According to statistics released by the Pew Research Center, a non-partisan Washington-based think-tank that provides information on social issues, 96% of people in the country own a mobile phone today. When the center conducted a study in 2011, just 35% of the country’s population owned a smartphone, whereas that percentage stands at 81% today.

A large number of people depend on smartphones as their main channel for online access. Also, 1/5th of the people in the country use their smartphones exclusively for Internet access and don’t have broadband service at home.

Smartphones have swiftly become an integral part of our lives. It’s important to understand the healthy benefits of smartphones.

Smartphones provide a range of personal, financial, social, and cultural benefits. These include:

• Providing a more convenient way to stay in touch.
• Increase in information flow
• Access to different aspects: banking, email, books, videos, social media, calendar, appointments, ordering groceries, writing reports, connecting with SmartHome, etc.
• Opportunities to extend the knowledge base
• Entertainment
• Opportunity to use several useful apps
• Global exposure
• Help with fulfilling social and personal responsibilities.
• Enhanced professional life and career growth.
• Instant help in emergencies
• Great benefits in social media for the selfie generation.
• Protects your privacy
• Navigation facilities

Smartphones can provide the following health benefits:

1. Voice-activated 911
The digital assistant can be commanded to dial emergency phone numbers in a crisis. If you have an iPhone, you can activate Siri, or you can use Alexa or Google Now voice activation. These can save your life in an emergency situation when you’re unable to use your hands to dial the numbers.

2. Fitness apps
Some leading brands have apps that can monitor your heart-rate along with approximate readings of oxygen-saturation, nutrition tracking, general fitness, etc. Also, there are smartphone-based ways to manage medical conditions like fibromyalgia and migraine, share information and lab-reports with your healthcare professionals, track medication refills, store appointments, etc. Furthermore, there are fitness tracking apps that have motion sensors to count steps, speed, distance, stair-climbing, calories burned, fitness program reminders, etc.

3. Real-time communication
Smartphone technology allows healthcare professionals to conduct examinations using HD cameras, prescribe tests and medication, and build doctor-patient rapport. For doctors or nurses, the health benefits of smartphones are immense. They promote collaboration, enable information-sharing, and provide opportunities for global consultation. Some smartphone brands have apps that turn them into a medical alert bracelet. These enable doctors, nurses, or ER staff to access your medical condition, allergies, medical and personal contacts, blood-type, etc.

4. Eating healthy
Apps on your smartphone can help you read labels on food products by scanning the UPCs. They give you instant assessments of the ingredients and offer safer alternatives. You can also check the calorific value of food in restaurants or at home.

5. Stress-free health scheduling
Smartphone apps can set up timers to schedule medication times, workouts, healthcare appointments, monitor sleep schedules, dental hygiene, and birth control.

6. Customization options
Other great healthy benefits of smartphones include providing bespoke treatments. Doctors can create customized treatment plans, document them, and make appointments on their smartphones. These can be shared with the patient.

Your smartphone can be quite beneficial when it comes to keeping track of your health as well as maintaining a daily routine.