8 helpful smartphone apps you should teach your parents about

Healthcare apps are among the essential ones for your parents. There are dozens of them available, but Practo and 1mg are really useful.

Practo lets users chat with doctors, order medicines, book appointments/lab-tests, set reminders. It also provides health tips/articles and stores health-records digitally.

1mg offers an online pharmacy with medicines, health/fitness supplements apart from medical consultations, lab-tests, doctor appointments among other services.

Almost all banks, both public and private, have now launched their "Net Banking" apps.

These apps provide nearly all banking services, including funds transfers, bill payments, statements, checkbook requests, investments, loan applications, etc.

Having the app of the bank they hold an account with is essential for parents.

They can benefit from the ease of Internet Banking and save time without visiting the bank.

Digital payments apps like Paytm, Freecharge, and PhonePe can really make your parents' lives easier. They can do prepaid mobile, DTH, or metro card recharges, and pay postpaid mobile bills and electricity/water/gas bills, etc.

Also, these apps enable them to make payments to offline merchants, receive funds, and transfer money anytime.

Paytm also offers movie tickets, bus/train/flight tickets, and online shopping on its platform.

Online shopping apps need no introduction. Apps of e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart are extremely useful for parents as they can order almost anything from books to groceries, electronic items, personal care/healthcare products, clothes, furniture, etc.

They can also avail various offers and discounts. They only need to provide their address and make the payment online or at the time of delivery.

Uber and Ola Cabs offer app-based cab services, which can be useful for your parents when they want to travel from one place to another within a city or for outstation trips, too.

They can book autos, cabs, or share a ride. They can choose to "ride now" or "later", confirm payment option, and book a comfortable ride without stepping out of the house.

Food delivery apps like Zomato, Swiggy, UberEATS, and Foodpanda can help our parents order food anytime and save time and energy. They can view menus and also read restaurant reviews.

They can order food from their favorite restaurants from the comfort of their home simply by providing their address.

These apps have several payment options, including credit/debit cards, net-banking, mobile-wallets, and even cash-on-delivery.

UrbanClap is the largest mobile marketplace for local and home services in India.

Its mobile app caters to customers' service needs at their doorsteps by providing housekeeping services, personal care services, as well as professional services.

Your parents can hire professionals - from cleaners to plumbers, electricians, carpenters, pest controllers, mobile/appliance repairers, photographers, interior designers, fitness trainers, beauticians, etc. - as per their requirement.

Today, most children are living away from their parents in different cities and even countries.

Although they can always talk on the phone, nothing can compare to face-to-face conversations. And, WhatsApp can do just that. Its video calling feature lets them "see" their children, other family members or friends for free.

WhatsApp also offers free messaging, voice calling, group chats, photo/video/document sharing, etc.