In some good news, iPhone users can now convert their handsets into a portable thermometer thanks to a new app which its developer hopes will revolutionize the world's most common medical device.

Known as Kinsa Smart Thermometer, the app makes use of a regular thermometer which is plugged into the phone's jack, to read temperatures before displaying them on the screen. Apart from reading the temperatures, the app also keeps records of health issues and can provide an 'illness forecast' by estimating how soon the users can recover and how contagious they may be.

"We wanted to engage people who had just fallen ill in a conversation...to give them the information they needed to get better faster and to collect information to map health. By using mobile devices intelligently, we are creating simpler, smarter, connected devices that will be available at or below the current cost of these products. We believe that products like our thermometer will become the norm eventually", the app's developer Inder Singh said.