Many of us over the age of 60 grew up using a dial phone or even having to call via a phone central - Nommer asseblief - and perhaps remembering numerous names off by heart or having a flip-up phone book. Perhaps there is still a White Pages or Yellow Pages phone book lying around and today in 2026 all of these fit into your pocket on a smartphone.
Not only that, music albums, from vinyl to cassette tape and CDs as well as a camera are all on the smartphone. Perhaps a film or two are watched or sport or general information via YouTube. And you can connect with loved ones all over the world with Facebook, WhatsApp etc.
The smartphone has become an essential part of our living and although “smart”, we are often perplexed and it offers far more than what we usually need. Sometimes we just want a phone to call a friend or family, like we used to with a dial phone, but now there is a whole world in the palm of your hand.
Where one used to pay for a landline, you now have to consider airtime, data, streaming, fibre, Wi-Fi and just how much is needed for what.
In South Africa there are many choices for smartphones and the costs differ hugely. One has to consider multiple things such as entry-level, intermediate or professional-level phones running either the Android operating system or Apple iOS, and once you buy into a system you settle into the way it functions.
Statistics show that in June 2026 the market share for smartphones in South Africa has Samsung leading at 46.39% followed by Apple at 23.62% and Huawei at 9.67% followed by a host of other manufacturers. Only the Apple iPhone runs the Apple iOS operating system, forming part of Apple’s ecosystem between Apple products such as iPad and MacBook etc. while all the other smartphones run the Android operating system which is integrated with Google services.
Over the next few weeks we will be looking at various topics around smartphone usage and how to use our phones to suit our needs.