Eight Amazing Things You Never Knew Your Smartphone Could Do

If you are like many people, you have been carrying a smartphone of one type or another around in your pocket for years. You probably think that by now you are pretty familiar with just about everything that little gadget can do. Well, think again – you might be amazed by how many unique, handy and just plain cool things an ordinary smartphone is able to accomplish.

Using smart light bulbs lets you adjust the hue and brightness of a room’s lighting whenever you wish. Installing the Phillips Hue app means you can make these adjustments on the fly.

You might find yourself needing to check your heart rate for a variety of different health and fitness reasons. With a smartphone, there is no need for a separate piece of equipment to do so; simply install an app like “Instant Heart Rate” and your results are as easy as touching your finger to the phone’s screen.

By setting up your phone to control your TV and DVR, you will never have to worry about losing a remote again. In fact, many television service providers now offer their own proprietary apps for this purpose, making setup a breeze.

If you have grown tired of the same old design scheme in your house, decorating apps let you use your phone’s camera to record images of rooms; you can then experiment by placing digital versions of all different types of furniture, decorations and the like in the room until you find a look that is just right. Or, if you decide your home is not large enough to meet your needs, apps like Mark on Call allow you to lay out entirely new rooms or entire sections of your home, and even create in-depth blueprints for your creations.

Multiple apps, like Smart Measure Pro, can look at an object of almost any size through your phone’s camera. They will then calculate the object’s height, width, distance from you and similar relevant pieces of information.

An app like Viper Smart Start, once it has been set up properly, can actually turn your car on for you. No more freezing rides to work on frosty mornings; now you can let your car warm up while you finish your breakfast inside!

A smartphone can perform a ton of different jobs that will make your next do-it-yourself project far quicker and easier. For example, some apps let you use your phone as a level, eliminating the need to hunt down or buy one more tool. Other apps will help you automatically match any color you wish, minimizing the chances of a disastrous paint job or replacement furniture that looks completely wrong.

Today, if you run your own business, there is no excuse for not accepting credit card payments. After all, as fewer and fewer people carry cash with them regularly, you are losing potential business by not accepting credit cards! Virtually every major credit card payment processing company offers everything you need to run payments directly through your smartphone for free. This can be a lifesaver for mobile business owners who rarely find themselves in a physical office with a traditional credit card machine.