Technological advances, ranging from better tools to the ability to pull up an online video walking you through a repair, have made many home improvement jobs easier. As smartphones become more ubiquitous, homeowners are also presented with the option of downloading apps to assist with work around the home.

The conceptual process of a home upgrade can be greatly assisted by a smartphone. Family Handyman says certain apps allow you to outline a floor plan and use icons to represent windows, doors, and furniture from a stock library. You'll be able to get a sense of how a room will look if you add new furniture or rearrange existing pieces, and whether they'll interfere with opening doors or traffic flow.

Other apps offer a more three-dimensional look at how a project might change the look of your home. David Agrell and Timothy Dahl, writing for Popular Mechanics, say one example is Eden Garden, which lets you upload a picture of your yard, search for plants, and see how they would look when added to your landscaping. The app also allows you to see how the garden will look in different seasons to determine if the selected varieties will clash or otherwise look unpleasant at certain times of the year.

While it still helps to break out the tape measure, some apps can give you an idea of how large your room is. Architectural Digest says one such app, MagicPlan, can develop floor plans with accurate measurements based on photos of a space. Augmented reality apps can help you visualize how furniture and art will look in a room.

Several apps are available to assist with painting, including ones that let you take a picture of a hue you like and find a matching color. An app may also be able to apply this color scheme to a picture of a generic room, helping you determine whether it will look good when applied.

Measurements can be a tricky part of woodworking and other projects, but certain apps are designed to eliminate any guesswork. Family Handyman says these include calculators that can easily add fractions as well as apps that perform unit conversions and complicated mathematics, such as determining how much concrete will be necessary to fill a post hole for a fence.

Your smartphone won't be able to stand in for a hammer or screwdriver, but it can still be a useful substitute for some tools. Architectural Digest says the iHandy Carpenter app lets you use the phone as a level, plumb bob, or ruler. The functions are based on the phone's accelerometer, so you'll need to make sure it's properly calibrated to get accurate results.

Part of the difficult of improving a home is simply keeping track of all the tasks that need to be done. Some planning apps, such as Morpholio Board Pro, provide a useful place to put together specs, required materials, and other materials to assist you or a professional with the work.

Apps can also be a useful way to stay on top of the lengthy "to do" lists involved in maintaining a home. Agrell and Dahl say this type of app lets you create lists for things that need to be done and set reminders for regular servicing of home systems.