From Just Phones to Smartphones!

Salman Rob
Graphics: Internet

As smartphones become more of a necessity and less of a luxury in our day-to-day lives, it's important to take a step back and consider how we got there. Is it the simplicity of navigating the world, thanks to Google Maps? Is it the convenience of having emailing options right at our fingertips? Is it the ease with which we can communicate with family and friends through calling, texting, and various social networks? The answer is, has been, and will always be, 'apps' (Application). Even the most basic of functions on your smartphones, messaging, calendar- are apps, though you might not think of them that way. But all those are apps too.

WhatsApp! One of the must haves in your cell phone has grown out from a small texting software into something really big this year. WhatsApp handles ten billion messages per day as of August, 2012, growing from two billion in April, 2012.

Everybody's favourite game, Temple Run, has completed one year since it was launched. In this time, the game has been downloaded over 100 million times. People have played over 10 billion sessions so far. Addictive but the rush of being chased by crazy evil monkeys is something else. For a lot of other games you may need to pay, but for Temple Run it is free of charge, so you can download and try it out right now from your play store.

Your Android phone is your proud possession but have you ever looked at its security challenges? You must pay attention to it as your device is an attraction for virus authors these days and viruses can cripple your phone and may cause data loss. For that, there are a lot of anti-virus security systems and avast mobile security is one of a kind. It gives protection 24/7 and provides weekly scanning options, depending on when the user wants to have a virus scan.

Another fun app is the E-book. It is quite a hit amongst the bookworms. You get a shelf of books to pick from and read. In addition, for those who love taking pictures, there are fun picture editing softwares which can come in handy.

Instragram is another new hype that has been going around now for a while. Take a picture with your phone anywhere, anytime, and start sharing. As long as you have a wifi connection around or have your mobile internet switched on, Instragram can be used like a pocket update centre.

Another yet ignored app is the flash light app. Maybe it is not all that fancy but it can be a real saviour when you are trapped in total darkness.

Lastly, a must have are the mobile theft apps. There are lots of them, but it is always better to read the description before downloading one. What they do is keep a track of your phone even if it gets lost or stolen. The software would provide the location of your cell phone through E-mail. However, after downloading the application, it is essential that you check it out, just to be sure that it works. Better to be safe than sorry.