Whether you’re just entering into the transition, or you’ve been using a wheelchair for a while, there are lots of tools and tricks that can make your life easier. One such tool that might seem a little surprising is a smartphone.

Smartphone use isn’t only for connecting with each other and playing games. If you use a wheelchair, a smartphone can help you find accessible spots, get into a hotel room, keep your hands free, and even get help when you’ve taken a spill. The future is here, and you’ll find that the current world of smartphone technology has more features geared toward accessibility than ever before.

We’ll guide you through some of the top reasons you might want to use a smartphone to improve your everyday routine.

Finding the Necessities

An extremely helpful way smartphones can aid wheelchair users is navigation. You might think smartphone apps are less than helpful because they’re designed with non-wheelchair-users in mind. However, in recent years, more and more accessible features and specialized apps have come on the scene.

Have you ever been in an unfamiliar part of town and needed to use the bathroom? Finding an accessible bathroom can be a headache, especially when you don’t know your surroundings very well.

Here’s where a smartphone can be a lifesaver. There are apps out there that can show you where the nearest wheelchair-accessible bathroom is. These often come with a map feature so you can easily navigate to the right place.

This isn’t just for bathrooms, either. You can find apps like these for accessible parking spaces, cafes, and restaurants. If you’re planning an outing somewhere, you can even use these apps to map out key locations for the day.

Mobile Key for Hotels

If you use a wheelchair, you might find that travel brings a set of unique problems to solve. One of these is hotel check-in.

The heights of some key slots in hotel doors might be inconvenient or even impossible to reach in a wheelchair. This is an issue in the design of the hotel, and it shouldn’t be up to you to figure out a way around it.

The good news is that, if you have a smartphone, the hotel might have another room key option for you. This is called a mobile key or keyless entry, and it allows you to use your phone to unlock the door to your room.

Accessible Rideshares

You may have your own system for getting from place to place on a daily basis, but what about when you’re going someplace new?

You might be glad to learn that rideshare apps, like Uber and Lyft, now have accessibility features built-in. If you download these apps on a smartphone, you can use your phone to request an accessible vehicle to pick you up and take you wherever you want to go.

Voice Recordings

When you want to take notes, but your hands are busy, voice recordings are a great way your smartphone can help you out. As a wheelchair user, you might require more use of your hands than someone who doesn’t use a wheelchair, and this can make it hard to multitask when you’re on the go.

Most smartphones will have a built-in voice recorder app that you can use to take notes while your hands are doing more important things. Some apps even have a voice-to-text function, so you can speak your thoughts and read them later.

Messaging apps on smartphones often have a voice-to-text feature as well, so you can send texts while minimizing the need to look at your touch your phone.

Smartphone Use for Fall Safety

This is one of the more advanced uses of smartphones, and you might find that it’s also one of the most useful. This type of app is called fall prevention or fall detection.

You can download one of these apps to monitor the acceleration of the phone, and then keep the phone in a pocket or somewhere else on your person throughout the day. This way, if you fall, the app will notice the high acceleration of the phone’s movement and can send an alert for help.

Don’t worry about situations where you drop your phone by accident. These apps will have features to let you confirm whether something was a false alarm.

If you have a history of falls, you should also know that this might qualify you for a power wheelchair, another example of technology helping you live your best life.

Tracking Your Day

A smartphone can be a great way to keep track of day-to-day activities and notes regarding your health. You can even use a voice recording feature to help you out.

Lots of apps can help you track the distance you travel over the course of your day, but you might expect that they’d be designed for people who don’t use wheelchairs. These days, though, you can find specialized apps that can track inclines, distance, and acceleration in a way that’s geared toward wheelchair users.

Exercises

Another type of activity-focused app is an exercise app designed for differently-abled people. If you’re trying to get into an exercise routine but are having trouble finding workouts that make sense for you, a smartphone app can open up new possibilities.

A wheelchair user with a smartphone can do a quick search to find apps built specifically for the wheelchair user community. Some of these apps were even built by people who use wheelchairs themselves.

Once you download one of these smartphone apps, you can use it to choose workout regimens, see what certain exercises look like, and time your reps.

Give it a Try

If you use a wheelchair and are looking for ways to improve your day-to-day life, a smartphone can help you out more than you’ve ever realized. Clever smartphone use can help you navigate tricky spaces and even give you an added layer of protection as you go about your day.

To learn about our latest wheelchair technologies, contact us today. We’ll be happy to work with you to get the tools you need.