Smartphones have come a long way in recent years. It’s hard to imagine a time when we relied heavily on them for what now seem like simple tasks (i.e. browsing the internet or checking an email)! Now, phones are able to be unlocked by just looking at your camera or scanning your finger and can accomplish a variety of complex tasks from monitoring your heart rate, to knowing when you are driving and disabling incoming phone call/text message notifications accordingly.
The world we live in is ever-changing. Phones have definitely done a great job keeping up! These 5 features now common in smartphones may have been difficult to imagine many years ago but have proven incredibly useful in many of our day-to-day lives.
Fingerprint Scanners & Facial Recognition
Do you remember a time when you had to enter a code to unlock your phone? And if you were anything like me, you often struggled to remember what your code was!
These were often 4-digit “pin” numbers many of us changed regularly and if we misplaced or couldn’t remember our pin, we were not able to get into our phones at all (which would often warrant a call to customer service or even an annoying trip into the local cell phone company’s store). It’s a good thing those days are in the past, huh?
Today, almost every smartphone available on the market can be unlocked using quick, seamless methods such as Fingerprint Scanners & Facial Recognition. By swiping your finger across the screen or glancing in your phone’s camera, you are able to gain access to your phone within seconds – saving you both time and increasing security, preventing your phone from being accessed by unauthorized users.
Focus (Do Not Disturb)
Distracted driving can result in car accidents causing serious injury or even death. The manufacturers of many smartphones recognize this has become a huge problem in our society and have sought out solutions to help! With iOS15 and later on iPhones, a built-in feature called “Driving Focus” helps you stay focused while on the road. Don’t have an iPhone? No problem. Other manufacturers have developed similar solutions for other phone models.
With iPhone’s “Driving Focus,” messages, phone calls, and other distracting notifications are limited. Of course, you are always able to go into your settings and “override” it for specific notifications or if someone were to call/message you a certain number of times (super helpful in the case of an unexpected emergency)! You can also ask Siri to read any messages you have enabled out loud, preventing you from having to stop and read them (or read them yourself while driving)!
“Driving Focus” is a great setting you should have enabled on your phone in order to minimize how often you are becoming distracted while driving. This is one smartphone feature that could definitely save your life.
Water-Repellant Technologies
Do you remember accidentally splashing water on your phone and panic setting in as your screen display started flickering off and on? You’d immediately run to the kitchen and grab a Ziploc bag of rice and submerge your phone, in hopes you’d be able to save it!
Nowadays, most phones have been built and designed to repel water. You should never submerge your phone in water, but a splash of water here and there won’t be enough to harm most smartphones available today!
Heart Rate Monitors
Smartphones are no longer just used as a means of communication. They can also be used to accomplish a variety of different tasks, such as monitoring your health. Either by pairing your smartphone with a smartwatch or by using your phone’s built-in camera light, you can even get updates on your heart rate and other critical health stats.
How does it work exactly? Smartwatches use an advanced technology called photoplethysmography (PPG). Special, built-in LED lights and sensors are able to pick up and effectively measure changes in blood flow with each heartbeat. Pretty cool, huh? Similarly, when placing your fingertip against your smartphone’s camera, the built-in light can detect changes in color and opacity of blood as it is pumped through your skin – providing your heart rate in a matter of seconds.
Side note… These methods have shown to not be as effective as professional medical equipment BUT results show they are pretty close and can give you a good idea in a pinch!
Automatic Updates
This might seem like a simple feature nowadays that we easily overlook, but it is so important and something most of us utilize every day (without even knowing it)! Many of our smartphones are set up to automatically update apps, software, etc… and even more impressive, many recognize “low periods” of use (such as overnight when you are sleeping) and are able to update accordingly so updates do not interfere with phone usage!
This allows you to make sure all of your applications (and your phone itself) is running the latest software versions, minimizing bugs and other complications that could potentially arise from continued use of outdated software.
For more information on trending technology topics and advice on how you can streamline your business operations with technology that works for you (instead of against you), visit us here.
