‘Never without my smartphone’ project shows what mobile phone use looks like worldwide

From detecting malaria to tracking cattle, mobile phones are being used in every country for just about everything, a photo essay shows.

The photos were captured by AFP photographers over the past month.

In Uganda, Moris Atwine, 25, is using his smartphone to create an app to test a patient’s blood for malaria in minutes.

Almost 10,000 kilometres north, Italian cattle breeder Pier Domenico Dotta is using his smartphone to check the health of his cows, each of which is equipped with a microchipped collar.

Moris Atwine, 25, in the poor village of Kampala, Uganda. Picture: Sumy Sadurni/AFP

Italian cattle breeder Pier Domenico Dotta in Villafalletto, near Turin, northwestern Italy. Picture: Marco Bertorello/AFP

Vladimir Tosic, 38, a phone repairer in downtown Belgrade. Picture: Andrej Isakovic/AFP

More than two thirds of the world’s population now use mobile phones, according to research from We Are Social, with users numbering 5.135 billion.

In Australia, nine in 10 people will be smartphone owners by the end of the year, according to Deloitte, and 4.3 million handsets were sold in the first six months of the year, Telsyte found.

In a case of mobiles without borders, it’s easy to assume everyone uses the pocket-sized gadgets in the same way.

Chilean security guard Johnny Mandujano. Picture: Claudio Reyes/AFP

Honduran migrant Oscar Alfredo Cavieles near La Blanca town, on his way to Juchitan in Oaxaca state, Mexico. Picture: Guillermo Arias/AFP

Wunnita, a Buddhist monk, in a monastery in Yangon. Picture: Ye Aung Thu/AFP

But the use of mobile phones in war zones, fishing villages, farms, and even religious institutions from monasteries to mosques is very different.

Captured by AFP photographers in countries such as Iraq, Russia, and Madagascar over the past month, the “never without my smartphone” project uncovered unique uses for smartphones and found them helping users stay in touch in unexpected locations.

Taxi driver Daniel Lai in Hong Kong. Picture: Anthony Wallace/AFP

Kago Kagichiri, the creator online tutorial platform called Eneza education, in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Picture: Tony Karumba/ AFP

Cesar Olmos, a 47-year-old house painter, in downtown Quito. Picture: Rodrigo Buendia/AFP

Adding to Atwine from Uganda and Dotta from Italy, in the Syrian city of Idlib, a member of the civil defence force, Mohammed Hamroush, uses his smartphone to receive emergency phone calls as well as messages from his family members.

Mohammed Hamroush, a 29-year-old member of the Syrian civil defence (also known as the "White Helmets"), holds his smartphone in the town of Zardana in the rebel-held northern countryside of Idlib. Picture: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP

Dina Rasolofo, a married mother of three and Air Madagascar flight attendant, in Antananarivo. Picture: Rijasolo/AFP

Sangeeta Agnes Hosea (centre), lead singer and musician of the Indian band Midnight Poppies, during a jam session in Bangalore. Picture: Manjunath Kiran/AFP

Indian fisherman Satish, 40, who works in Kasimedu harbour in Chennai, keeps his mobile phone dry by wrapping it in plastic.

Even members of the so-called “migrant caravan” making their way to the US are keeping in touch and documenting their journey with phone photographs, using a solar panel to charge their handsets.

Indian fisherman Satish, 40, has his phone wrapped in plastic to keep it dry at Kasimedu harbour in Chennai. Picture: Arun Sankar/AFP

Mohamad Fadly Abu Hasan, a 37-year-old clown entertainer, talks on his smartphone after performing at a kindergarten in Kuala Lumpur. Picture: Mohd Rasfan/AFP

Enesia Chabveyo a clothing and design student at Danhiko Vocational Training College in Harare with her smartphone. Picture: Jekesai Njikizana/AFP