How often do you use your smartphone camera? With every new model that comes out, it seemscamera quality is often a huge selling point. But do you take advantage of those advancements? There are a lot of neat uses for that camera you carry around everywhere regardless of whether it's the latest and greatest or three years old.
Personally,
I use my smartphone camera maybe once or twice a year. It's pretty sad
and a waste of potential, so I've been interested in figuring out how to
make better use of it. If you're in the same boat as me, you may be
surprised to find out that your smartphone camera is great for more than
just family photos and Instagram filters.
Makeshift scanner
Based
on what I've seen, scanners have started disappearinghomes. The only
scanners I've seen are the printer-fax-scanner all-in-one machines for
home offices which are bulky and eat up space. What if you don't have a
scanner and want to scan a document? Nowadays, your phone camera is good
enough to do that for free.
With
appsCamScanner (Android, our review), Document Scanner (Android), and
Genius Scan (iPhone), you can take photos of various documents and
images and instantly transform them into PDFs that are ready for office
consumption. In most cases, the final document quality is on par or
better than home office scanners.
Makeshift webcam or security cam
Nowadays,
most laptops and netbooks come with integrated webcams and some
monitors even have webcam capabilities. However, if you don't have a
webcam, you can buy a passable one these days for less than $20 if you
look in the right places - or you can just hook up your smartphone and
use its camera instead.
There are a lot of smartphone-as-webcam apps out there, both for Android and
iPhone, and the level of setup difficulty varies depending on which app
you use. However, on the whole, it's pretty simple. Use your Android as
a webcam or use your iPhone as a webcam, then tell us how it went and how youit!
By
using your smartphone as a webcam, you could even turn it into a
security cam. This can be useful in a number of situations, whether it's
to watch for night intruders at home, keep tabs on your children as
they sleep, or just as an extra set of eyes for various corridors at
work.
Proof and documentation
Many
of us probably know that camera photos can be useful as evidence when
something goes wrong, but how many of us actually use our smartphones
for that purpose? The most common example that I've heard is in the case
of a car accident (snap photos of the damage and the offender's license
plate), but this could be applied in so many other ways.
For
example, if you frequently sell items online, snap photos of the product
just before shipping so you have evidence. Not only does this protect
you against a buyer's retaliation, it can be used as proof against the
shipping company.
If
you ever rent something, snap photos of any potentially incriminating
marks, dents, and damages, no matter how insignificant they may seem. If
you document the state of your rental at the start of your renting
agreement, you can protect yourself against those who want to pull a
fast one on you. This is applicable for vehicles, apartments, etc.
For
more personal examples, you could use smartphone photos to document any
disassembly you do. When you take apart an electronic or mechanical
device for the first time, these photos could prove invaluable when it's
time to put things back together.
And
then there's price matching. If you visit a store with a robust price
matching policy, you may be able to present photos of a cheaper
priceanother store and get them to match.
Memory aid
Photos
were originally meant to capture a moment in time as a memory, so why
not use your smartphone camera to help you remember mundane details that
you might normally forget? Doing so might reduce the amount of
inconvenience in your life.
Before
you leave on an extended trip, take a photo ofof your luggage and
everything inside each bag or case. At the end of your trip, review
these photos to make sure you have everything and aren't forgetting
anything. Quick and easy, isn't it?
Similarly,
if you park in a multi-story parking garage, you could snap a photo of
location signs to help you rememberyou parked your car. No matter how
good your memory is, there are times when you'll blank and forgetyou
parked. Save time and energy with a photo.
"Are
you taking any medication?" You'll hear this a lot when filling out
medical forms or whenever you go in for a hospital checkup, but
sometimes it can be hard to remember everything you're on. Take a
picture of your medicine cabinet so you can pull it out whenever you
need to know. Who knows, it may even save your life one day.
Conclusion
There
is nothing wrong with taking photos of a family event or your latest
trip to the beach, but your smartphone can be used for so much more than
that. A few creative applications can turn your smartphone cameraan
afterthought into a tool that makes your life easier - even the old
spare smartphones that seem useless.
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