Frequently asked questions

Yes, it's free and has no ads. You don't need to sign up: your calendar, places and alerts stay on your phone. The features that go through the service (online calendars, reports, Alexa) only use a random ID for your installation.

On Android there's the app, on Google Play. On iPhone and iPad use the web version: it opens in the browser and, once added to the Home screen, works full screen like an app. On the website, from any phone or computer, you can also check your municipality's calendar and turn on alerts. How to add it to the Home screen.

The first time you open it, Bidò suggests the municipality based on your phone's location (you can refuse the permission), or you can search for it by name. If the municipality has several collection areas, choose yours: they're usually listed by street or by district, as in the municipality's calendar.

Yes. Each place has its own municipality, area and alerts: home, holiday home, your parents' home. Add all the places you need and switch between them whenever you like.

Bidò has the calendars of more than 5,400 municipalities. If yours is missing you can create it in the app in a few minutes and publish it for your neighbours, or tap «Ask the municipality to publish it»: we count the requests for each municipality. You can also write to us at info@bidoapp.it telling us where to find the official calendar.

No. Bidò is an independent service: it doesn't belong to the municipality or the waste collection operator and doesn't represent them. The calendars come from public documents, cited on each municipality's page. If the municipality confirms them from its reserved area, they get the «✓ Official» tick. If in doubt, the municipality's calendar always applies.

Eight: Italian, English, German, Romanian, Albanian, Ukrainian, French and Spanish. When it starts, the app suggests your phone's language; you can change it whenever you like from «Info». Waste names are also shown in Italian, as you see them on the bins.

The calendars are transcribed from the official documents of municipalities and operators and checked day by day, or published by users and confirmed by other users: those with many reports are hidden automatically, but a calendar confirmed by the municipality always stays visible. From the calendar you can also open the original PDF to check.

Yes, if they're in the official calendar: moved collections and make-up days already appear in the calendar. When a collection falls on a public holiday with no instructions, the app flags it as a day to check.

In the app, with «Report an error in the calendar»: tell us the area, the day and the type of waste. On the website, every municipality page has a link at the bottom to write to us, with the page address already filled in. Or write to info@bidoapp.it. The correction applies to everyone who uses that calendar.

In the «Alerts» tab, choose when to get the notification (for example the evening before at 8:30 pm or the morning of the collection), for which types of waste and on which days. Each place has its own alerts.

1. That notifications for Bidò are allowed in your phone's settings.
2. That the «Exact alarms not allowed» box isn't showing in the «Alerts» tab: if it is, tap «Allow».
3. That battery saving isn't blocking Bidò: in Settings › Apps › Bidò › Battery choose «Unrestricted» (the names vary a little from phone to phone).
4. That the alert is on for that type of waste and for the right place.

If the problem persists, write to us with your phone model and Android version.

When you've put the bin out, tap «Done, put out»: the app keeps count of your collections in a row and gives you badges. Everything stays on your phone.

Yes. After 11 am on a collection day, «Didn't they come today?» appears in the app: the report is anonymous and helps us understand where the service isn't working.

Press and hold an empty space on the Home screen, choose «Widgets» and look for Bidò. There are three: the next collection, the next three days and the whole week.

Yes. On your municipality's page on the website (find it from this page) tap «Add to calendar»: the file works with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and Outlook. From the same page you can print the month's table or save it as a PDF.

When the municipality or the operator publishes the new calendar, we transcribe it and check it: it appears in the app and on the website by itself, with no need to reinstall anything. If you still see doubtful days in January, let us know.

In the app use «Where do I throw it?»: type the name of the item or scan the barcode on the packaging, and you'll see the right bin with your municipality's rules, where available, and the next collection for that waste. The general rules are also on the website, in Where to throw it.

You can enter the packaging materials yourself: after we check it, the information helps others too and, if you agree, it's shared with the open database Open Food Facts.

For many municipalities Bidò shows the recycling centre with its address, opening hours (including whether it's open right now) and the «Take me to the centre» button, plus the eco-desk where there is one. For bulky waste, where available, home pickup is shown first.

In the app or the web version, choose the type of problem (abandoned waste, full or broken bin, illegal dump), type the address or pick the spot on the map, or use your location, and add a photo if you like. The report goes to your municipality.

The municipality can take it on, close it and write a short reply. You'll find the status and the reply in «My reports», most recent first.

No. The municipality only receives the problem, the place, the note and any photo, with no name or contact details. Before sending, the photo is resized and cleaned of hidden data, such as the location and the phone model. Avoid capturing people and number plates.

Yes, at any time from «My reports»: it disappears right away, photo included. Otherwise closed reports are deleted automatically after 90 days, the others after a year.

Enable the Bidò skill on Amazon, then in the app open Alerts › Alexa › Link to Alexa: you'll get a six-digit code, valid for ten minutes. Say «Alexa, apri raccolta rifiuti» (Alexa, open waste collection) and then the code. From then on you can ask «Alexa, chiedi a raccolta rifiuti cosa passa domani» (Alexa, ask waste collection what's being collected tomorrow).

Yes. On your municipality's page on the website tap «Turn on alerts»: you'll get a notification the evening before or the morning of the collection. On iPhone you first need to add Bidò to the Home screen (iOS 16.4 or later). See the app page.

In the app you can share it with a QR code: whoever scans it with Bidò gets the same calendar with your changes. Anyone who doesn't use a phone can ask Alexa.

Before changing phones, save a full backup from Days › Backup and keep it safe (for example on Drive or in your email). On the new phone install Bidò and use «Restore from file». The backup also contains the keys to the calendars you've published: without it, you could no longer edit them.

In «Info» you'll find a personal link to share: when someone installs Bidò from it and actually uses it, the invite counts for you. You only see the number of your invites; we don't collect names or contacts. Details in the privacy policy.

As little as possible: no account, no ads, no third-party tracking. Your location is only used to suggest your municipality and stays on your phone; it only leaves it in a report, if you choose to use it. Once a day the app sends anonymous statistics (municipality, version, language) with no identifiers. It's all explained in the privacy policy.

From the free reserved area for municipalities you can confirm calendars, publish notices, recycling centres and offices, and reply to reports. Or write to us at info@bidoapp.it.

Yes: on the For hosts page you can create a free printable sheet with a QR code that opens the calendar for your guests in their own language.