The very first phone entered our lives in the early 1990s, but it wasn’t until the late 2000s and early 2010s that it became so ubiquitous. Today, it is difficult to imagine what our daily life looked like before them. Whether it’s splitting the bill at a restaurant, or finding your way around a new city, smartphones have made our lives infinitely easier.
Here are 15 tasks that were harder to do without a smartphone.
Missing the exit indicated in the instructions you printed could be fatal.
We take all of those apps that can tell us exactly where to go, when to turn and how to avoid traffic jams for granted, but it hasn’t always been that easy. Before smartphones, people had to use websites like Mapquest on their computers, print their route, memorize it, or have someone else read it aloud.
And before that? Drivers had to use physical maps, real foldable paper maps with tiny little roads crossing and re-crossing. Going to a new place on your own meant setting aside extra time to stop by the side of the road and check where you were.
Keeping in touch with your friends and family was more difficult.
Yes, you could still call someone or even text them with older cellphones, but FaceTime, Skype, and dedicated video chat apps have made communication much easier. Whether it’s watching your grandchildren grow up living across the country, or checking in with your best friend from halfway around the world, video chat has changed the way we do. to communicate. But that’s not the only improvement smartphones have incorporated into communication. Apps like WhatsApp and GroupMe have also made it easier for friends and family to talk without racking up phone bills.
Dividing the bill in restaurants and bars has always been a challenge.
Before there were apps that let people send or receive money, splitting the bill was very tricky. Now it’s much easier to split the bills. Apps like Pumpkin, Lydia, or those provided by big banks are also used to pay rent and bills without having to use checks or cash. It’s hard to remember how we could have lived without them.
Now, if you want pizza delivered to you, you don’t need to call anyone by phone, you’ll find the full menu on your screen, and you can pay by card through the app. It changes the game. Plus, most apps give you a huge selection of restaurants and cuisines to try.
Listening to a wide variety of music was much more difficult before the arrival of smartphones.
With smartphones, we have almost unlimited access to centuries of music. All you need are a pair of headphones, a connection to a WiFi network, and apps like Spotify to have access to everything from Buddhist chants to Beyoncé’s latest hits.
If you forgot your wallet at home, or if it had been stolen from you, you couldn’t buy anything.
Now, a lot of stores around the world accept apps like Apple Pay, a mobile payment system, or your credit card is connected to your phone.
To do quick calculations, you had to have a calculator, or a sheet and a pencil.
Do you remember when your teachers told you to learn to do calculations well because you wouldn’t always have a calculator with you? Little did they know that soon everyone would have calculators all the time.
Dating someone must have been more difficult before the advent of dating apps.
The meeting applications are very popular right now. Vox magazine reported that 57 million people used Tinder in February 2019, making it the largest app in the world. But there are many others, like Plenty of Fish, OK Cupid… the list goes on. These apps give you the opportunity to meet people you might never have met otherwise…
Previously, balancing your account was the only way to keep track of your spending.
In 2019, you can view all of your expenses provided you have downloaded the application associated with your bank. All of your transactions, savings and checking accounts, credit cards, and even your credit score are all available in one place.
Before smartphones, watching television was limited to that, on television.
Now almost all streaming services are available on your phone, and you can even download your content offline to watch them without having a WiFi network or internet connection.
The only way to get news was through the newspaper, television or radio.
Nowadays, news from around the world is at your fingertips. From Twitter and news apps to online newspapers and websites, everything you need to know about the world is easy to find.
If you were going to meet someone, you had to pick an exact time and place, or you might not find them at all.
While texting has been around for decades, there are features that show you exactly where everyone who has shared their location with you is.
Something as simple as finding a flashlight was more difficult.
You never know when you might need a flashlight. Fortunately, with smartphones, you always have one handy.
Previously, calling a taxi was one of the only ways to get from point A to point B, without having to travel by car.
Now with VTC apps, it is much easier to call a car that will take you wherever you need to go. Between Uber, Bolt, Kapten, and many more taking a car has never been easier.
If you thought you were right about a question or any other random argument, the only way to be sure was to consult a book or a computer.
“Do a Google search” has become a popular phrase for good reason: it’s the best way to end an argument, prove a fact, or just learn new things about new things. Whereas previously we were limited to what we could find in an encyclopedia or in the library, a simple Google search separates us from the world.