults, and 400 francs for pensioners and juniors. 

So an offer that is hundreds of francs cheaper is obviously very appealing to those who have never heard of an old adage, “if it’s too good to be true, it’s probably isn’t.”

The fraudulent Facebook page, with a very realistic looking TPG logo, offers, as a special promotion, an annual travel card for the mere 2.35 francs. Fake profiles have written positive comments under the offer.

Fake TPG offer. Facebook public page

To benefit from the ‘last day’ of this incredible offer, customers must click on a link, which should raise red flags in even the most gullible individuals: it leads not to the official ‘tpg.ch’ address but to an external page, with a ‘com’ rather than ‘ch’ domain.

Once on this page, the still clueless customer learns that only 500 of the ‘special-offer’ cards remain available, so they must be purchased quickly.

But once they are on the payment page, they read that this is a three-month trial membership for 3 francs (not 2.35, but still suspiciouly cheap), and that if the membership is not cancelled by then (not sure how, since this is a fake), they will be charged 71 francs every 14 days.

The TPG does not have any figures on how many victoms fell prey to this scam, but the company’s spokesperson, François Mutter, said 134 customers “have contacted us to inquire about this offer.” 

Who is behind this scam?

It is not known, but the site’s server is based in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Mutter said, adding that the TPG  has informed the host as well as the Federal Office for Cybercrime.

But the scam is still running, and on a larger scale than just in Geneva.

According to Mutter, Belgian and French versions are also circulating.

Geneva police told 20 Minutes news platform that the primary goal of this scam (as countless others’) is to retrieve confidential banking information from their victims 

The closure of the site can be requested from the host, “but the effect is often temporary. New sites  will appear.”

In theory at least, the Public Prosecutor’s Office can open proceedings against the criminals and work with local authorities to trace the perpetrators — however, only if the sites are hosted in countries where international collaboration in these matters exists.

But, according to the police,  “this is Russia.”

One of many

Unfortunately, this particular scam one is only the tip of the iceberg.

Countless others have been perpetrated in Switzerland in past years, and still are on-going currently.

You can find more about them here:

READ ALSO: The common scams foreigners in Switzerland need to be aware of

How can you avoid falling victim to a scam in Switzerland?

The most obvious piece of advice is to use common sense.

It may not always be easy to spot scammers, however, because many emails look like they come from official sources like the government or police, but neither would contact you by email and threaten you with terrible consequences if you don’t pay up.

If not sure about the legitimacy of ‘official’-looking email or message, always call the supposed sender to check.

The important thing is that you immediately delete any suspicious emails and block the sender from contacting you again.

Also, be vigilant about divulging any of your personal information and financial data to unknown callers, or individuals showing up at your doorstep.
  

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