Although I changed my phone multiple times, I’ve owned a smartphone since 8th grade (so for around 3-4 years). Honestly, smartphones are mostly used as time killers, but there were a few apps that I used that I truly enjoyed using. They are not very relevant to education and being productive, but these apps are ones I really wanted to recommend to others.

1. Questions Diary

The reason I placed this app first is because it is definitely not very widely-known. I just recently discovered this app and I fell in love. What this app is that it asks you a question daily for 365 days. You type your answer to each respective question down every day. Then, a year later, it will ask you the same question again and you’ll be able to see how much you’ve changed over the year (for the better or for worse). The questions are based on your views and thoughts on certain scenarios. I think this is a great app to express your true feelings – ones that are hidden from other people – because letting it all out actually helps with relieving stress and sadness.

2. Google Opinion Rewards

This app isn’t related to psychology, but it’s related to money. Majority of the apps in the play store and the app store is free. However, the better-quality, more “pro”-like apps are not free and require money to be downloaded. However, I personally don’t have a card to input into my phone so I am unable to purchase anything that requires money (including movies, songs, and apps that cost money). As for this app, answering some questions in surveys that Google provides gives you money that is added to your Google Play account. So far, I was able to earn up to around $1 which opens up to a lot of apps that I could purchase now. Since the surveys are quick and easy, I think this is a great app to have.

3. VSCO

This is a very popular photo editing app that many, many people use. The reason I’m recommending this is because it is capable of changing the photos to match any mood and theme. For example, if you want your photo to be more calm and moody (?), then you can use the editing tools to adjust the brightness and contrast, etc., to make your photo that way. This is the only photo editing app that I use since it fits so perfectly with what I desire in a editing app. I know this app is popular, but if you love editing photos and don’t have this app, it’s a must-get.

4. Google Photos

This is another super popular app that a lot of people use as their photo backup. The reason why I use this, however, is different from many other’s usage of this app. If you own all apple devices, such as the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Apple Watch, AirPods, etc., there is airdrop which is extremely convenient when sharing documents between each device. However, if you’re like me and you own an iPad (Apple device) and a Note 9 (Samsung device), it is extremely difficult to share files such as photos and videos. I found that Google Photos is the most convenient to use since you can back up all of the photos and videos to your account and then download those into your other device. For example, if I took photos on my phone and I want them on my iPad, I back up all of my photos from my phone into my Google account using Google photos. Then, I go on my iPad and download those backed-up photos from the app to my Gallery. This is still a very gruesome process, but this is the most convenient way I know. If you by any chance know a more effective way, please teach me!

Samsung has recently been setting the new standard for 2019 smartphones. Apple has been losing lots of money for their failure with their 2018 lineup of iPhones. That’s what every tech reviewer has been saying online. However, as a student who lives in an area surrounded by many high school students, I did not see a single galaxy s10 smartphone at school. In fact, I saw so many more people holding iPhone Xr, Xs, and older generation phones. This is what made me wonder…why do so many people choose iPhones over Samsung phones? Why do people gravitate toward the more practical phone over the one that offers so many features? Is it just bandwagon?

1. Airdrop

As a student, I see many people living busy lives. They have so many things to take care of such as extracurricular activities, grades, tests, and sports. In the midst of their busy life, having features that would be beneficial in terms of saving time is welcome. The Airdrop feature is extremely useful and comes in handy if photos, videos, or documents need to be sent to one or multiple people. As a result of this feature being so widely used, people who do not own an iPhone or Apple products are unable to “fit” with the others, causing them to start wanting to get an iPhone for themselves. Even I, who owns a galaxy phone, think that Airdrop is extremely handy when sharing photos and documents with each other.

2. iMessage

This goes hand-in-hand with Airdrop, but there are just so many features that Apple products come with that goes along with interaction with others, which appeals to many people. For example, iMessage is something that many students want. Now, if a “blue message” doesn’t pop up for the person, Android users are made fun of. Honestly, there isn’t much more benefits to iMessage. Rather, it’s more of a feature that people want than need. Since majority of the people use iMessage, the other students want to fit in, causing more people to want to own an iPhone.

3. Camera

Yes, Samsung phones also have great camera that is able to capture moments very well. However, there are very big flaws that the galaxy phone cameras have which the iPhone cameras do not. For example, there is so much motion blur and skin blur with Galaxy phones that makes the photos look less realistic. In addition, the colors do not match with the actual object; it makes it brighter or more yellow-toned. On the other hand, iPhones are able to produce very realistic photos that resemble the actual object that is being taken a photo of. In fact, the amount of details that iPhones are able to include with their camera is amazing. Since we live in a time period when social media is so widely used and camera quality is so important, the camera quality plays a huge role in the reason why people purchase iPhones.

4. Protection

iPhones, unlike Android phones, are very good at preventing viruses. Its long-term usability is amazing and it ages very well. Since it’s not very affected by viruses and other factors that could harm the phone, it makes usability much better, and more appealing to people who want to use their phones without worrying about it slowing down too much over time. In addition, the iCloud setup is so complex and there is not many ways a person could hack into an iPhone, allowing the users to feel safe carrying their phone around.

Conclusion

Yes, Samsung phones have gotten a lot better compared to the past. Yes, they are able to create new forms of technology that would shape the future smartphones that are being released. Yes, they have a lot of features that give the users a lot of choices when using their phone. However, the one factor they were unable to cover is one that is most important in the 21st century. They didn’t put as much emphasis on interaction and ways to improve it. Since online interaction is so important nowadays, Apple got it all covered, but there are still many flaws in terms of the messaging systems and just usability in general of Samsung phones. Therefore, if Samsung can improve in that area, many more people would be willing to purchase their devices.

Tag: airdrop

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