Navigo, Bounjour RATP, phones not cards? Kids?

Well, I managed to find the answer to one of my own questions on the SNCF website:
"the service does not allow several people to travel simultaneously. 1 phone = 1 traveler, like for a Navigo card."

But it appears that only Samsung phones work as a pass? It's just a QR code, right? How do they know what kind of phone is showing the code?

Well the point when it was working with Samsung phones was that those were the only phones where you could purchase the tickets electronically at all - so if you had anything else, by definition, you couldn't use it, because you wouldn't be able to obtain a ticket on your phone.

I think that now, you are able to buy tickets if you download the Bonjour RATP app, although I haven't tried it since I have an annual subscription.

I had similar questions about using phones to pay on the Paris Metro, but here in DC I have a Metro card in my Apple wallet, and I tap to pay--not a QR code. My assumption is that the Navigo phone situation is similar, and I believe on our Metro, at first only iOS/Apple was available and later Android phones. Thanks for the heads-up about needing Samsung! I guess we'll just go with the Navigo Easy physical card.

I got an answer, even it if isn't the one I want.
Within the Bonjour RATP app (which has an English option, so I don't have to tax my one year of college French too much), there is a "check my compatibility" option under "tickets." It checked my Google Pixel 6, downloaded a secondary ticket app, and told me the bad news that my phone won't work.
I guess it's four cards for us, then, and 20 or so more euros into the bucket. Ah, well.

It's safer not to take out your phone at the turnstile anyway (easily snatched!): the cards would have been the best bet even if your phone were compatible!

So much easier (and yes safer) to just get everyone a Navigo D and be done with it -- nothing lifts the heart of people in line behind one like fiddling around endlessly with a phone to get the right app up and working while the line grows.

The cards just cost 2€ each, so that is 8€ for the four of you.

Not sure why that should cost 20€ more ???

You don't have to buy carnets or days passes on the Navigo Easy. You can simply load individual tickets.

Ah, I thought I saw in another post that they were 5 euros each, but that must have been something else.

The Navigo Decouverte is 5 Euro; the Navigo Easy is 2 Euro -- they have different uses.

Using an Android phone, either the Bonjour RATP or the Île-de-France Mobilite app, and a linked credit card, you may use the phone as a card replacement if the app is active and screen lighted as you approach a turnstile.

If you have a newer Samsung phone, some have the Navigo circuitry built in and may be used as a card replacement even if the phone is off.