Paris Bus transit payment

Yes, the virtual Navigo card on your phone can be used in all modes of transportation in Paris. Provided you loaded the card with a ticket of course.
In the summer of 2024 I spent 3 weeks in Paris and I used a virtual Navigo Decouverte on all modes of transport from busses and trams to metros and RER trains without any issues whatsoever.

Yes, but you have to have a bus ticket loaded on your virtual card.

(They have done this dumb thing now where Metro/RER tickets are one thing, and bus tickets are another, So even if you have 50 metro/RER tickets on your card, if you don't have any bus tickets on your card when you board the bus, you will be in violation for not having a ticket. So make sure to buy some bus tickets when you buy Metro tickets. This doesn’t apply if you purchase the Navigo Semaine that is good for the week.)

thank you! And thanks for the specific info of metro vs bus tickets!!

The transportation system in Paris has changed in the past several months. You should go to a metro station, buy 2 "Easy Navigo" passes. Cost is 2 euros each. On one you can put your metro and rer train tickets and on the other put your bus and tramway tickets. You need a seperate Easy Navigo card for each. You can download the "Bonjour" app onto your phone and then by placing your Easy Navigo card against the back of your phone you can buy your tickets using a credit card. No need to go to a station to buy tickets. It works great. Trust me, I live in Paris.

You can put both bus and Metro tickets on one N. Easy card, but I prefer two cards so I can keep track of what remains on them more easily.
You can also check the cards on any of the Metro tickets machines to see how many tickets are left on your card.
It will give you a little printout if you want.

I do this just before leaving Paris, then I know what I have left, ready for my next trip.

Taking the bus in Paris I always use the physical card to tap, no phone at all. As long as the physical is loaded, no problems at all. If my first card is rejected, I pull out another card.

we always put two bus tickets on the Easy even though we use mostly metro so if we find a need for a bus we are equipped. It is not true that you need separate cards. And when you use a ticket the turnstile will show how many tickets remain on your card so you can keep track.

You do need a separate card for the airport ticket -- or an Easy that has not had a metro/train ticket on it for at least 4 hours.

You can also check the cards on any of the Metro tickets machines to see how many tickets are left on your card.

FYI, at least on iOS, you can also do this on the Bonjour RATP app -- as part of the flow to add tickets to a physical Navigo Easy card, you tap your card to the top back half of your phone. It then will tell you what tickets you already have on that card.

You do not need to have an RATP account or log in to do this.

(This is found in the same place where you buy tickets directly onto an iPhone without a physical card at all, but is a separate process.)