Does a genealogist need a smartphone?

I am guessing that the title to this post is no longer a major issue with current statistics showing that 95% of people own some kind of cell phone and smartphone use in the United States is at 77% of the population. That means that about 3 out of every 4 people in the United States now own a smartphone. But are there some particular uses for smartphones for genealogy that make them a particularly desirable device?

The answer to that question depends entirely on the extent to which computers, not just smartphones, have become integrated into your genealogical research methodology. As I analyze my use of my own smartphone, an iPhone 8 Plus, here is how I use mine with comments on the applicability to genealogy.

I obviously use my iPhone as a telephone but I make and receive a very few telephone calls. Most of my interpersonal communication is by email or on social networking programs. Since a significant amount of information about the genealogical community I monitor comes in the form of email or on Facebook or other social networking websites, this is by far my most constant use of my iPhone. On a regular day, I receive in excess of 50 email messages and probably double that number of messages on social networking. I limit my time on social networking and get notifications by email when someone wants to contact me.

Most genealogists are probably not as integrated into the online genealogical community as I am so I am guessing that few people use their smartphone primarily for genealogically related communication.

The second most used part of my iPhone is the camera. I use my iPhone camera constantly and even though most of my usage is for my photography interest, I do use the camera to record documents and photos related to genealogy. I take hundreds (sometimes thousands) of photos a month and now many of these are taken using my iPhone. Here is a recent example of a documentary stamp from a probate document. Documentary stamps were used on legal documents to pay the filing fees. I now use my iPhone for taking notes and making copies while doing research in libraries and archives where they are allowed.

Of course, I use my iPhone for reading books, doing research, watching the weather, as a GPS device with Google Maps and for a quick reference to answer questions or use a calculator. All of these integrate into genealogy from time to time.

Now, there are a number of specific apps for genealogy. I frequently go online on my iPhone and use FamilySearch.org, MyHeritage.com or Ancestry.com and they all have dedicated apps. I keep a lot of my information in RootsMagic also and use their app on my iPhone.

The main limitation of using any smartphone for the above functions is the lack of a full-sized keyboard. However, for short messages, it turns out that we are using voice recognition apps such as the one from Google called Gboard. By the way, I do not like or use Siri.

So the question is does a genealogist NEED a smartphone. As usual, the answer is that it depends. I would feel like I was kicked back 30 years if I didn't have almost constant access to a computer and/or my iPhone. It that a good thing or a problem? I think the answer to both questions lies in how intense you are about almost constantly incorporating information into your life.