12 uses for your old smartphone
Technologies / / December 29, 2020
1. Personal trainer
An old gadget can become your sports assistant. It is convenient to go for a run or go to the gym with it so as not to discharge the main smartphone. Dropping it, taking it with wet hands or just forgetting is not so scary. And you will not be distracted by endless messages.
Even the simplest smartphone can use a special program to calculate how many steps you walk in a day.
Price: Free
Price: Free
Measure pulse another application will help. The flashlight and camera allow you to determine the number of heartbeats by changing the pattern of the capillaries in the fingertips.
Price: Free
Price: Free
And here you can download training programs:
Price: Free
Price: Free
2. Kitchen assistant
The kitchen is not the safest place for a brand new gadget. But even without a smartphone, it's like no hands here. Here are the functions the old man can take on:
- Timer. To pasta cookedrather than fried. Conveniently, you can set several timers or alarms on your smartphone at once if you cook many dishes at the same time or one, but complicated one.
- Book of recipes. Don't look for them in your grandmother's notebook. And to make the smartphone live longer in the kitchen, after starting the video recipe, put the gadget in a transparent bag or use a stand. Also, using your phone, you can pick up recipes for those products that you have.
Price: Free
Price: Free
- Converter. The gadget can be used to convert different units of measurement, the number of products in spoons and glasses. The printed plates are constantly lost, and here both the picture and the calculator will be at hand. Here are some useful apps:
Price: Free
Price: Free
- Player. Cooking with music podcast or watching a new episode of your favorite series is easier and more enjoyable.
- Game console. While the food is being prepared, you can get away from your "hungry" thoughts and go through a couple of levels in a simple casual game. And then the timer will work.
- A window to the world of travel. The EarthCam application broadcasts video from webcams in the most beautiful places in the world. This is inspiring.
Price: Free
Price: Free
3. Gamepad
An old smartphone can easily be turned into a gamepad to play old-school games on a computer or smart TV. For example, on the AirConsole website and with the application of the same name on a smartphone:
Price: Free
Price: Free
There are also universal programs that are suitable for many popular games:
Price: Free
Price: Free
4. Remote control
Apps like Unified Remote let you control your computer's video or music playback from the comfort of your couch.
Price: Free
Price: Free
These are free versions. They provide basic control functions (start, pause, volume, and others), simple keyboard input, computer shutdown and remote screen viewing. The paid ones have more features, in particular, there is a setting for managing certain programs.
5. Navigator
GPS and 4G use up battery power quickly. To keep your new gadget safe, use the old one as a navigator. The main thing is to choose a reliable holder and buy a separate charger for the car.
You can also download an application like Sygic that can display a map projection, for example, on the windshield of a car. This technology is called HUD (Head-up Display).
Price: Free
Price: Free
There are other HUD-enabled apps as well. So, Strelka shows your current speed and warns you about exceeding, radars, road cameras.
Price: Free
Price: Free
But the image quality can be disappointing. During the day, the map will be very poorly visible. At night it is better, but the picture will be double due to the fact that it is reflected from the outer and inner surfaces of the windshield.
The solution is a special film that is glued to the glass. On AliExpress, it costs about 100 rubles. An anti-slip mat will be needed to keep the screen from projecting onto the film and not jumping around the dashboard. It will cost more a hundred. There are also special holders for smartphones with flip-up windows that work on the same principle, and separate HUD-screens.
6. Video recorder
The road is full of surprises. The video from the recorder may contain Road accident, and an unexpectedly funny plot. It is also an excellent remedy for fraudsters who rush to the hood and extort money under the guise of hitting pedestrians.
The recorder records video cyclically: new fragments replace the oldest ones in the allocated memory area. By default, the smartphone does not have this function. Third-party apps like DailyRoads for Android or CamOnRoad for iOS will help.
Price: Free
Price: Free
And Roadly will not only allow the smartphone to work in registrar mode, but also tell about radars. And it recognizes signs on the road to warn you in time.
Price: Free
Price: Free
The only negative is the video quality. It is unlikely that the old device will be able to shoot something in Full HD without noticeable noise and twitching, especially in the evening.
find out🧐
- How to turn a smartphone into a DVR
7. Flashlight and more
Put your smartphone in your pocket if you come home late. First, it's safer this way. You can use a flashlight to light your way in the dark. And if you turn on the strobe mode in the app, you can blind the attacker and attract attention. By the way, there is a compass there.
Price: Free
Price: Free
From trouble on dark streets nobody is insured. If they try to take your phone away with threats, it will be much easier to part with a cheap old device than with a fresh flagship.
8. Video intercom
The bottom line is simple: fix your smartphone on the door or on the wall of the entrance, connect to your home Wi-Fi and an outlet. If you have Android, install the Video Intercom application. When someone approaches the door, you will receive an alert on your main smartphone.
Price: Free
Unfortunately, there is no version for iOS. But regardless of the operating system, you can install Skype or another video calling application so that the guest can talk to you.
9. Video surveillance system or video baby monitor
Why spend money on IP cameraif you have an old smartphone? Download the dedicated app to receive alerts on your main gadget and stay on top of what is happening. For example, Salient eye takes photos when motion is detected, automatically uploads them to the Web, and also sends a notification via SMS or email.
Another application, Alfred, also allows you to transfer images from the camera of one smartphone to the screen of another, remotely activate the flashlight, switch between the front and main cameras.
Price: Free
Price: Free
And if you close the gadget with the motion detector application in the refrigerator, you can find out exactly who in your family goes to the "night dojo".
10. Part of a complex mathematical calculation system
An old Android smartphone can bring the future closer by participating in major research projects. To do this, you need to install the BOINC app and select the studies you want to help. The program will use the power of your gadget for complex calculations.
Price: Free
11. Audio and video server
To distribute music to smart TVs, tablets and other devices on your home network, there is the Kodi app. With it, you will open your home media server, and then you can load your collection of your favorite tracks onto a memory card and not search for them on the Internet every time. It will be enough to launch some DLNA client (for example, a VLC player) on your TV or tablet and enjoy the sound. There are also add-ons for Kodi that support various channels, radio stations and YouTube.
Price: Free
The iOS app can be downloaded from the official site. The developers offer versions for 32-bit and 64-bit ARM (iPhone 5s and older). True, the solution is only suitable for devices after jailbreak.
Alternatively, you can use the Fidata app.
Price: Free
12. Home phone
Even if your old smartphone runs out of battery quickly, the screen is partially broken and half the functions do not work, it will still come in handy. For example, to call a new gadget that is definitely at home, but you do not remember exactly where.
Anyway, don't you want to be distracted by messages in your neighbor's chat? Join him from your old phone! Check it once a day - save a lot of time.
Need to meet a utility worker, courier or builder? Give the number old phoneso that any family member can answer the call.
We are sure that this is not a complete list of useful uses of an old smartphone. Any ideas? Share in the comments!
Read also🧐
- How to choose a smartphone
- Why you don't need a new smartphone
- Why you can't use a smartphone with a broken screen