Are App's Worth Getting a Smartphone

I'm thinking of getting a smartphone just because of the
increasing number of app's. Is it worth it?

There no or very few apps that do anything your computer or a gps unit could not do. Most of them are not providing additional capabilities, but rather compensating for the deficiencies of the phone, compared to the computer, and for how bad the mobile web sites generally are. There are numerous aps, that tell you weather, let you read news, open and read .doc files ... Their idea is to make your life easier if you have to use a smart phone. I can't imagine buying one just because you want those apps. It is much more convenient to do those things on a pc or laptop.
One notable exception imho is if you have to drive a lot. There are aps that tell you gas prices around you, and locations of the gas stations on the map, apps that warn you about police traps ahead, traffic, etc. If you get a good (unlimited) data plan, you can listen to pretty much any radio station or music channel in the world, etc. Again, all of that only makes sense if you are on the road. If not, you can easily find all the same stuff online, and use it with a PC.

Good. I'll just keep my Tracphone thats never turned on, then.

Get a smartphone *just* for the apps? Seems kinda weird.

However, if you already have a smartphone, there's a lot of cool apps, games and utilities. Many of them are free, most that you pay for, only cost 99¢.

I recently joined the 21st century and got an iPhone. I never wanted one until I got it. It's a cool little toy. Plus, my wife juggled our cell plan so it's actually costing us $5 LESS per month!

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Get a smartphone *just* for the apps? Seems kinda weird.

Everybody is talking app's. On TV you hear it on half the
commercials. Sounds like I can live without them.

You probably could, EvenBob.

My I-phone however, has been indispensable. It gives me directions when I'm driving. I can listen to my Blue Jays while I'm on the road. It tells me when my flight is expected to leave the airport and tracks the incoming flights. I can text my daughter any time. It acts as a wireless hotspot for my computer when a free one isn't available over my 3G network. It takes pictures and then can send them to a friend. It plays music, and plugs in to my aux input in my car to play over the stereo. It plays games at 34,000 feet. It helps me to find restaurants when I need to. So yep, I love the phone.

Quote: boymimbo

My I-phone however, has been indispensable. [long laundry list of feature omited] So yep, I love the phone.

Does it make phone calls?

:P

Sometimes it doesn't! Especially when changing countries, it gives me a hard time in finding my home networks. And being on the AT&T network in the United states absolutely sucks.

Quote: boymimbo

Sometimes it doesn't!

I was being sarcastic, and taking up an old joke about digital watches popular in the 80s, but I see I hit on something...

Quote:

Especially when changing countries, it gives me a hard time in finding my home networks. And being on the AT&T network in the United states absolutely sucks.

Isn't there a jailbreak app? It seems as though there should be.

In Mexico Apple has an exclusive with Telcel, which is a pain in the, uh, neck for billing and has roaming charges that ought to scare you, but also provides excellent coverage. And just the same I know people who've switched their toy to other providers.

Man, get a phone just for the apps? Naw. I love my smartphone, and use it often. But it's certainly not essential, to the point where you're missing something if you don't have one.

I sense the tongue-in-cheekiness of your question, but just in case I was in error: I think the app advertising is for the people who already have made the decision "yes", not those who have made the decision "no" or "not yet".

I use the GPS feature, and a handful of news and information apps. I use MLB Home Plate to get broadcasts of my favorite baseball teams. I check email and keep up to date with some work issues. There's an app called Tripit that is great for travelers. I use the calendar to remind me of doctors appointments that get scheduled months in advance.

It's nice to have a camera/video recorder in your pocket at all times. It has a nice LED flashlight (an app uses the camera flash as "always on"). I've used the stopwatch as a cooking timer. There's an app that lets you use the phone as a bubble level, I've used that. I've used Flixster to find movie times and reviews. I've used Yelp to find restaurants, when out of town. And Weather is good for getting the forecast.

And for those times when I need a computer and not a smartphone, PDAnet allows me to use it as a cellular modem; tether it with a USB cable and my passenger can use the laptop while we're driving across the USA.

Do I need all that? Of course not. But like everything, it's a value equation, and that means it's up to the person spending the money to decide how it balances. You give up something else to get this, and if that works for you, you do it. And if it doesn't, you don't.

Quote: Mosca

It has a nice LED flashlight (an app uses the camera flash as "always on").

That's supposedly not good for the LED. Personally, i don't understand how...

But, I got the older Flashlight app - it turns the display white. Just as effective for those few times where you need a light. Like when you're under a desk plugging something into the back of a PC....

You mean my I-Phone is also a phone?

Quote: dwheatley

You mean my I-Phone is also a phone?

Yeah. Ain't that a kick in the head?

Although, with a name like iPhone, you should have figured that out. Now, if you owned a Droid, you'd be forgiven.

How much do you i phone users pay for service?

Quote: EvenBob

I'm thinking of getting a smartphone just because of the
increasing number of app's. Is it worth it?

I'm replying to this using my smartphone.

I would not state that you should get a smart phone simply because of the apps. Of course, there was also a time when having a cell phone wasn't a necessity. Or having a pager. Or having an answering machine. Or having a car.

There are lots of apps out there that are cool, fun, or neat. Those aren't necessary. However, depending on your life, your job, or other factors, it's possible that you could find certain apps to be useful and or essential. You would have to decide for yourself if the apps that are available become necessary enough for you to warrant purchasing a smartphone.

I have an Android-based phone, and I use the following apps on a regular basis:
Web Browser
Email
Facebook
GasBuddy (tells me where the cheapest gas is around me)
Calculator
Amortization Calculator (for calculating mortgage monthly payments)
Camera / Video Camera (means I don't have to carry around a separate device to take pictures)
Google Maps / GPS / Turn-by-Turn Directions (means I don't have to carry around a separate device to do GPS)
eBay (keeping track of things I'm selling as well as responding to questions as quickly as possible)
Flashlight (all it does is turn on the flash of the camera, but I find it useful it certain situations)
Instant Heart Rate (measures heart rate, also useful to make sure I'm not overdoing it)
Kindle (allows me to download books from Amazon. I keep a few tech manuals for easy reference, as well as download some novels for reading when waiting/bored)
various Games (along the same lines as Kindle, gives me something to do if I'm somewhere waiting or bored)
text messaging (some may not consider this an app)
Movies (tells me where movies are playing nearby and what times, as well as reviews)
Music Player (i have about 1000 songs on my phone, and means I don't have to carry around a separate device to have music)
Note Everything (a notepad, but also allows me to make voice notes and picture notes)
Quickoffice (allows me to look at Word and Excel documents)
PDANet (allows me to tether my laptop to the phone, thereby getting internet access on the phone. great when traveling and the hotel wants to charge me a fee to use their wifi.)

All of the above apps, except for PDANet, were free. PDANet is the only app that I've paid for. I did pay for some of the books on Kindle, but there are also a lot of free classics available, and I've read those as well.

Some of the nice features mean not having to carry around the extra devices. Imagine carrying around a camera, GPS, mp3 player, Kindle book reader, and a Nintendo DS for games. Now you can combine all of that into one device, a smartphone. OK, I wasn't quite that bad. But there was a point when I was carrying a camera, GPS, and Nintendo DS. Now I don't have to.

Of course, if you aren't carrying around these things anyway, then that wouldn't apply to you. I've found that, more often, people don't really NEED a smartphone, but when they do eventually get one, they start finding more and more apps to use on their smartphone.

As long as your existing phone works for you, stick with it. My mom uses a tracphone, but utilizes very few minutes on it, as she just doesn't make a lot of phone calls, doesn't text anybody, and doesn't have any need for a smartphone. She also has a home telephone that she uses for the majority of her calls. The tracphone was only obtained mainly for emergency situations when she travels. I, on the other hand, don't even have a home phone, and the smartphone is my main source of communication.

I use my phone a lot as a GPS tracker and mapper, and exercise tracker. That's the "killer app" for my smart phone for me. The browser/text features are just gravy, as is the geo-tagger. Unless you have something you -want- to be doing with a smartphone, why bother with one?

I was in an Uber and the driver had
a $1300 iPhone. I have a $40 Android
Tracfone smartphone that costs me
$12.50 a month. I tried to get him to
tell me what his phone does that
my phone doesn't.

He couldn't do it. Yeah, he has a great
camera, but with the built in photoshop
my phone has, I can make them look
pretty darn good.

Quote: EvenBob

He couldn't do it. Yeah, he has a great
camera, but with the built in photoshop
my phone has, I can make them look
pretty darn good.

Prove it by posting a selfie.

And please no Snapchat dog ear filters.

Quote: michael99000

Prove it by posting a selfie.

So you're saying the only thing
the iPhone is better at is the camera?

Do you know the quality digital
camera I can buy with the $1300
I have left after buying my Android
smartphone? Put the iPhone camera
to shame.

I like a free app that turns any document I take as a picture into a pdf file. Much easier than searching through papers in storage for any documents. All stored and on hand at any moment I want them.

Quote: michael99000

Prove it by posting a selfie.
.

Here's a pic of my 10 week old
kitten taken with my $40 Android
phone. Plenty good enough for
me.

If you are thinking about using it to help you count cards then don't bother. They're considered cheating devices and are banned at the table.

I'm always wondering the same thing. I have a $99 phone. I like it, has a finger print to unlock. That's about the only difference from the $50 go phones I have bought besides a bigger battery.

Quote: EvenBob

I was in an Uber and the driver had
a $1300 iPhone. I have a $40 Android
Tracfone smartphone that costs me
$12.50 a month. I tried to get him to
tell me what his phone does that
my phone doesn't.

He couldn't do it. Yeah, he has a great
camera, but with the built in photoshop
my phone has, I can make them look
pretty darn good.

Some people just love the latest and greatest things. My last 2 iPhones I bought used each less than $150. Just sold one back at one of those machines that gave me $15 for it. I prefer the interface on the iPhone and how it shows me my alerts automatically when I wake up. I cannot go cheap on the camera as I need it for work. But I would never pay $1,000 for the latest model. Same as cars, buy used.