Want to have a job that you can do on the go, or at least outside of the office that you are used to? Something you can do while your children are at practice and you’re waiting in the parking lot or waiting room? Then you may want to consider getting a job you can do mostly or entirely on your smartphone. It provides more freedom, you can make a fair bit of money with some jobs if you put the work in, and you get to try out something new.
Note that in some cases you do need more than just a smartphone; you need to have the requisite skills. If you want to do a perfect job, you might need a car or a computer for some additional functionality. In some cases, you might want some extra subscriptions or equipment to get the most out of your time or attract better clients. However, with all of these jobs you can expect to be spending most of your work time on your phone or on tasks you get from it.
Here are ten jobs you can do with your smartphone that might even lead to a new career:
With all the apps on our smartphones these days, it makes sense that someone has to test them. And while there are people who make the apps that test them as well (it’s part of the job), there are also people who test them outside of this environment. They might seek people from certain groups or frequent users of other types of apps, want something a bit more casual, or be asking for what is effectively a QA position for their app. The requests can vary, and there is a
Often the payment will not be what you’re hoping for, not being an hourly job that you might think of. You might only get $30-$50 for a testing job, which can take many hours or happen over a long time. It might not be an extremely lucrative career, but app testing can be a great side gig you can do while waiting in the car for the kids to come out of school, in the waiting room at the doctor's, or in those other situations where you don’t have much better to do.
To get started with app testing, look up the topic on sites such as Upwork or search for whether developers are looking for people to test apps in specific situations. You might be asked to plan a trip with an app, schedule your day, or do something else. Often then you’ll be asked to provide feedback through a form for a fixed fee. If you want to get more involved in QA work for apps, that might be a more involved process that requires certain types of experience and more of a commitment.
Being a person that works in tech support surprisingly doesn’t take too much tech. While many people would want to work with a computer set up in front of them and even a more stationary set up in an office, some people work right from their smartphones and nothing else except perhaps a notebook or additional screen. Everything you need is on your phone, and you can print out a script and help people as needed.
Doing it like this might not be the most efficient option, but you can do it from more places, and technology has improved to the point where you will not be so limited. A simple telephone call has not changed so much over the years, except perhaps getting clearer.
There are several types of tech support, so you need to know what you might be interested in. Do you want to focus on smartphones or internet issues? Do you want to provide support when it comes to something else? There are many devices and situations, and they all need support.
Depending on the job it could be a part-time job or more involved as a full-time career. You might be limited with your smartphone at some stage, but you can certainly do most of it and see if it is for you on your smartphone. As for the pay, it can vary wildly depending on the job, the expertise needed (some jobs will have more technical know-how than others), and the firm hiring. There are quality positions and there are more abusive ones. Don’t settle for a job on your phone that you are sure to hate.
Look for remote tech support or customer service positions, and see how they operate. You may find one that works mostly from smartphones.
The idea of everyone being a social media influencer these days has become something of a joke, but it doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. It’s a career in which you somewhat define yourself in terms of your scale, and there are as many variations as there are people. Some people proclaim themselves influencers in the hopes of getting free stuff, and some people try to form communities or followings and show people interesting things. Some give up quickly, while others have a lasting appeal.
You may want to see what might interest you on social media or what might be interesting to regularly talk about on social media. What makes you special? What do you want to influence? What might you want to be known for?
However, being a social media influencer is a lot of work if you want to do it right. You will need to research the platforms you intend to use, understand the algorithms that drive search engines, and become outstanding in your fields of influence or interest. You may want to interact with fans as well and find ways to monetize your support (you don’t get paid just for having followers). And regularly checking and updating social media takes more time than you might think.
Alternatively, you don’t need to be the one in the spotlight. Every brand under the sun now wants a strong social media presence, and you can manage that presence, or likely multiple presences at once. They want people who understand social media and can draw a greater audience. You can be that person, though it likely will take more qualifications.
And it is entirely possible to handle nearly all the management work with a smartphone. Note you will still be putting in plenty of hours and you’ll need to focus to get things done right, but this is indeed a job you can do anywhere with an internet connection and a phone.
Everyone needs to learn things sometimes, and parents certainly want the best education they can possibly provide their children. There are a bunch of different groups and people around the world that could use help with certain subjects, whether young or old. And the conveyance of information is not only allowed by a smartphone, but sometimes better, given that students can save notes, see diagrams and other links you send, and more. It is an adjustment from normal teaching and learning, and not for everyone, but many can benefit.
This type of tutoring and teaching has become much more popular since the start of the pandemic when in-person options were not an option but parents still did not want their kids to get left behind. There are plenty of different subjects one can tutor online, though language tutoring is very popular and perhaps the easiest to do over a smartphone.
The exact sites, methods, and hubs for such work will change rapidly, but you will want to make a quick search online and you’ll find exactly what you need.
This is another one of those jobs that are not all that great if you’re looking to do it full-time, but you can make a few dollars for some of the time you’d normally be mindlessly scrolling away. You might even be able to make $5-10 dollars per survey, which isn’t bad given how easy it is most of the time.
Depending on your demographics and life circumstances, you might be high in demand for surveys. For all you know you might be part of a group that is highly in demand when it comes to service. There are sites you can use to find out more, and you can quickly find out if you are in demand or not.
This is one of those jobs you can either do from your computer or your phone, so you can switch it off as you feel the need. There’s also no commitment! Take one survey a month, one a week, or one a year; it doesn’t matter to the internet and the survey givers will never know.
Marketing and information regarding consumer trends are in hot demand. And someone needs to collect it. Sure, some computers and apps do a great job, but someone needs to make sense of that information as well as collect it in ways that can be checked and confirmed. Someone needs to confirm what the computer is doing. That person can be you.
You can also provide data for market research, much like the survey takers in the last section. There might be some differences and you might be administering things at times, but there is still money to be made or at least benefits to be had.
And while there are aids and apps for every device that can collect helpful data, your smartphone is likely all you need to get started, so long as you have a good connection.
The camera on the average iPhone today is miles better than many professional cameras several decades ago. It will often take thousands of dollars of dedicated equipment to match what the best smartphones of today are capable of. And people will pay for quality photos, or you could sell photos of exceptional quality or interesting subjects. There are more than a few ways to make money from your smartphone camera.
Yet note that to be a professional photographer is both an art and a craft. It takes practice and education to reach the level where people will want to pay you for your work. If you go to a wedding as the photographer and can’t do a better job than the bride’s uncle after a few glasses of champagne, then you won’t get any recommendations and probably have some angry clients to show for your work.
Some people might also be hesitant if you’re just using a smartphone. There are cases where it might be best, though, especially if you have some peripherals to help, such as add-on lenses and a tripod. A lot of it comes down to how you use it and how serious you want to be about this job.
Not sure how well you’ll fit? Nothing is stopping you from getting into photography for fun and then branching out as opportunities arise. Take a day, go for a walk, and let your photographer’s eye go wild. If you have an average smartphone, you’ll be able to take hundreds if not thousands of pictures without worrying about space. Not all of them will have to be perfect.
If you know your way around downtown or have excellent taste, then you might be able to make some decent money by working as a professional shopper. To many people, shopping is a chore they’d rather not deal with, or they want someone with a second opinion when it comes to aesthetics. Whatever the reason, they want someone to shop for them or with them, which is what a professional shopper is for. And you can be one!
Your smartphone will be your best friend for personal shopping jobs. Whether it is communicating with clients, looking for a great deal, or putting together a shopping itinerary, all will be helped by having one on you at all times.
Some people may want a professional shopper who only shops online (that’s easier than ever these days), but it is hard to guarantee this. Just be sure you know what you bring to the table, know the nearby area and what you can find online, and you listen closely to what your clients want as well as what your clients really want. If you live in an area with a lot of shops or have experience shopping online and the area, then you will have even more of an advantage.
Many small tasks need doing, and plenty of people are willing to pay others to get those tasks done. You may wonder why people would pay a premium to get such things done, but there are reasons. At times people may be crunched for time and need all of the help they can get. On other occasions, they might not be physically able to do the task they are asking about. Perhaps they just really, truly hate mowing the lawn. Whatever the reason, their offer is your potential gain, and smartphones open you up to many opportunities.
Gig work is by its nature extremely varied. It could be a type of delivery or ride-giving services, such as working for DoorDash or Uber. You could be delivering groceries or acting as a courier. You might be helping someone out in their backyard. There is a lot you might be doing, and if you like trying out many different types of work while making some money in the process, then this might be for you.
In many ways, we are moving towards a gig economy, so it might be a predictor of the future of work. It can be a good idea to get forward-thinking and try it out for a weekend. To learn more, search for apps that offer gig jobs, or search job boards for smaller tasks that would be of interest to you.
Do you find joy in supporting others and helping them become their best selves? Then being a wellness or life coach might be for you. The exact parameters can vary from coach to coach and client to client, but generally, you are there to provide encouragement, accountability, and advice to help your clients meet their goals and feel better about themselves in the process. It can be incredibly rewarding, and you likely hold yourself accountable to your goals in the process.
The pay can vary greatly here depending on what your specialties lie, how much experience you have, and how much you want to charge (though charging too much means you won’t get any clients). Look for a way to get started, or start advertising yourself if you’ve already made a name for yourself in the wellness community. As for a life coach, you need to display yourself as a well-put-together and organized person who can meet their goals. After that, see if you can either get a following and work from there or look to see what people are interested in learning about or how they want to improve themselves. There is no absolute path to success here; it all depends on building a strong reputation and listening to the needs of your clients.
As for the smartphone, practically everything can be done on it except meet with your clients in person, if that is desired (and it is not a requirement or expected in most cases). You may want to familiarize yourself with a few calendar and organization apps if you’re interested in this. You’ll need them.
It can seem like a strange world we live in, given that we can do entire jobs on a device that came out only a decade and a half ago. And there is little that we will be unable to do without the aid of smartphones and technology as time goes on. Remote work is the future for many of us, so look more into it now and
Also, remember that not every job listed above will be a good fit for you, and that makes perfect sense. The same skills that would make someone a good life coach might not translate to being a market researcher. In many jobs, you might not find the pay to be worth your time. The key is to find your niche and take it as far as you can.
