Author Topic: How do you get the most out of your smartphone?  (Read 3740 times)

PMG

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How do you get the most out of your smartphone?
« on: February 24, 2015, 07:51:11 PM »
There's a lot of talk of cheap smart phones, cheap data, and needs versus wants.  Many of us have smart phones and I'm curious how we use them.   Money saving hacks?  Time saving?  Fun?  Are there apps that you use regularly?  What can I learn from you?

I use a goodbudget app to track my grocery, household and fun spending.  I finally have self control and discipline with those numbers always available in my pocket.

I'm going paper free for tickets and boarding passes for an up coming trip.  I regularly use coupons and discounts via my phone.

All my rewards cards and gift cards are stored on my phone.

I have a $12 Bluetooth keyboard that I often travel with. Wrote an entire novel on my phone with it.

I use a scan app to immediately digitize and toss bills and receipts.


surfhb

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Re: How do you get the most out of your smartphone?
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2015, 07:55:38 PM »
If it weren't for texting family and friends, Google Maps and Surfline to check the surf report, Id go back to a land line :)

AllieVaulter

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Re: How do you get the most out of your smartphone?
« Reply #2 on: February 24, 2015, 08:06:17 PM »
I pretty much just use my smart phone for the navigation, texting, and a coupon book.  (The coupon book is pretty neat, you can have it on multiple phones w/o extra cost). 

joleran

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Re: How do you get the most out of your smartphone?
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2015, 09:45:25 PM »
Buy an Android, load custom ROMs on it to keep it up to date.  I have a Samsung Galaxy S (no number after it) that is running the most recent version of Android just fine, which makes it so that I can run the most up-to-date apps on it (many apps drop support for versions more than a few ticks back and aren't even visible in the app store).  This means you can go many years without upgrading and without feeling like you're not able to do anything.  My 5 year old phone probably has another year or two of life left in it.

This does require somewhat advanced technical knowledge/ability to read lots of guides and will void the warranty however.

alsoknownasDean

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Re: How do you get the most out of your smartphone?
« Reply #4 on: February 24, 2015, 10:03:52 PM »
I use it for:

- Contacting family and friends (phone calls, SMS, iMessage, Facebook messenger, etc)
- Internet banking (especially moving money between accounts)
- Music (Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn, iTunes), and increasingly podcasts
- Camera (having a decent, portable camera is useful)
- Taking notes
- Reading news/web pages on public transport
- Facebook (blah)
- Public transport timetables and the Tramtracker app
- Having a full QWERTY keyboard instead of that god-awful multitap
- Weather forecast/information (usually using Ozweather because the built in iPhone one doesn't get its weather data via the Bureau of Meteorology)
- Keeping up with cricket scores
- Shazam
- Maps (biking maps in Google maps are pretty useful)

It's pretty bloody useful, and now I'm out of contract using a cheap MVNO, quite cheap (especially considering I don't have a landline, landline rental is too expensive)

cshaw

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Re: How do you get the most out of your smartphone?
« Reply #5 on: February 24, 2015, 10:24:01 PM »
There are four of us on our cell phone plan with Ting.  We switched over with them on February 1st.  It is usage based, with the data usage the key to holding your bill down.  My daughter (16) uses the most data and texting out of all of us.  We set up some limits and alerts going into this to keep the bill under $120/month, or about half what we were giving Verizon.  It’s looking like we’ll be able to keep it under $100.  When I’m at home I use the Google Hangout app to make calls over wifi, which keeps out minutes down.  I’m trying to get my wife to do the same.  But again, the minutes are pretty cheap. 
I have a separate google voice number that rings to my phone as well.  I use it for selling stuff on craigslist and communications associated with my rental. We also use the Onavo Extend app that helps reduce data consumption when we are away from our wifi.  I don’t use much data, with most of what I use finding my way from point A to point B using the map app.  My wife streams Pandora when she’s driving.  I’ve been trying to get her to just put some of her music library on her phone and use that, but she really doesn’t use much data at all either.
We also have an Amazon Echo and I’ve been using the To Do list and Shopping list features in the App quite a bit.

Blonde Lawyer

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Re: How do you get the most out of your smartphone?
« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2015, 11:59:50 AM »
Shop savvy app.  Scan a product in the store and it tells you what it is going for at competitors.  It also tells you the online price.  I saved a  lot of money this way even on small purchases.  I recently was buying some pet safe driveway salt and scanned it only to find the store across the street had it $10 cheaper.  If you are replacing a product in your home you can scan it before you even leave the house so you know what store to go to.

Cromacster

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Re: How do you get the most out of your smartphone?
« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2015, 12:06:38 PM »
My phone is purely a luxury.  I mostly use it for music, movies, texting, web browsing and email.  The only useful thing I use it for is GPS.

Oh and I make phone calls on occasion.