Your phone’s camera is more than just a lens for capturing memories. You probably already know this – it can deposit checks, import business cards and look for constellations in the night sky. But with smart thinking or the right tools, it can do so much more.
Use your camera roll for quick notes
I use my camera to remember things more often than I use them for real photos. Not only do I store photos of my license plate, medical insurance card and other information in Evernote – thanks to my camera – but I also keep a lot of short-term stuff in the camera roll. Taking a photo is often a quick way to take a note without typing for five minutes. Do you need to remember where you parked in the mall structure? Take a picture of the sign as you hit the elevator. Do you need an easily accessible map of the mall while shopping? Grab a photo of the kiosk (it never seems to exist if you need it). If you are tracking your calorie intake during the day, take the nutrition labels and consolidate them at night. When I take computers apart, I regularly take pictures of each step so that I have a visual guide to refer to when I get stuck putting them back together. Never forget that you have an infinite roll of film in your pocket.
Visualize furniture in your home
It’s not just about taking photos: modern phones are much more powerful than before. With augmented reality, you can deliver digital information on top of the real world as seen through your camera lens. For example, if you are looking at furniture but want to see if it actually fits in with the environment, some applications, including Amazon and IKEA Place, may use you to take advantage of the augmented reality features of your phone to create a digital version to give. from that coffee table in your living room. It does not necessarily work for all furniture available in the store, and IKEA offers this service only to iOS users, but it is very convenient for those who have access.
Find products based on a photo
Suppose you have the opposite problem: you see a cool piece of furniture, art or something else at a friend’s house and they do not know where they bought it. Some apps, like eBay and Wayfair, allow you to take a picture of something and search for it on their platform. You may not find an exact replica, but you may find something similar – or you may find the right words to go deeper into your search and find exactly what you are looking for.
Try glasses, clothes and make-up before you buy
Other brands have come up with an augmented reality, albeit a bit slow. With Warby Parker, for example, you can virtually “try” different frames, so you can narrow down your choice before ordering a few pairs for a home trial. Google works closely with cosmetics companies to offer virtual trials when searching for certain types of makeup, and L’Oreal allows you to do something similar on the desktop (it also supports hair colors). With other applications, such as Zeekit, you can try clothes from some popular brands, but we’re still waiting for this idea to gain a foothold among major clothing retailers.
Share your Wi-Fi with a QR code
This is not exactly a trick for your camera, but rather for your friends’ cameras: If your home network has a long, complex, unique password, it’s annoying to hand it out to friends and family who come there. Instead of saying your long passphrase, express it as a QR code using a tool like QiFi. If they scan it with their phone, it will connect automatically – no typing required. You can even buy luxury Wi-Fi QR badges and magnets on Etsy, designed for things like short-term vacation rentals.
Scan documents to PDF
Scanners are, simply put, the worst. Getting my printer / scanner to work is like training a starfish to jump through hoops. These days, the camera of your phone can do it properly – just grab Adobe Scan and you can turn any document into a clean PDF that you can send to anyone. If you want to export it as an editable document, programs like Microsoft Office Lens and ABBYY FineScanner can give you much more control.
Get a better overview of hard to reach places
I’m just a little embarrassed to admit how often I use my camera to find an HDMI port in the back of a dark closet. Or to find out which wires match which connectors on the back of the loud speaker. Or to find the serial number on my printer, tucked away in a closet. Instead of pulling the whole thing out to see what is, I can grab my camera, grab my arm back and take some pictures and hope for the best. (In a similar vein, I’ve seen people use it on small restaurant menus when they forget to bring their reading glasses.)
Translate characters and other text in real time
Traveling to another country can be stressful if you do not know the language, and although it helps to learn a little before you leave, programs like Google Translate can help you a lot. Not only can you type or say something to have it translated into the language of your choice, but you can also point your camera at a board, menu or other text from the actual direction and it will translate it instantly.
Get help with your math homework (or Sudoku puzzle)
At some point in your math career, a calculator just starts to feel limited. After all, how do you help it if you can not figure out how it got there? Photomath is an augmented reality app that lets you take a picture of a math problem and then see the steps that lead to the answer. It can handle simple problems as well as more complicated functions such as logarithms, trigonometry and even differential equations. Oh, and for your less time, there are even programs that can help you fix your Sudoku.
See if your TV remote control needs batteries
Finally, here is something that is definitely low-tech. If your TV remote control does not work, you can quickly open the camera of your phone, point the remote control and press the on / off button – if you see the infrared light appear in the search appliance of the camera app, you know that the remote control is still sending signals (and the receiver of your TV may be blocked). If you do not see the infrared light, your remote control probably needs new batteries. Use the power button to test, as some features may not use infrared on modern TVs, and if you have problems with the rear camera, try the selfie camera – it may be more sensitive to infrared light.
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