Surely you don't carry your phone everywhere?

[SEmyarse]

Every time there's a discussion about civil liberties, for instance at the moment with ID cards, people always say, why are you worried they can track you by your phone anyway. But that implies that people are always carrying their phones.

I have a phone, I have to for work, and it's very useful outside work as well. I sometimes use it for navigation, and on certain instances I might take it with me if there's a chance I'll need to liaise with someone while out. Super helpful technology.

But surely people aren't taking it to the shops, or on the school run, or out for a walk in the countryside?

Oh yes I typed too quickly to think of that 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

Probably couldn’t have got to a pay phone if you were in a rogue taxi though 🤷🏽‍♀️
my mum used to wait up and then come and pick up me and my friends.
people absolutely did worry, and a pay phone being available didn’t change that at all.

I have health problems & I have a grown up son that lives with mates but still needs some support & may call randomly. My phone is with me 24/7 unless I am somewhere I can't have it eg the other day while I was having a scan it was in my bag locked in the changeroom

AppleCare are mentioned https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/aig.co.uk

You’re the odd man out on this. Phones have become necessary tools.

Interesting, when you Google ‘Can Trustpilot be trusted’. Apparently the answer is no. It’s mentioned several times :-)

But surely people aren't taking it to the shops, or on the school run, or out for a walk in the countryside?

shops? Yes because I use my phone to pay for my things. This is the one place I have to turnaround and go and get my phone as I never carry cash
school run? Yes because I drive and once broke down and was without my phone and it was a nightmare and had to borrow a phone
countryside walk? Always as I walk alone and if I stumble and fall I would need help. Also, most people would drive to the countryside and I think it is unreasonable to be driving anywhere or walking anywhere without the means of contacting people if you need help

Thank you, that additional information is helpful.
AppleCare were great with us when DH lost his phone. He didn’t leave a review, he probably should have done to give people a more rounded picture. I’ll prompt him to do it!

Yes I did think having to wait three or more weeks for a replacement phone was rather whingeing, compared to people who've waited years for their burned-down houses to be replaced (the sort of poor insurance service the WHICH? legal action is about).

I think yours is an unusual situation in that you are tied to your phone for 60hours a week, and so feel like a break from it when you’re not working, Whereas, most people have different jobs in offices, hospitals, shops where they barely use their phone and so don’t feel quite so traumatised as you seem to be having their phone with them. Smart phones are designed to aid life (making payments easier, travel, audio, or books if waiting somewhere or travelling so frees people up from carrying too many things, or for me, I can do work calls while walking the dogs so get a better work life balance).

You need to accept the you’re in the minority and feeling “uncomfortable” about other people and what they do or don’t do with their phones is unsettling and I think you need to focus more inwardly.

I mean, yes it’s a bit strange to have gone from no mobile phones at all to a saturated market and being surgically attached to them 24/7 in about 40 years. But the fact is that my entire life is on my phone now - and I like it. I particularly like online banking, satnav, email apps and BBC Sounds.

A very old friend of mine with specific views on all sorts of things has just caved and got a smartphone. She brought hers out on a walk today (it’s a Fairphone). Believe me, if she’s doing it, pretty much 99.9% of the population is.

No I don't take it if I won't be needing it- but I'm 63 so surgical removal is not required!

Of course I take it to the loo! My wife discarded all my old Playboy magazines when she moved in !

I take my phone everywhere. 🤷I need to be available incase the school have to call me or if my partner or parents need to contact me. I would never forgive myself if my children got hurt or took ill and no one was able to contact me. I'm not allowed my phone at work but they can call reception. My daughters school has an app which they update throughout the day.

I keep my bank card and driving licence in my phone case and I've got a black box in my car and it automatically connects to my phone when I'm driving. (I've only recently passed my test). I've also got all my clubcards/vouchers in my Google wallet. Such as Tesco, Asda rewards and nectar card. And before I started driving I had my bus pass on my phone. Even in the house if I put my baby in his cot for a nap his baby camera connects to my phone.

I think one of the reasons people are more aware nowadays of the need to have a mobile phone in case of emergencies is that 25 years ago we had a public telephone available on almost every other street corner. I remember maybe 23 years ago the phone box I walked past on my way home from work having a notice that it was going to be decommissioned and thinking it was kind of sad, the end of an era. If you need to call someone now, you’ll be lucky to find a phone box let alone one with a working phone in it - lots of the red ones have been retained and repurposed as community pantries, libraries etc but very working public telephones.

I was definitely pretty reliant on my phone going everywhere with me 10 years ago. It was 9 years ago I remember it got me out of a tricky spot when I did my ‘big shop’ at the supermarket and realised I’d not put my bank card back in my purse … I didn’t have the luxury of Apple Pay (not sure if it existed, it took me a while to trust it!) but my banking app had the facility to send a code to be able to withdraw cash from my account from certain hole in the wall atms, without the card - so I was able to withdraw the required cash and still pay for my shopping.

I am completely with you on the dislike of carrying things. But I take my phone to the shops because I’d need to my card anyway, so instead I can take my phone. Not only does it contain my bank cards, but also all my store cards/ loyalty cards, store apps for places where I get vouchers for money off so saves carrying all those - in case I decide to/remember I need to go to a shop before I go back home.

I also use it a lot as a sat nav - I used to have a satnav but it stopped being supported for updates, made more sense to use my phone for that too. Sometimes I use it for longer journeys I don’t even need a map for - because it tells me about road closures and traffic delays that I wouldn’t otherwise know about.

I love photography and it’s great to have a camera with me when one is needed! In fact it’s completely negated the need to take an actual camera on all but the most special of occasions.

If I’m somewhere there’s a long queue or wait - I can play games, read a book, catch up on what my friends/family are doing, find a place to eat, book a table, manage my finances, place an online shop, make amendments to my house/car insurance.
I have also been known to sit in the car watching a movie whilst waiting for DP to finish at places when I’ve given him a lift.

Plus it’s a note book and a diary and a clock. Shopping list - check. To do list - check. Reminders - check. Looking things up to see if they’re appropriate for what I need - check.
It’s a QR code reader, a means to electronically complete forms at the dentist, a means to book a taxi (by call or app), get a bus ticket, a train ticket, a timer or stopwatch, an alarm, the weather forecast, a torch, a document scanner, dictaphone, music player, small television, web browser, access to social media, messaging device - and a phone!

Also - most public car parks are now pay by phone - ideally via app! I can think of quite a few you can’t pay other than by phone.

It’s literally 1000s of things plus an encyclopaedia of the world in a thing smaller than a clutch bag.

The only other thing I need to take out with me that it doesn’t do is replace my house and car keys - but that’s one thing I wouldn’t rely on it for because there’s always a chance I’ll run out of battery and that seems like it could be problematic.

There’s also the matter that people (eg my elderly parents) may need me! or I might need someone or something.

I think I’m perhaps more surprised you don’t lock your door though and wonder where on earth you must live! Whilst you do hear (and see) tales of opportunist thieves trying front door handles as they walk down a street, if they’ve decided to break into a property they’ll nearly always try the back first and try the door handle. And unless there’s something specific making them target that house (like they’re after car keys for the £100k car in the driveway) if it’s easy they’re in, if it’s difficult they’ll try the next one - especially in summer months when people forget to lock doors and close windows!

i might be tempted to check the terms of your rental agreement/ lease though if i were you - if I was letting a property to a tenant I wouldn’t want to think they were leaving it insecure for anyone to come in and trash…

It’s a mobile phone. Made for carrying around with you. I always have it with me in case I need to contact someone or vice versa. Orr use for multiple other reasons when out and about.

Im in my 80s. If I go out I take a phone with me. However I dont carry it about the house. If the phone rings and Im in another room I may not hear it, And I dont take a phone into my bedroom on principle unless Im expecting an important call. (There is a landline phone in the office next door). I dont believe in being a slave to technology not am I available 24/7. Im available when I choose to be. So I check my phone once a day and call back when I deem it necessary.

I rarely carry my phone. The places I’d need it most, like breakdown in the car, there’s no signal. I don’t want to be interrupted if I’m out walking or shopping. And most places I walk don’t have a signal either, so if I fall down a mineshaft or break something, it’s no use anyway. I’ve always hated phones..even land lines and I don’t have one of those now. People seem to think you’re at their beck and call and get indignant if you don’t answer to suit them, when you’re in the middle of something. I won’t put banking on my phone. That’s on my iPad that stays in the house, anyway.
If I do take it out, I might lose it or it get stolen. I don’t carry a bag. My keys are in my pocket. So you aren’t alone, OP

Everywhere. You never know what might happen. What if there is a medical emergency?

And you leave your door unlocked?! You are going to end up a statistic....

Its been 20yrs. I forgot my phone once on a school day around 2000, of course that's the day my tire popped going over a speed bump.

I don't take it if I'm just going for a walk from home, or nipping out to the shops or something. But I'd have it every other time, esp walking in the countryside. I broke my ankle on a fell walk once when alone and def needed it then.

I don't look at it all the time, mostly it's just in my bag but it's useful to have and to pay for things with.

We're not the weird ones...

It depends so much on your lifestyle though. If you have no dependents, if you don't drive or travel by train, if you have no friends or family who need to contact you for urgent matters, if you don't have a banking app or loyalty cards, bus or train passes, if you never go for long walks off the beaten track etc then you wouldn't need a phone with you.

I dislike carrying a handbag, and when I go grocery shopping all I need is my phone (and my keys, of course). I don't even carry a purse with me. I have my cards on my phone and my shopping list.

DH has recently had major surgery and all his follow up appointments and referrals are on the NHS app. We only get post delivered about 2 or 3 times a week now and can't rely on letters arriving on time, so DH needs to regularly check his phone.

I use it to pay, use it for loyalty cards, use CityMapper to get around places I don't know or for train/tube times, boarding cards for flights, e-tickets, occasionally the odd game/film/show/book/audiobook if I'm on a longer journey.

Mainly though I use it for music. Very rarely leave the house without my headphones and have YouTube Music and Tidal on my phone as I'm too scared to take my expensive audio player out.