I cannot tell you a way my life has genuinely gotten better since the advent of "smart" phones.

If you don't find value in smartphones I can respect that

You'd have to pry my own from my cold, dead hands. I have a map of the entire world (mostly) in my pocket! That in itself I find invaluable. I use Google Maps all the time. To find places and to navigate to them. On foot, public transit, and car. Here and in other countries.

Sure, I used to manage before Maps was a thing but do I ever want to go back? Nope.

That is one killer feature for me

And yeah I definitely see how life changed for the worse because of them. I actively moderate my own behavior.

Yeah you’re full of shit dude. You’re telling me you’ve never used the GPS on your phone at the VERY least? Even for walking in the city or something?

Well, it's a whole lot easier to get from point A to point B than it used to be.

And I can instantly find out what that actor's name is or what song I'm currently hearing.

But yeah, they're also pretty goddamn annoying at times.

Having access to the sum of all human knowledge in your pocket hasn't helped you in any way at all?

Either you're too high to think straight, or you're lying. Unless you're young enough that smartphones have existed your entire life, so they are the baseline... 🤔

i hate 'apps', but off the top of my head

• take-out ordering process now is super easy
• having a camera and flashlight on my person all the time
• not having to know peoples phone numbers anymore.. theyre all just kinda always there
• being able to verify vocabulary and other simple to find information almost instantly
• being able to self-entertain in locations where i have to wait for some crazy length of time

Smartphones have saved my ass.

I'm really bad at remembering things, and when something pops in my head, it needs to be dealt with immediately, or it'll be lost forever. Credit cards due tomorrow? Open app, and done. Oh shit. My credit card IS due tomorrow. Gotta go!

Gps without having to buy an expensive in-car GPS unit.
\ Gps that automatically updates maps.
\ GPS that updates routes based on traffic\

Route planning including public transit
\ Especially when you're not sure what your departure time will be
\ That accounts for temporary route changes
\ That automatically updates permanent route changes

You've obviously never had to read a shampoo bottle to keep you entertained while taking a dump before.

Look, are there downsides? Absolutely.

But, just thinking about the few days for Christmas:

Buddy and I were out and making plans to swim. Using our phones we found out what time the pool was open, then found out whether there was bbq nearby. We then added this to our calendars. All at thr same time without having to go home, look it up, coordinate then write it down.

The next day, I got groceries. I used my grocery app which also contains a couple hundred recipes I've collected. The grocery store had a great deal on something I hadn't expected so I pivoted, used my phone to look through my recipes, found an appropriate one and adjusted.

Later, running errands on my bike and finished a bit early. On a whim, I checked to see if a movie I wanted to catch was anywhere near. It was but not in an area I bike often. Booked my tickets on the phone, navigated there and streamed music to listen to as I rode.

Heck, when I visited for Christmas, a friend sent a message warning the ferries to come home were getting cancelled. I checked while we were out at dinner, found the last ferry was still running and had space so was able to make it home instead of getting stranded.

Outside of this week, I've dated a bunch of girls whom I'd have never met were it not for "the apps." Say what you will, it expands the network of dateable folks well outside your own social networks.

In summary: streaming music everywhere, all sorts of apps making things easier (in this case, recipes etc) navigation, making plans on the fly, dating all sorts of folks, booking things without having to find a computer and way more.

Google Maps on my smartphone is God tier.

I drove in the before times. You have any idea how much of a pain in the ass it was to use a paper map or look at written directions and miss a turn? Do you realize how great it is to type in "food near me" and see everywhere you might want to stop for a bite to eat and right where it's at? That I can youch a business name on the screen and it will show me its hours they're open? How n8ce it is that I don't even have to look away from the road and have nice lady robot voice tell me to turn right 2 miles?

I could give up a lot of my smartphone stuff and not have it be "for the worse", but im keeping the mapping stuff.

Sucks to be you, bro, but that's not a universal experience.

I grew up when cell phones weren't common, then flip phones were the thing. I didn't get my first smartphone until I was already out of high school. My life was improved immensely. Not just the connection that allows me multiple vectors of communication to the people who matter to me, and the ability to plausibly ignore communications from those who don't, but the absolute plethora of utilities now at my fingertips.

Do you even know how to balance a checkbook? Have you ever had to do it? In less than a minute I can see not only my bank balance, but all transactions going back months.

My teachers all told me I wouldn't have a calculator with me all the time. Turns out that was not to be.

If I need to know something, anything, ever, I have a device on my person that allows me immediate access to the sum total of human knowledge. Whether it's a question of what time the hardware store opens, how to fix a cracked pipe, or what rocket fuel the Saturn V used, the information is right at my fingertips.

I don't ever have to be lost again. First time in a city? I can get directions to anywhere, from anywhere, any time I want.

I even have a freakin flashlight at all times.

Yeah, it sucks that some people get stuck in a narcissistic spiral on facebook or obsessively doomscroll to the detriment of their own health, but that's not the smartphone's fault any more than it is just the invention of electricity's fault.

The 'smart' is the only part of my phone I like.

the good:

• wife can see when I'm running late because I chose to share GPS location
• I have maps
• I have zello
• I have messaging and asynchronous comms is so great
• I have email
• I have web so I can see my monitoring green-light

The bad:

• it would ring, if it wasn't set up as a tablet
• if i installed IG or FB or Twitter, I'd have those, which are apparently toxic

So, yeah.

I can only think of one thing that holds me back from a phone like a Nokia 3310, GPS map routes. Other than route planning and turn by turn everything else I could easily do without.

Fair enough. My life would be quite a bit worse without it personally. Nobody is forcing you to have one though, if it's genuinely not doing it for you you can always get a dumb phone.

Congrats on having a low-effort life?

It is a tool. Make sure to use it rather than allow it to use you. For my next phone I wish I could get a dumbphone but the need to have something like Google Maps is too strong. I'll definitely just get a cheapie though, or perhaps a Fairphone.

Do you never leave your house?

Oh man where to start.

No tertiary devices. No GPS or iPod in my car. Just my phone. For so many useless gadgets. Cameras, video cameras...CALCULATORS, All in one place. That's number 1.

2 would be that these devices are all a part of an ecosystem that grew so fast... Not only did our phones suddenly all have GPS, but it'd tell us about traffic. That used to be someone's news beat. Gone, overnight

3. Mobile browser. What?! You mean every time that annoying know it all friend starts confidently talking about something they know nothing about You can just Google it right in front of them instead if having it be some annoying thing.
4. For better or worse, I am never bored.

That's just the first few that come to mind...

At first they were really cool and seemingly had unlimited potential with a wild and unknown future as numerous brands competed intensely with their own take on the formula.

These days, they are ultra expensive glass rectangles that exist to serve you endless ads and harvest every piece of info about every facet of your life. You also have to pay enormous subscription fees to get half the functionality they used to have. I just got an iPhone on a deep discount from my carrier and I stopped giving a shit about phone tech. Processor speed, camera specs, "AI", whatever. It's all trash to me now and the technology doesn't excite me in the slightest. Carriers and manufacturers have choked all the life and enjoyment out of smart phones.

I thought there was a whole movement going on among the "youngs," where they were specifically getting old flip phones that couldn't run any apps. I heard about that trend more than a year ago, so it's probably long passed.

You’d have paid more for basic services like insurance as you couldn’t compare the market. You’d have to trust that clever guy in the pub since you couldn’t Google anything. You’d get lost driving to a new place and have to ask for directions, of course getting the village idiot.

I desperately hate how my I’m addicted to my phone and I’m praying that when the next generation of Garmin watches come out it will be able to talk to ChatGPT and make phone calls from it, so I could ditch my iPhone forever!

There are a lot of good things that a smartphone provides that has made my life better.

Weather they apply to you I don't know.

Here are some great features of my smartphone that had improved my life.

1. GPS navigation - being able to quickly and easily find your way is amazing. Though I will never have my GPS running with sound, I use it to have a map up when driving where I can glance to see the general idea of the way to my destination, this sometimes mean I miss a turn, but it's fine the system quickly calculates the route again and I don't get yelled at to follow directions when it might be impossible, reducing stress.
2. Smart lighting, my phone can turn on my lights at home before I get home making me able to open my front door into a cozy lit up home rather than a black void.
3. Translation on the go, being able to get translations of just about anything you need at any point is amazing, sure the translations are not perfect, but they are good enough.
4. Entertainment is probably to biggest win for me, being able watch a movie, listen to music, read a book where ever you are on a small device you have with you is truly amazing.

I use the Realcalc scientific calculator app at least 5 times a week. As others have mentioned GPS functionality for driving is great. I also use my phone's GPS to get waypoints for the location of fixtures for my job as a telecommunications facilities designer.

Having a high quality camera is also handy for work and personal stuff.

So far I have managed to avoid getting a smartphone and am still using a flip phone. Every time I look into getting one it gives me a yucky feeling, but I'm still considering getting one at some point.

Of course I have a computer, a laptop, and also a small tablet that I have some apps and games on for amusement. But for a phone to carry around, all I care about is having a way to make a call if needed and send/receive texts, so I have no need for a smartphone. I have taken my tablet to a cafe and used their Wifi to access the internet a few times, but I rarely want to do that.

(edit to add): I can also use my flip phone as a wifi hotspot for my tablet if I really need to access the internet but I never do this as I usually don't carry my tablet around.

Things that I can see a smartphone being useful for:

• GPS/maps, but I don't really need that since I rarely travel that far away and I know my way around my city and nearby cities. However I can always download static maps of other cities to my tablet if I'm going to an unfamiliar place and/or look it up online ahead of time--like when I had to go to a funeral, I printed off a couple maps--one close up on the location area and one zoomed further out to see the route to the area.
• Weather app with radar.
• Signal app, which I'm not sure I'd use, but I think it would be nice to have in case I need secure messaging as we move into 2025.
• ummmm, can't think of anything else 🤔

Things I'm glad I don't have to worry about by not having one:

• Tracking, data harvesting, surveillance. Including via the phone's mic.
• going around like a zombie everywhere constantly staring a screen, unable to sit or stand quietly for more than 15 seconds without whipping it out (the phone! you knew what I meant). This is really not healthy. Maybe I wouldn't do that, but who knows, maybe I would start doing that, as it seems everyone else does, and (sorry, but) it looks pathetic and I think it's not healthy.
• the constant beeping, dinging, vibrating, or whatever it's set to do for notifications, from dozens of apps demanding attention. That would drive me nuts. My phone only makes a sound if I get a phone call or text, which is not often. If I ever started getting texts too often I might turn off sound for them.

Smartphone can be used to organize protests.

See: Hong Kong Protests (they didn't succeed in their goals, but still, they did put up some resistance)

Also, union activity. Encrypted chat apps to prevent employers finding out what you are up to. Prevents employers preemptively firing you before you get to legally form the union and get legal protection. Make strike-breaking harder.

Encrypted communications is very useful for people in abusive relationships. Smartphone cameras and microphone can record evidence of abuse. And data connection could also be used to save it to cloud and prevent deletion of evidence. Also, while not a "smart" phone specific feature, text to 911 is very useful if the abusive spouse is nearby and you need to call for help, and need to keep quiet. GPS positioning makes it easier for rescuers to locate you.

The trick is to get someone to pay you to make the smartphones

People who hate smartphones are luddites. There's so much these devices bring to the table that it's hard to summarize. From instantly connecting to anyone in the world with audio as well as video to knowing exactly where we are at any point in time. Enabling us to handle almost any situation. As long as my phone can connect to a cell network or Wi-Fi you could drop me anywhere in the world and I'd be fine.

The people who think smartphones have made the world worse are barking up the wrong tree. It's not the concept of the smartphone that did that, it's apps and capitalism that did. Exploiting psychology to wring any possible profit out of humanity is the problem, not these wonderful fruits of miniaturization.

I, too, hate phones and love weed