What tech has upgraded your life even though you are not techy?

April 19, 2024 7:09 AM

I am not a techy person. Puzzling through buttons and menus does not come naturally to me. I don’t hunger for new devices and when forced to use new devices I often get anxious and irritated. But if something is genuinely useful and labor saving and not too hard to learn, I will get the hang of it and then wonder how I ever lived without it.

Mostly I learn about new tech from friends. They’ll show me something and sing its praises or use it in front of me and suddenly we’re in a secret restaurant using a special discount or something and I’ll become a late adopter.
Recently I posted a travel help question about using public transit on a trip to Chicago and found out that Google Maps has a public transit navigation setting. There’s not much in the way of public transport where I live so this never came up but it was AMAZING on my trip and I will never not use it in the future where relevant. Unless I learn about something EVEN BETTER!
What was like that for you, a life upgrade from technology even though you are not great at technology? I’m itching for that “wow, everything is better now!” feeling that the google maps transit navigation gave me.

posted by Jenny'sCricket to Technology (50 answers total)

Caller ID
posted by Melismata at 7:10 AM on April 19 [5 favorites]

The Adobe scan app. Being able to send detailed written feedback to someone on a document from a café instantly. Of course, this might be less useful to you if you don't teach or edit.
posted by pangolin party at 7:21 AM on April 19 [3 favorites]

Offline maps and in-device visual translation when I'm traveling.
posted by mhoye at 7:22 AM on April 19 [6 favorites]

Modern rice maker (eg cuckoo or zojirushi), digital clip-on tuners for musical instruments (snark), 3M Command strip adhesive hooks.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:25 AM on April 19 [13 favorites]

If you read anything ever, the Libby app.
posted by phunniemee at 7:27 AM on April 19 [47 favorites]

Reverse cameras and blind spot indicators on my car, as well as the ability to show maps from my phone on the dash. We have one car that does that, and one that doesn't. And the latter just feels clunky to drive now.

Jabber to answer phone calls on my computer rather than on the desktop phone.

Flipp for looking at flyers for groceries.
posted by Ftsqg at 7:30 AM on April 19 [6 favorites]

We use a keyring app that securely collects all of the family passwords. That's been great, too. We have absurdly complicated passwords for everything these days and none of us have to remember them or be advised when they change.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:31 AM on April 19 [6 favorites]

Using my phone calendar has been a big change, especially as someone who consistently thinks "I'll remember that" and then doesn't. I often use it by just putting in a calendar event for two days now like "check bank for deposit", etc, and I make sure to put in time ranges so I can see conflicts.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:34 AM on April 19 [7 favorites]

Hello, me?

as a secretary in a number of volunteer organizations, having a Google account has been useful
- sharing documents
- maintaining records
- issuing surveys

and for simple stuff like emailing individuals/teams/entire memberships, that works well also. That's not a Gmail-exclusive thing, I just find I'm getting what I need from a single Google account. Plus, the hand-off to the next person is streamlined.

caveats: it's Google, and while I could hold my nose a few years ago I'm not sure I can continue doing so. Also: external back-up and storage of important records is a must.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:45 AM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Voice-to-text on the iPhone did this for me - I'm a clumsy smartphone typist and it has saved me many, many hours of irritating work. Also voice-to-Reminders, for the reason AzraelBrown notes.

I organize a lot of my online life using the Pinboard bookmark manager / annotator. It's a simple, straightforward, inexpensive tool that is also an essential streamlining / time saver for me. I use it in conjunction with Google Drive to tag documents to make the easier to find.

I use RSS.app to generate RSS feeds for any web site I want to keep an eye on and dump them into the Newsblur reader, which gives you easy options for organizing and filtering then. Again, time saving, and has the added advantage of effectively giving me an artificial mini-web to look at that feels a lot less alienating and dispiriting than the unfiltered one.
posted by ryanshepard at 7:55 AM on April 19 [4 favorites]

- metronome app
- sturdy 10' USB-A > USB-C
- online bill pay, venmo, PayPal, xoom
- xm radio
posted by j_curiouser at 7:58 AM on April 19 [2 favorites]

iPad
AirTags

I picked up each of those (15 years apart) as toys and they have become completely integrated in my life in good ways.

Also speech to text, which I am dictating this on right now.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:08 AM on April 19 [2 favorites]

Task reminders and alarms on my phone. Yay, i remembered to pay that bill or move the laundry to the dryer, renew that medication, wish that friend Happy Birthday.
posted by armoir from antproof case at 8:12 AM on April 19 [6 favorites]

Password managers are great for storing lots of sensitive data besides passwords too.

Wireless photo printers. Being able to print a proper photo directly from your phone in a click without having to go through a website or a shop makes them effortless and fun. The Canon one is super user friendly.

Digital door locks. I will never go back to keys again if possible. We use a PIN code. If you have frequent guests, they have ones you can give guest pins or pass cards to so your friends can come over during a certain time period.

Cloud backup for my computer. My laptop died a couple of weeks ago and all my documents are on a cloud and I have a full backblaze copy waiting for when I decide on my next home computer. After going through the misery of moving laptops or trying to resuscitate dead ones before, this is so so nice.

Libby for books is insanely good. I use an alarm app called Alarmy which is $90 a year and hideously terrifyingly effective after trying so many apps and actual clocks and contraptions.

In general apps, telehealth apps have been amazing in saving me having to drag myself out of bed and wait at a neighbourhood clinic while sick to get a diagnosis, meds and doctors note for routine things like flu and migraines. The cost is the same and in my experience, the telehealth doctors will go “you need to be seen in person” or “get to the A&E” as needed.

Very dependent on your country, but where I live in Singapore the government puts out a lot of apps and websites to simplify government resources for people. I do a lot of paperwork with my family and the difference is so huge - from filling out stacks of paperwork and going around places for days to ten minutes on my phone during lunch. Check what apps your local authorities and government provide.

Also I am very fond of my Frame tv which is a silly indulgence but so nice to look up from the sofa and see a new painting displayed. I no longer get annoyed by the black screen taking up the wall.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 8:12 AM on April 19 [9 favorites]

Alexa for reminders and to-do lists. If I think of something while I'm in the tub or standing with my hands in sink full of dishes, I can just blurt it out before it's lost forever.

Blind spot indicator. The number of times I almost got myself killed prior to having this, omg.

Smart bulbs, Kasa in particular for its color quality. My bedroom automatically turns into a boudoir at dusk with low pinkish light. I love it.
posted by HotToddy at 8:34 AM on April 19 [4 favorites]

The best one for us in the last few years is location reminders. On our iPhones, we can set a reminder to do something, and then have it buzz our phone when we get home, or when we get to the office, or the next time I'm at this Costco... Most of the time, it's "do X when we get home" but the others come in handy now and then too, like "use the Costco reward check next time we are at Costco"

I just tried it with Siri and it works great. "Remind me to check my mail next time I'm at work" and it set it properly. I forget how I set my work location. I think it might have just figured it out on it's own.
posted by advicepig at 8:53 AM on April 19 [6 favorites]

Without question the best non-techie tech I've bought since the pandemic has been my pellet smoker and grill.

Now, that doesn't sound very tech-like at all - but the advancements in pellet grills has been wild these past few years. The magic thing is that they use a computer-controlled auger and temperature sensor to adjust the speed of the pellets being automatically dropped into the fire pit. All you have to do is set the temperature, put wood pellets in the hopper, and it will keep the fire going for you at the right temperature for as long as you need. Not hard at all for non-techies, and it makes the cooking process easy even for people intimidated by smokers or grills.

Even more magic: on more advanced models, there's also a meat probe, and it will notify you, using its app, both when the grill is up to temperature and when the food is almost done.

Being able to throw a cheap grocery store chicken and smoke it low and slow in the grill for a few hours while we've been working from home without having to check on it, then having it beautifully smoked and hot and ready for dinner has been revolutionary. So easy, such amazing results. Briskets, steaks, the Thanksgiving turkey, veggies, amazing.

Unfortunately, though, they still haven't come up with a high-tech solution for cleaning the damn thing.
posted by eschatfische at 9:10 AM on April 19 [5 favorites]

Ooh, ooh, nearly missed a chance to hype the Navage "naval irrigator," which is like a battery powered mechnical neti pot that pumps saline solution into one nostril while it sucks it out the other. It is life-changing.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:38 AM on April 19 [4 favorites]

Toto Washlet C5
posted by RonButNotStupid at 9:51 AM on April 19 [7 favorites]

If you have any interest in natural history, there are a load of apps to try: I have about 15 different field guides on my phone (which is definitely overkill), for birds, flowers, butterflies and so on. It’s nice to always have them with me.

Also there are apps that can identify plants and animals from photos or identify birdsong for you; they aren’t perfect but they’re surprisingly good.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 9:53 AM on April 19 [6 favorites]

smart lights
a few years ago we were in bed reading and lamenting that we had to get up to turn off a light on the dresser. I finally took the plunge and picked up a hue bridge and some bulbs. Now we can't imagine not having them. We have them in the bedroom. We have a motion detector one in the kitchen that's set to come on at half brightness for those 1am trips to the fridge for water. We have a couple in the living room that we control brightness as it gets later. We have one in the hall that is on from 6pm to midnight.
We've even attached a dumb floor fan to a smart plug so we can turn it on and off from bed in the middle of the night.
They're amazing and were life changing. So simple. And yet so so good.
posted by bowmaniac at 10:17 AM on April 19 [4 favorites]

Google Wallet to pay almost everywhere without needing to open my real wallet (or even bring my real wallet).
posted by signal at 10:40 AM on April 19 [2 favorites]

A voice assistant thing in my kitchen hooked up to my shopping list app. Being able to yell out "add margarine to my shopping list" while I'm doing something else, or saying "add bin bags to my shopping list" while I'm carrying a bag out the back door in each hand and one in my teeth, has made a huge difference to how often I actually remember to buy things when I'm in a shop.
posted by dudekiller at 11:44 AM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Oh, and the cost/benefit analysis for this doesn't exactly pay off unless you're already looking for a new washing machine, but getting one that sends me a notification when it's finished washing has been so useful.
posted by dudekiller at 11:53 AM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Anylist, as a shared grocery list for a large household.

Notice you're almost out of something, add it to the list, and the next time anyone's at the store they grab it and cross it off. Yes you can sort of do the same thing with a simple shared spreadsheet, but the app removes enough friction in the adding and crossing-off, and also sorts things into appropriate grocery store categories, that people in our family actually use it.
posted by hovey at 12:19 PM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Oh, and the cost/benefit analysis for this doesn't exactly pay off unless you're already looking for a new washing machine, but getting one that sends me a notification when it's finished washing has been so useful.


this reminded me of another one - our window air conditioners connect to the wifi and we can log into an app and turn them on when we're on the way home from away/work/out/whatever. I totally pooh-poohed this when it just sort of came with one we bought but it turned out to be useful enough that I sought it out when we had to replace a different a/c.
posted by bowmaniac at 12:25 PM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Libby. My Kobo ereader. Smart plugs that we have our living-room lights plugged into, so we can turn them on and off remotely. It's super helpful when we're out later than we expected to be, or when we're traveling -- we can use the app to turn the lights on and off and make it look like we're home.
posted by maryellenreads at 1:16 PM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Smartphone astronomy app.
posted by jgirl at 1:22 PM on April 19 [2 favorites]

our window air conditioners connect to the wifi and we can log into an app and turn them on when we're on the way home from away/work/out/whatever

Ha ... Just yesterday we got a new central air system for our house ($$$$$) and it included a smart thermostat that of course pairs with an app on your phone. You can set up a geofence that triggers the AC to start when you get within X miles of the house!

That's pretty cool, although I'll never use it, because I absolutely swear against any IOT devices in my house, due to their vulnerability to being exploited and then used for more serious attacks inside the network. But lots of the ideas above involve IOT devices, so you all do you :)
posted by intermod at 1:24 PM on April 19 [4 favorites]

I agree with Air Tags, but not only or even mainly for the "find the thing the Air Tag is attached to if you've lost it," function, helpful as it is, but for the "your iPhone will tell you if you've left the thing the Air Tag is attached to behind" feature. If you are the kind of person who worries about not having taken your keys/wallet/whatever with you to the point of doubling back or always double-checking, this is just a consistent little thing that alleviates some mental energy/anxiety. (Obviously this requires that your phone or Apple Watch or whatever is on or near your person, but given my propensity for listening to music at all times when I'm out and about, I'm very unlikely to ever leave the phone behind without immediately noticing.) It's also super helpful that you can calibrate the settings for this. Like, you can tell it that it's fine if you leave the thing at this designated location, but otherwise you want a notification if you leave it behind.
posted by yasaman at 1:26 PM on April 19 [3 favorites]

@DirtyOldTown I think you mean nasal irrigator, not naval
posted by olopua at 1:57 PM on April 19 [7 favorites]

Smart light bulbs seemed silly in 2020. Now whenever I stay in a hotel and can't command the air in the room to turn off the light from the bed I feel like an outright caveman.
posted by Wild_Eep at 2:00 PM on April 19 [3 favorites]

TIL about "smart lights"

Rabbit-hole, here I come.

A great thread.

And for an answer, wireless printer/scanner
posted by Windopaene at 2:04 PM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Seconding the Kobo e-reader (and the Libby app to borrow public library books for it). This has made it much more comfortable to read books as I age and my eyesight deteriorates, because I can change the font size. Any book can be a large print book with an e-reader.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:10 PM on April 19 [2 favorites]

The original Sony Walkman. The first time I popped a tape in*, slipped the headphones on, and went for a walk outside was utterly life-changing.

* Talking Heads -Fear of Music
posted by Thorzdad at 2:21 PM on April 19 [15 favorites]

Ooh, thought of another one. And needed to reply to Thorzdad.

OMG yes. Not sure if I had an actual Walkman, but all those nights in college. Putting the tape and the headphones in and heading out into the rural Minnesota countryside. Smoking a bowl and listening usually to Peter Gabriel's Security, (was my go to then for spooky walking through the woods at midnight...). Now, it's just all on your phone with earbuds and such...

And the thing to add is, if you are a musician, a digital tuner. Best. Device. Ever. for a guitar player with bad hearing. Also: getting a heat pump. And solar panels . And dogs (who are not particularly tech).
posted by Windopaene at 2:34 PM on April 19 [2 favorites]

A sous vide immersion circulator and vacuum sealer. I can portion and season meats that go into the bag for freezing. Then to cook it's just dropping it into the waterbath and the cooking time has a large margin after it's past the minimum time. Hard to screw it up. The vacuum sealer is also good for things not destined for the sous vide, like freezing sliced zucchini and peppers.
posted by Sophont at 3:26 PM on April 19 [2 favorites]

Merlin app for recognizing songbird music (keeping in mind that some songbirds are good mimics).

SaltySalticid mentioned Snark guitar tuners, which have made experimenting with various open and alternate tunings much easier for me, as well as just getting in tune quickly.
posted by ovvl at 4:00 PM on April 19 [3 favorites]

I don't know if this is tech or anti-tech, but I LOVE my one-speed bike. Lose the gears/derailleurs and you get a calming, peaceful expeience.

Audiobooks.

A GREAT keyboard. For me it's the TextBlade or the Nuphy Air 60.

The Galaxy Ultra's S-Pen.

The GetDrafts.com app combined with the Apple Watch Ultra's action button is a game changer for me. There is no easier/better way to capture ideas.

Breville Smart Oven.

Wrought Iron (not cast iron) cookware.
posted by dobbs at 4:55 PM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Radar cruise control in the car. Seemed like a novelty I would never use when I bought my car, now feels super annoying and primitive when I drive a car without it. My wife is you and has never figured out how to use it on her car, despite me telling her how much better it is.
posted by ctmf at 5:57 PM on April 19 [3 favorites]

And this thread is so good, it should not be on the green.

I would love to know why wrought iron is better than cast iron. That link seems like an ad.

I would also like to agree that "radar cruise-control" is amazing. (Have a Tesla, apologies, and used to have to take Child 3 to school every morning. Which required a stretch on I-5. Often, this was stop and go for a mile. Autodrive made it fine. No brake. accelerator , brake...)

Also +1 for Merlin
posted by Windopaene at 8:52 PM on April 19 [1 favorite]

All those smart appliances should be connected to a voice assistant... Google Nest or Amazon Alexa device like Amazon Echo. I just order the lights on and off by voice, I don't touch light switches any more. I also do this to more than a few appliances, like window fan, floor fan, and so on. You can even setup "routines" like "going to sleep" which sets the alarm, starts playing soothing music, and turns the light down.

Google's transit options are actually quite primitive when you compare it to something like Transit.app. It will automatically pull up any public transit near you based on your GPS coords, then if you just move the map around, reconsider those available. Enter a bus route number or name, and it will track ALL the buses on that route (if it has data, some based on actual riders, others based on timetables). Enter an address, and it'll figure out MULTIPLE bus routes to get you there, including transfers at certain stops AND reminds you when you need to leave, when to get off,and so on.
posted by kschang at 11:04 PM on April 19 [4 favorites]

Not sure that this is the kind of tech you mean, but these days there are a lot of things that can be powered by USB. If you live in a place where power outages are not that infrequent, then paired with a portable power bank that can be really helpful. For example, if a lengthy outage means you can't run any AC or fans on a hot day, a USB-powered fan is amazing.
posted by trig at 12:16 AM on April 20

Libby for books is insanely good.

I do love Libby, but its goodness is entirely up to your library and how many titles they have contracted and in which genres. I like to read sci-fi/spec.fic., but my library's selection in those genres on Libby is very thin and leans toward the predictable/pedestrian.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:00 AM on April 20 [2 favorites]

So, I'm coming at this from the perspective of a technology and service provider, but I have an observable client—my spouse—who I can see what technologies and/or products have had the most impact on:

1. iPad - bar none, this is the big one. Prior to giving her an iPad, she wasn't even really a scroll-the-phone kind of person, and I was the information wrangler. Since doing so, even more so than when I handed over a phone, she's had a level of informational independence that is a staggering difference: product research, general knowledge stuff, the usual map type stuff, online shopping, and generally a transformational level of being able to Do Shit.
2. smart lighting - this was met with a ton of skepticism when installed in 2018, but it now seems absurd how bad legacy lighting systems are. I get comments to this effect all the time, especially when traveling.
3. near-ubiquitous internet access for all devices - there was a period in our lives where this was not a thing, and now you really have to get out into the boonies to escape the cel networks that enable it. The ability to just... solve problems at any scale with the internet is a powerful tool that has changed how she operates on a daily basis.
4. zojurushi rice machine - we bought our first one in the 90s (and only needing to upgrade from it because the bowls for the 90s ones can't be replaced any more) and it's absurd to conceive of life without one. My wife does relatively little cooking, but after having seen the power of this thing she believes this is one of the most important basic appliances every kitchen should have (along with a KitchenAid)
5. Paprika Recipe Manager - I mentioned she does relatively little cooking, but when she does she wants a very clear recipe. Paprika lets us put them all in one place in a shared, multi-device way. The fact that we have a shared cookbook that can be populated by booping a button while looking at a web page means she can grab recipes of her own to try or things she wants me to make. Both of us can be looking at the same recipe from different devices, and shouting out instructions to each other. It totally unlocked her ability to cook things outside her comfort zone.

posted by majick at 8:01 AM on April 20 [2 favorites]

Windopaene, I have a carbon steel fry pan from that company (with the logo map of Australia in the handle) and I love it. I bought it when I was in a flat in Melbourne for 6 months and had no pans, and it's now my favorite (especially good for fritatas and tortilla espanola). I'm not sure what's "wrought" about it (doesn't that just mean "worked"?)--it's carbon steel, lighter weight than cast iron but similar in performance. Does not connect to the internet...
posted by Mngo at 8:41 AM on April 20 [1 favorite]

I would love to know why wrought iron is better than cast iron.

All the benefits, half the weight.

I'm not sure what's "wrought" about it

I could be completely wrong, but my understanding is that a Cast Iron pan is made from iron that's heated to melting point and then poured into a mould. Wrought Iron is a sheet of iron that's pressed into the shape of a pan. Both give you the benefits of Iron, but the Wrought Iron can be thinner and therefore lighter. My Solidteknics pans are among my prized possessions. I have six of them.
posted by dobbs at 3:46 PM on April 20 [3 favorites]

Ditto location-based reminders on the phone. I have a client who always forget to use discount cards for particular coffee houses or stores, so we set up reminders such that every time she pulls into the parking lot for her fave places, the phone prompts her to use it. I use it to remind to be mindful and express gratitude each time I get out of the car, but I could similarly use it to remind me to switch from my driving glasses to my regular glasses before leaving the car.

Check deposits by phone. It took me years to get comfy with using the ATM to deposit money; I always felt like I was sticking my money in a wall. But I get almost all client payments by check, and I love being able to deposit a check in my PJs at midnight...and still get to keep the paper check for my records.

I have a Wi-Fi enabled scale. Not only does it shows and save my weight tenth of a pound increments, but it sends the data to an app that folds in my blood glucose readings. One minute of set-up and I never have to think about it.

People here make fun of it, but I have the Dash Express Egg Cooker. It's lowish-tech tech, but I went from cooking eggs maybe three times a year to never, ever being out of hard boiled eggs. I don't hurt my wrists trying to gently carry a pot of boiling water (& eggs) to the sink to drain them, and I'm finally getting enough protein.

My iPad was transformative, but only once I got a Bluetooth keyboard for it. There's very little I can't do with it, and it means I never have to travel with a computer.

Lipstick-sized USB charger to charge ALL THE THINGS when I'm on-the-go.

Voice dictation to the iPhone and iPad because my fingers are chubby (and callused from checking my blood sugar), so it's so much easier to input by voice. I almost never type anything on my phone anymore.

Speaking of keyboards, I ALWAYS pay extra to get the extended keyboard when I buy a new Mac desktop. I learned to type in high school in the 80s, but never mastered the top row; having that number keypad is essential!

Modern, handheld water-flosser (like a Waterpik, but not connected by a cord/tube like in the olden days.

(And oh, my, yes, those early days of the Walkman were heady ones. Thanks for the reminder not to take podcasts and music on one's phone for granted.)
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 4:07 PM on April 20 [1 favorite]

Voice dictation to the iPhone

I want to point this little nubbin of easily-ignored tech out as being a super transformational piece of accessibility for people who—like the user I described above—are dyslexic to the point of having difficulty with search engines. Do not be afraid to boop the little microphone button and yell into the small handheld obelisk. It works.
posted by majick at 6:56 AM on April 21 [4 favorites]

We just got Colombia Ice Fiber pillows, which promise to have some technology or other to stay extra cool... and they work.

Friends, I love the cool side of the pillow more than I love some of my own flesh and blood relatives. At room temperature, this pillow feels like it just came out of a fridge. If you get to the point where you've laid on it long enough for it not to feel cool, you can turn your head and count to ten and then it will feel cool again.

I do not know how it works. Frankly, I do not want to know. Maybe it's dark eldritch magic and I could not question it. But if you're a head sweater at night, it's amazing.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:38 AM on April 22 [2 favorites]