More seniors are adopting smartphone use every day. According to the Pew Research Center, 27 percent of Americans 65+ years old reported owning smartphones in 2015 — up more than 10 percent from the previous year. That proportion promises to continue rising as the digital native generations age.

With smartphone adoption comes the prospect of app use. Although most app users tend to be younger, seniors are beginning to catch on to the app trend as well. And their reasons for doing so might surprise you.

Pew reported that 55 percent of smartphone owners aged 50 or older reported using their phones to avoid boredom. One would think that might bode well for gaming platforms and other diverting apps marketed to older Americans, right?

Although there are thousands of games and gimmick apps floating around in the digital marketspace, no games were represented among 2015’s top 10 most-downloaded apps. Far more popular were utilitarian applications like Google Search, Google Maps and Apple Maps.

And that makes sense given that the second most-reported reason for smartphone use among owners 50+ was “to find a good way to get somewhere,” as Pew’s survey showed.

Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, and passive entertainment platforms (YouTube and Apple Music), rounded out last year’s most-downloaded apps list. Most smartphone users — seniors included — want to stay connected with the world around them.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at four free and useful apps that a senior living in Cincinnati could download:

1. Skype

This real-time video chatting app is wonderful for keeping in touch with friends, children and grandchildren — even those who live far away. Skype uses your smartphone or tablet’s camera to broadcast your image and voice to another Skype user, and vice versa, so you can have face-to-face contact whenever you want.

Although many smartphones come preloaded with Skype, it is also available as a free download on both the iOS (Apple) and Android operating platforms.

2. FaceTime

Similar to Skype, FaceTime is an Apple-specific video-enhanced calling app popular with many grandparents today. It offers users the ability to video chat across a variety of devices, including iPhones, iPad tablets and Mac computers.

If you want to use your iPhone to FaceTime with your grandchild who has an iPhone or other Apple device, you just select the FaceTime app and enter their name, email or phone number. On an iPad, iPod Touch or Mac computer, the app “calls” via a pop-up video chatting window.

FaceTime is preloaded on most current Apple devices, or is free for download in the App Store. It is not available on Android/PC platforms.

3. Audubon Birds

Are you a senior who loves to watch birds? Or maybe just curious to know more about the natural world around you? The Audubon Society has developed a fabulous, free app that can help you discover just who is singing in your backyard.

Audubon Birds allows users to search and identify thousands of species by color, shape, habitat, location and time of year. The app uses your smartphone’s location settings to read where you are at a given moment and present you with a list of likely bird species that you would encounter. Each species’ info page includes fascinating notes about behaviors and habitats. There’s even a subpage that allows you to play audio files of species’ specific calls, making identification easier.

Best of all, you can use the app to track your sightings and record your photos of birds, allowing you to “collect” all the bird species in your neighborhood! It’s a free and endlessly interesting app, available on a wide range of smartphones and tablets.

4. MedCoach

It can be hard for seniors to keep track of their medications, especially if they have to take several medications over the course of a day. MedCoach is a free app that allows senior smartphone owners to keep a handy list of their medications, easily set up pill reminder alarms and even interface with many pharmacy chains’ websites to fill prescriptions.

MedCoach is also extraordinarily handy for caregivers and first responders, in the event a senior is incapacitated and can’t relay their own medication information. A family member or caregiver who has access to the senior’s smartphone can pull up the MedCoach app and use it to provide medical personnel critical information during an emergency.

MedCoach is available on both iOS and Android platforms and is free to download.

There are plenty of other free and useful apps for seniors.

These are just a few of our picks. If you’re a senior and a smartphone or tablet user, use a search engine like App Store or Google Play to look for apps that you could use. Type in subjects or themes you’re interested in, then see what’s available!