Post History

What is the status of my phone when using it as a siddur?

Occasionally, I find myself using my phone as a siddur (prayer book), particularly when davening (praying) at a Sephardi shul as an Ashkenazi. (They don't always have Ashkenazi siddurim so it's more convenient to just use an app on my phone.)

Last week, when doing just that, I noticed that my shoe was untied. Now, when davening, you're supposed to be careful to have clean hands to a degree, and you shouldn't touch sifrei kodesh (holy books) after touching something such as your shoe.

After davening, stopping to tie my shoe, I realized that I didn't know how I was supposed to treat my phone in this regard. At this point I had closed the siddur app and my phone was no longer displaying the words of davening, so I didn't think it could be considered "sifrei kodesh" at all. My phone also sometimes displays things decidedly *not* kodesh, as someone who uses the general internet and moderates a few internet sites.

However, while my phone is actively displaying stuff such as a siddur or a chumash, what is the status of it? Do I have to be careful about, for instance, tying my shoe and then using it to view davening without washing my hands? What's the deal here?