The Importance of Your Cell Phone

True confession, I am old enough to remember when we did not have cell phones. I had to turn on the radio or play recorded music, drive without GPS, and I had to use a real phone to call people. I am very thankful for the changes that our phones have brought. I have a terrible sense of direction so GPS on a phone is a game changer, I love having music at my fingertips, and communication is so accessible. How important is your cell phone and what are the features you use the most? I have an iPhone and here are the features I use daily.

GPS

I am a very nervous driver and I live near Atlanta where the highways are scary, there are too many one-way streets, and most of them are called Peachtree. Not only does the GPS help someone who is directionally challenged, but you can also set it up to avoid highways. This allows me to drive somewhere without having a death grip on the wheel.

FaceTime

When Covid hit I was teaching and we had some students who were learning from home and would use zoom to join our class. When connectivity was an issue I used FaceTime to connect with the students. It is a great way to connect with family.

The camera

I remember carrying around a bulky camera, but now the phone’s camera takes professional photos and you can load an app like Walgreen’s Picprint to have photos developed. There is another great app called the camera timer. You can prop up your phone and set it to take the picture in 10 seconds and strike a pose! You can take a picture of an important document, or send documents to others.

Notes

There are so many times when I think of something important, but I don’t have a pen and paper, so notes are perfect. You can also make your to-do lists.

Pacer

Before I had my Garmin watch I used the Pacer app to keep track of my steps.

Mail

It is so convenient to have easy access to mail. Of course, easy access can also mean you spend too much time checking it.

Other Apps

It is also convenient to add apps that will make your life easier. You can watch movies, read books, and listen to music with one device.

Our phones have become important to our daily doings, but we can’t forget that our relationships with our loved ones should trump our interaction with a machine every time, so make sure that we focus on the people in our lives as much as we focus on the phones.