8 Ways Your Smartphone Can Make Life Easier

Did you know about 80% of senior-age adults own a smartphone?

You may be old enough to remember rotary phones, cassette players, and life before the Internet. Maybe you only use your smartphone for phone calls and text messages. And you’re not sure about all the other features. Sound familiar? We have some smartphone tips for seniors to help you.

Here’s the thing. Your smartphone can make your life easier for many everyday tasks. For example, you can use your smartphone to:

1. Make a video call. You can chat with family and friends like you’re on a phone call, but you can see their faces and hear their voices. You can even show them around your house, or see what they’re doing on vacation.
2. Get a ride. Can’t drive or don’t feel like driving, but you need to get from point A to point B. Use your smartphone to schedule a ride from services like Uber and Lyft.
3. Change the temperature. Too hot or too cold in your house? If your thermostat (Nest, Ecobee, Honeywell) is connected to your smartphone, you can literally change the temperature from anywhere. Pretty cool, right?
4. See who’s at the door. The doorbell rings, but you’re in the bathroom, still in bed, or sitting on the couch watching your favorite show. Wondering who’s there? With a doorbell camera system like Ring or Nest, connected to your smartphone you can see who’s there without getting up. You can even talk with the person at the door.
5. Find your keys. Ever lost your keys and spent a long time retracing your steps and turning your house upside down to find them? It happens but with a simple tracking device like Tile Mate on your keyring, you can use your smartphone to find them.
6. Close the blinds. Tired of walking through the house every morning and night to open and shut the blinds? With smart blinds connected to your phone, you can do this from anywhere. You can even set a timer to do it for you in the morning and at night.
7. Remember medications and appointments. Your smartphone has a simple, easy-to-use feature to help you remember things like appointments and taking medications. Just set a daily reminder in the calendar on your smartphone, and you’ll receive a message when it’s time to take your meds or go to an appointment.
8. Eat good food. Don’t feel like cooking or going out, but you want to enjoy a healthy meal? Your smartphone can practically make dinner for you. Use the MagicKitchen.com app on your smartphone to order Senior-Friendly meals all made with fresh ingredients, and you’ll have your next meal ready in minutes.