Why Your Smartphone Is One Of Your Most Important Tools As a Driver

What kind of smartphone you rideshare drivers use? Now, let me preface this by saying I’m not a tech geek. I don’t love phones. I don’t know about all the latest gadgets, but I do have a pretty good handle on technology, and I do own a smartphone. I think that makes me at least somewhat qualified to talk about it. So what’s the best phone for drivers?

Check out my video about phones, and read the video transcript below if you’d like to read my points. I recorded this video a few years ago, but I think the advice still stands.

In the past, I’ve actually owned an iPhone. Then, I switched a couple years ago to Android. Right now, I’m on an Android LG G3 which is a pretty new smartphone. It’s one of the expensive ones that I picked up for 100, 150 bucks after I renewed my two-year contract. Right off the bat, I’m going to say the importance of a smartphone is undervalued. A lot of people don’t realize that really, after your car, your smartphone is really your second most important tool as a driver. I’m a bit believer in investing in the things that you use. I work online, so I make sure that I have a really good computer, and I have good wifi because those are two or three of the top tools that are going to help me be successful.

Invest in tools that are essential for business, like your smartphone

I don’t think it makes a lot of sense to invest in a lot of things that aren’t essential to your business, but as a driver, a good phone and a decent car are probably the two most important things, if not the most important things. After that, you probably want to invest in yourself, so that’s your something to keep in mind. That’s why I think it makes a lot of sense to make sure that you have a top-of-the-line phone because whether it’s expensive or not. This is your business now. You want to make sure that you’re using the top tool. I can talk a little bit about that because I’ve seen a lot of drivers out there that are on old iPhones and iPhone4 and trying to switch between navigation and apps, and things like that.

I feel bad for them because I know that the phones that are out there today. I mean if you buy any phone that’s been made in the past six months, it’s insanely powerful. It can operate Google Maps. It can operate Google Music and Uber apps and Lyft. I don’t have any problems with my phone. I mean I’ll still restart my phone at the beginning of every trip or at the beginning of every day because that’s just a good tip. Then, if I have down time, I restart my phone, close all my apps, just to clear the RAM and make sure that the phone’s running as smoothly and efficiently as possible, which is definitely something you guys should be doing. At the same time, it all goes back and all starts with your phone.

iPhone or Android for Uber drivers?

The first thing I’ll talk about a little bit is iPhone versus Android. I’ve had an iPhone before. Like I said, I switched a few years ago. I think iPhones are great though. I mean I think the new iPhones look really sleek. I think the Plus is a little bit big for me. I mean I have a pretty big phone, but that one is pretty huge. I just like, especially now with the new iPhone, the screen is a little bit bigger so you can actually see things.

The great thing about iPhones is that they work. They’re always going to work seamlessly, flawlessly. You never really have to worry about this. You never really have to worry about that, but the downside is that there are some features, there are some customizations that just because of the way the Apple operating system works, you aren’t always going to be able to do. If you don’t like a certain feature, you’re probably going to be stuck with it.

Because Apple makes it so easy and so simple, they really are trying to appeal to pretty much everyone. They want someone that’s five years old to be able to use it just as easy as someone who’s 55.

I prefer Android personally because there’s a few more customization features. You can change options. You can change settings, and just the way that the Android operating system is created, it’s more open-sourced, and so you have lots of developers who are basically coming up with their own things. Now, some of the down sides to the Android is because of that, all that open source and have lots of different people contributing, there are some problems.

I mean I know that one of the biggest problems I’ve had on my Android in the past is the battery life and apps that are just sucking the battery. It’s really hard to figure out, at times, where my battery is draining. With iPhone, you would never have a problem like that. That’s your something to keep in mind in the whole iPhone versus Android debate. I’m not going to get into either one because I think if you go with an iPhone or you go with the top Android phone, it’s going to be more than capable of being a top phone for you as a driver.

The newer, the better

Now, you know, the thing is you really want to keep in mind that the newer, the better, right, because these phones are always evolving. When you are starting to run a lot of different apps it does take up a lot of RAM. Basically, you want to make sure that you have one of these top phones.

Whenever you go out there, make sure that you start with a good charge and that you stay aware of it. You don’t want to have to end your night early because you run out of battery. I like to just make sure that I keep a little battery pack just in case, because sometimes, that charges a lot faster than if I plug it in through the cigarette holder. There’s lots of little tips and tricks you guys can do.

Now, as far as the actual phone that you’re going to get, I mean I’m pretty happy with any, I think any of the top iPhones. I mean the only problem you’re going to run into is they’re pretty expensive. Now, personally, I’m on a family plan that I’ll probably never get off of. I have unlimited data that I’ve had for whatever, five or 10 years since I was a kid and I got my first cellphone. I’m never going to let go of that with AT&T if I don’t have to, but if you guys own an unlimited plan or maybe you’re not even on a two-year contract, there are some phones out there that I know that are a lot more reasonable. I don’t know if I could go out and invest six, $700 in an iPhone or an LG or a Samsung Galaxy.

Don’t be afraid to invest in a phone

The most important thing to keep in mind is don’t be afraid to invest in a phone. Don’t be afraid to spend a few hundred bucks because it’s your second most important tool as a driver. Maybe even your first important tool if it’s battling with your car. Hopefully, this video was helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment, like the video or subscribe. Take care!