For many of us, smartphones have become portals to endless scrolling and social media feeds. Yet, these powerful devices in our pockets are capable of far more, packed with hidden functions and app-enabled features that can simplify daily tasks, boost creativity, and even safeguard our health.
From Toolbox to Health Monitor
Your phone can effortlessly transform into a suite of practical tools. The iPhone's Measure app uses augmented reality to calculate room dimensions or even a person's height, acting as a digital tape measure. Many Android devices contain an infrared blaster, allowing them to function as a universal remote control for TVs, set-top boxes, and smart home devices with the right app.
For DIY enthusiasts, a built-in spirit level is often hidden within compass or measurement tools, perfect for hanging pictures straight. More impressively, newer iPhones and some Android handsets with lidar sensors can create detailed 3D scans of objects or rooms, useful for planning renovations, 3D printing, or insurance records.
Health tracking is another frontier. A 2022 trial demonstrated that a smartphone's microphone could accurately measure heartbeats, similar to a stethoscope. Furthermore, health apps increasingly use phone or smartwatch sensors to estimate blood oxygen saturation, providing an early warning for issues like breathing difficulties.
Creative and Organisational Powerhouse
Your phone is also a potent creative and organisational aid. Apps like FilmBox can digitise old photographic negatives, while Google Photos and Apple Photos can turn scanned family prints into animated 'memories' with music. With a cheap plug-in microphone, your handset becomes a mini podcast studio for recording high-quality audio.
Struggling to match a paint colour? Use your camera with a colour-matching app to sample a shade directly from a wall or fabric. Outdoors, apps like Google Lens can identify unknown plants with surprising accuracy, while offline maps and hiking apps keep you on track without a mobile signal.
For daily life, shopping list apps like Bring! allow you to share live lists and scan barcodes. NFC stickers (available cheaply online) can be programmed to trigger routines, like turning on lights when tapped, creating a simple smart home. To avoid endless hold music, iPhones running iOS 16 offer a Hold Assist feature that notifies you when a human voice is detected on a call.
Safety, Accessibility and Beyond
Smartphones offer practical safety features too. Most allow you to share your live location with trusted contacts via apps like WhatsApp, providing peace of mind when travelling alone. For those with dietary goals, nutrition apps simplify calorie and nutrient tracking by scanning barcodes.
Accessibility features also unlock clever uses. You can set up custom voice commands on an iPhone to automate tasks, like taking a photo by saying "click". The audio settings also offer background sounds like white noise or ocean waves to help you sleep, negating the need for a dedicated machine.
Other handy functions include using your phone as a high-quality webcam for video calls, employing decibel-measuring apps to log noise complaints, and using the document scan feature to quickly digitise and sign paperwork. Live translation apps can decipher foreign menus in real-time, and presentation apps let you control slides remotely from your handset.
From detecting metal with its built-in magnetometer to helping you explore the great outdoors, the modern smartphone is a remarkably versatile tool. Looking beyond its role as a communication and entertainment device reveals a world of functionality designed to make everyday life a little easier, more creative, and safer.
