Did you get a shiny new Apple device to start the new year? You might be wondering what you can do with your old one. Yes, recycling is an option, but there is already a huge amount of e-waste in the world. Why not use your old cell phone instead?
After all, older phones still have a lot of usable parts, like cameras, screens, and decent processors. There’s no reason you can’t take advantage of it. I’ve scoured the Popular Science archives and the wider Internet to gather clever ways to use your old cell phone. Here are some.
simpler phone
Maybe you have an elderly friend or relative who has difficulty using the latest smartphones. Maybe you want to use a simpler version of your smartphone. In either case, a little-known iPhone feature can help. iPhones manufactured in 2018 or later can be turned into simpler phones with Assistive Access, an accessibility feature that displays a simpler version of the user interface.
This mode offers simplified versions of the Phone, Camera, Messages, and Photos apps, all with large transparent buttons that are difficult to misunderstand. In particular, you won’t be able to access any web browsers, social media, or apps that you didn’t specifically add during Assistive Access setup. This mode basically turns your old iPhone into the perfect iMessage-compatible flip phone replacement, giving you a compelling reason to keep that old phone around.
digital photo frame
Sure, there’s no shortage of digital photo frames on the market, but why buy one when you can just use your old iPhone or iPad? We talked about using your old iPad as a digital photo frame. This application can automatically sync with shared albums of photos. This application works on any iPad that can run iPadOS 12. iPadOS 12 includes most devices manufactured after 2017. You could probably do something similar on an iPhone, but the iPhone screen is much smaller.
retro gaming handheld
We have explained how to play retro games on your phone using emulators. This is really cool and means you can turn your old phone into a dedicated retro gaming device. For best results, we recommend purchasing a mobile game controller with physical buttons. As a result, your old phone will become something like a Nintendo Switch, but with the ability to emulate retro games.
The advantage of using an older phone is that you can use all the storage on your device for as many games as possible. You can also keep your old phone connected to the controller at all times.
baby and wildlife monitor
Old cell phones have built-in cameras. But that means it has all kinds of uses. You can plug it into a charger and record it like a makeshift security camera. What’s even more convenient is that you can get even more out of your camera using a dedicated app.
Tom’s Guide’s Anthony Spadafora wrote about how to set up an old iPhone as a video baby monitor using an application called AlfredCamera. This is an application designed to turn your old mobile phone into a dedicated security camera. Just plug your phone into the charger, point the camera so it covers what you want to record, and leave it there. You can also set up notifications to notify you when there is movement.
This is not only great for home security and child care, but can also be used as a bird watching tool.
Ronnie Steen, a Norwegian professor of environmental science and natural resource management, writes about turning old smartphones into bird-watching apps. There’s no reason you can’t use an app like AlfredCamera for that.
That means your old iPhone has a lot of uses. Consider them before throwing them away.
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