Barely Use Cell Phone

[TheWizard]

You can download phone apps from the Google Play store or the Apple store if you're an IPHONE user. There are tons of apps available and most are good quality.

That's assuming one gets a SMARTPHONE with a TracFone plan.
Problem is, TracFone also sells basic flip phones which aren't going to support all those apps...

 

[TheWizard]

I have a Pixel 7 with Google Fi and use it all the time, everywhere.
I get cell service, including data, once the plane lands: Singapore, Indonesia, Japan and Australia in the past year.

I do many financial transactions on my phone: depositing paper checks, paying CC balances, transferring money from checking account to Vanguard settlement fund, and setting up ETF limit orders.

I get my airline boarding passes on my phone a day before flying, which seems to speed up the bag check process as well.

I use my phone, with Google pay, to tap on/off of various public transit systems: London, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne recently. Your phone must have an NFC chip for this to work.

I use my phone with QR code to get into Fenway Park numerous times a year, as well as other venues.

I could go on...

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

That's assuming one gets a SMARTPHONE with a TracFone plan.
Problem is, TracFone also sells basic flip phones which aren't going to support all those apps...

I know fliphones are still available but I never even considered that someone would want to use apps on a flip phone screen, at least certainly not with my eyesight. I stand corrected.

Tracfone along with HSN and QVC also sell quite a few Tracfone Smartphones some with bundled plans good for a year which will support these apps and work great for low users.

 

[badatmath]

I just ordered a tracfone bundle for a relative from HSN, hope it works out. Would be very low use.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I just ordered a tracfone bundle for a relative from HSN, hope it works out. Would be very low use.

As long as Verizon is good in their area they should be fine. Verizon owns Tracfone.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I use my phone with QR code to get into Fenway Park numerous times a year, as well as other venues.

I could go on...

You gave some great examples of elite examples of cell phone usage that most people don't even know about. Well done.

As to the QR code access to ballgames and other events, it's a breeze. Many restaurants have discontinued printed menus or else have their drink menus available via QR codes.

A lot of entertainment and sports venues don't even print tickets anymore. I've also found that buying tickets for baseball games on Stub Hub at deep discounts and using the QR code entry into the game is the height of convenience and savings.

 

[scrabbler1]

One feature of Tracfone which was tough to learn, especially after Verizon acquired it, was how to access my voice mail messages from another phone, such as my land line, because I didn't want to use my precious minutes retrieving VMs if I were home. They are usually junk calls.

Furthermore, since Verizon took Tracfone over from ATT, I am not notified when there is a VM waiting for me. I have had them lingering out there for months before I tried to retrieve them. Then again, they are usually junk because I have given nearly nobody my cell phone number, and I have told them to always try to call me on my land line first. The businesses who may contact me via cell, such as doctors offices, may text me (at least I won't overlook those).

 

[athena53]

A lot of entertainment and sports venues don't even print tickets anymore. I've also found that buying tickets for baseball games on Stub Hub at deep discounts and using the QR code entry into the game is the height of convenience and savings.

My cell phone saved the day last December. I had tickets for DDIL, me and the 2 granddaughters (ages 8 and 5) to see The Nutcracker at the Kansas City Ballet. I'd printed out the tickets and put the papers by my purse. DGD picked them up, drew pictures on them and put them somewhere else. I forgot them.

We got to the venue and debated what to do- DS was home with the 3-year old but, in retrospect, he never would have found them if we'd called. I paid $10 for parking (had prepaid but that voucher was missing, too) and went in. Fortunately when I showed them my confirmation e-mail on my phone they printed out tickets. Phew! We'd told the girls that if they refused us entry they had to cry loudly. Glad it didn't come to that.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I showed them my confirmation e-mail on my phone they printed out tickets. Phew!

So you were saved by the cell.

 

[badatmath]

One feature of Tracfone which was tough to learn, especially after Verizon acquired it, was how to access my voice mail messages from another phone, such as my land line, because I didn't want to use my precious minutes retrieving VMs if I were home. They are usually junk calls.

Furthermore, since Verizon took Tracfone over from ATT, I am not notified when there is a VM waiting for me. I have had them lingering out there for months before I tried to retrieve them. Then again, they are usually junk because I have given nearly nobody my cell phone number, and I have told them to always try to call me on my land line first. The businesses who may contact me via cell, such as doctors offices, may text me (at least I won't overlook those).

Do you happen to know if you can disable VM completely? Relative is NOT going to be able do it if even slightly difficult. It looks like potentially it can not be set up.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Do you happen to know if you can disable VM completely? Relative is NOT going to be able do it if even slightly difficult. It looks like potentially it can not be set up.

You don't have to set voicemail up if you don't want to then no one can leave a message.
Your smartphone will still show you if you've missed a call and the number and it's up to you whether to call back or not. If you don't answer a call, I don't think it uses up your minutes.
Most smartphones now have visual voice mail built in which I personally love. You don't have to dial a number to get your voice mail, the message is left on your smartphone, I get a notification bubble to alert me, then just hit play.
Again these things can all be turned off in phone settings.

 

[audreyh1]

So you were saved by the cell.

Ha ha!

Yes, I love it with venue tickets, plane boarding passes, train tickets, blah blah blah - so much easier to have them read your cellphone display.

 

[disneysteve]

Yes, I love it with venue tickets, plane boarding passes, train tickets, blah blah blah - so much easier to have them read your cellphone display.

It’s always a good idea to take a screenshot of the ticket or code. That way if there is poor service when you get there. You just show the photo and they scan that.

 

[TheWizard]

It’s always a good idea to take a screenshot of the ticket or code. That way if there is poor service when you get there. You just show the photo and they scan that.

I've done that in the past, but the Red Sox mentioned that's no longer permissible for tickets to Fenway.
Doesn't matter much for me; it's worked fine the past few years...

 

[braumeister]

I've done that in the past, but the Red Sox mentioned that's no longer permissible for tickets to Fenway.

Stadiums around here have recently announced the same.

 

[audreyh1]

It’s always a good idea to take a screenshot of the ticket or code. That way if there is poor service when you get there. You just show the photo and they scan that.

It’s already on my phone, loaded into the wallet or in the transit app or an already downloaded email, so you don’t have to rely on cell data service when you are there.

But yes you should make sure it’s downloaded and saved in your phone.

Now if your phone dies or goes missing - oops. You might want backup.

 

[jollystomper]

I view the cell phone as a convenience that I do not want to become too dependent on. My primary use is for text and calling. Main apps I use are:
- for travel (United and Hilton)
- web browser (which eliminates the needs for a lot of apps)
- Google Maps
- email
-WhatsApp (for overseas relatives and travel)
- Calculator
- Home security (Simplisafe and Wyze)

No banking or personal finance, too risky for something so easy to misplace, break, or be stolen.

At home I rarely keep the phone on me. I usually leave it in a central location, like the kitchen or family room. When my activity takes me thru those areas I will look at it to see if there are any notifications I need to act on.

I would LOVE to delete 90% of the apps that come with the phone to free up space. It is crazy (but of course profitable) that the Android operating system takes up the vast majority of the memory on the phone, and continues to grow with new releases without (in my view) providing a commensurate increase in value).

I do not like the decreasing ability to store apps (or their data) on the SD card. In my view, the best option would be to have the ability to store ALL apps, or at lease their data, on the SD card. It would make moving to a new phone so much easier - just a simple backup/restore to/from the SD card.

I shy away from purchasing things that require using a phone app to use them. For example, I am looking at moving to a mesh wireless network for our home, and one of my criteria is that it cannot require me to use a phone app to interact with it. Wish me luck .

 

[TheWizard]

I view the cell phone as a convenience that I do not want to become too dependent on...

I've worried about this a bit from time to time.

A lot of my financial apps use biometric authentication which would be hard for a thief to use unless they steal my thumb as well, god help me.

Much important data is stored at the site itself, Cap One Visa or Vanguard, not on my phone. So it's easy to use my desktop PC to do things in the event my smartphone has an issue.

It's increasingly simply to transfer all your apps and data to a new smartphone every few years when you get a new one, no problem..

I take a spare backup smartphone with me when I travel for a week or more. WiFi only to start with, but fully functional...

 

[jollystomper]

It's increasingly simply to transfer all your apps and data to a new smartphone every few years when you get a new one, no problem..

Just curious on this point: Do you have an iPhone or Android smartphone?

I use Android. When I change models, it usually when I stopped getting Android updates and some apps start complaining "the app is no longer supported on this level" . The change has rarely been to the same smartphone vendor, as I look for the best deal at the time. My last switch was from Samsung to Motorola. 2 years ago. Moving was a pain. Through Verizon and Google I could easily move contacts, but that was it. Everything was a manual process, apps had to be reinstalled, messages manually moved, etc. Verizon has a process to move some content but errors would occur. Maybe that process has gotten better.

I am spoiled by my IT background of upgrading by just moving the existing storage to the new hardware and having it work with little or no issues.

 

[catii]

Use my Galaxy 20 mostly for phone. My email isn't set up (on purpose), nor is voicemail. Five people have my number, which is unlisted. I do use it for 2FA, & texting to/from those five. so it's convenient for when I want to use it, not for others!

 

[richardf]

iPhone 7+

Just curious, are there any other people out there who barely use their cell phones? I don't see the attraction. Aside from the initial "coolness factor", the only thing I use it for is to get the weather forecast and to generate a code to log in to my work computer. Thanks.

I could get along without a cell phone. I’m still using a iPhone 7+ and don’t know if I’ll upgrade.

 

[JohnRM]

I use mine to play solitaire, play scrabble with my sister and my nephew, plus all the usual swiss army knife apps, flashlight, camera, GPS, shopping list ... I hate when the phone rings though.

 

[ArmchairMillionaire]

Just curious, are there any other people out there who barely use their cell phones? I don't see the attraction. Aside from the initial "coolness factor", the only thing I use it for is to get the weather forecast and to generate a code to log in to my work computer. Thanks.

I do not own a cell phone. I bought DW a flip phone (her choice) for the occasional time she needs to make phone calls for her job. If we remember, we'll take it with us if we go out of town just for emergencies or for her to call her family to let them know we're okay.
We've never sent a text message. We have no need for smartphones yet until we're forced to get them. At some point we know we might have to get a smartphone if we want to go to certain concerts or park in big cities... But until then, we're fine without one.

 

[orbops]

I have a PagePlus account for $10/month. It gives me 500 mins, 500 texts, and 100MB of data. I only use data in wi-fi mode.

 

[Music Lover]

I don't get those who brag that they never use a cell phone.

It has 100 times more uses and in many cases is less expensive per month.