Trying to figure out your favorite feature in a smartphone is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. It’s nearly impossible to find, because there are just so many good things that our phones can do for us. I mean, they’re pretty much all-in-one devices for a lot of people. They browse the web, they have games, they help you with finances, and they connect you with other people all over the world. It’s pretty insane what these things do for us on a daily basis. But trying to find my absolute favorite feature? It’s not going to be easy, because for me there is far more than one favorite feature. For me there are plenty, and surprisingly enough my favorite ones hardly scratch the surface of the phone (figuratively, of course, because literally would be a very bad thing).
Perhaps it’s because several years of smartphone usage has enabled me to go through my app-crazy stages and download app after app after app without a care in the world. Through those years, I’ve been able to weed out the ones that I don’t really use that much and clean up my act. If you were to look at my phone today, there’s not a whole lot going on. I have apps like Facebook, Netflix, a couple of games for myself and several for my son; but the other apps, the stock applications that always come with the phone, are probably my true favorites on any phone. Sometimes, I feel like they don’t get enough credit.
That’s not to say that they have feelings or anything that would get hurt if they’re not mentioned in an article like this one, but I do think sometimes we take those features for granted here and there. For example, the alarm clock. Despite the fact that I have a designed digital clock at my bedside, I always use my phone’s alarm instead. Why? Well, perhaps the fear of a blackout still plagues the back of my mind, but I also find that it’s much easier and quicker to set as well. I have one preset alarm for each hour of the day, and it’s very simple for me to just press the Clock icon and set any alarm I need to at the click of a button. It’s that simple, and I use it nearly every day.
Another app that I use every day is the calendar app. I was never one to keep a calendar or planner of my own (which shows a lot about how organized I was growing up but today) it would seem that I have pulled myself together because the calendar on my phone is actually used - and frequently! Of course, the best part about it is that it constantly reminds me of upcoming events. I’m a terribly forgetful person, which means that even when I did manage to scratch something into a regular calendar or planner I would always forget to check it again after I wrote it. So really, the smartphone calendar is one of the best things that could have happened to me (and my poor organizational skills).
Along with poor organizational skills, math is also a subject that I’m not exactly skilled in. Basic math? Sure. I guess. Sort of. Sometimes. Not really, actually. I find that I need a calculator for most math problems, especially anything that involves and odd number or contains more than three digits. Tips, monthly finances and budgets, and sometimes just unique situations involving math usually has me grasping for my smartphone in order to use the calculator. I would have to say that along with the calendar, the calculator is one of those Godsend apps that I’m always happy to have on hand.
The last app that I can think of that most phones come with pre-installed would have to be any sort of navigational app, although I guess I can’t say these aren’t talked about frequently - it seems they’re actually talked about quite often, actually. Still, along with being disorganized and bad at math, I’m also horrible with direction. (I’m pretty sure that, according to Darwinism standards, I should have been offed some time ago - thanks, smartphones!) I used to have a TomTom, but I would also often forget my TomTom at home... which never helped much. Fortunately, despite my forgetfulness and disorganization I seem to be able to keep ahold of my smartphone most of the time, which makes apps like Google Maps and HERE Drive some of my very best friends. Apple Maps and I are still working on our friendship at this point, though. I may be bad at navigating, but I’m not get-lost-in-the-Australian-wilderness bad. Or maybe I am, but I don’t need help getting there.
I do love the fact that we have so many applications to choose from these days, even alternatives to the stock ones if we aren’t happy with them; but I do find that I’m happy with the stock applications most of the time, and I hardly ever have a day go by where I don’t use those four at least once. Because of this (and color me boring) I would have to say that those stock apps are my favorite apps.
Readers, what are your favorite stock apps that you frequently use? Let us know yours in the comments below!
Images via Hack College, FastCo Labs
