The pace of technology change is incredible. What was considered a dream ten years ago is now so common that we rarely guarantee a statement. This rapid development is partly driven by our consumer culture and encourages constant iteration. This constant improvement is great for our tech nerds as companies compete to place the latest technology in as many hands as possible. Still, it has the unintended effect of creating millions of tons of e-waste each year.
Part of that e-waste is probably sitting in the desk drawer right now, and every time you see it, it challenges you to throw it away or use it. If this sounds like you (sounds like me), you are lucky. We have the inspiration to help you make effective use of that old technology.
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Take them to a recycler for free!
5
Turn your old phone into a digital audio player
One of the easiest renovations you can do with an older phone is to turn it into a dedicated DAP. This is especially true for phones that were made before the headphone jacks were discontinued a few years ago, but can be overtaken with USB dongles (someone audiophiles might prefer).
The easiest way to do this is to reset your factory phone and load only the music apps you need, but you can raise the notch if you are involved in the work. Github user Azer Abdullaev has a report that loads custom app suites built for music playback on your phone.
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Turn your old phone or tablet into an input device
When it comes to interfacing with computers, the mouse is king, but the touchpad may be more appropriate. You can spend over $20 to get a trackpad from Amazon, or you can save money and use your phone.
If you don’t need a trackpad to set up your computer, turn your device into a customizable Macropad. The best Macropad app I’ve come across is Matric. It has a little learning curve to make it work for you, but it can do almost anything you need it to do to do it.
3
Turn your old phone into a webcam
Your phone will contain a camera forever, so you should be able to turn one into a webcam. It’s not that difficult and there are many ways to proceed. I used Droidcam in my previous guide. If you have a Mac, you can use Iriun. If you have Windows 11, you don’t need any third-party apps to pull this out.
If your phone is not too old, it may have built-in webcam features. Modern smartphones include Media Transfer Protocol or Image Transfer Protocol (MTP, PTP). The newer Samsung and Google Pixel phone models could pull this trick apart, but the older models are unlucky.
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Turn your old phone or tablet into a weather station
We’ve covered the weather app over a few times here at Android Police, but I’ve never worked on turning my phone into a full-on weather station. All you need is a weather app, so the process is simple. However, there are a few things you need to consider to make it work.
The first thing to keep in mind is that you want to set up your phone or tablet to avoid sleep. You want to make your weather and forecasts available at a glance. Another important consideration is that you need a weather app that is constantly updated without manually refreshing. In other words, I would like the current weather to be displayed, not the weather that was opened this morning.
If you have your own weather monitoring equipment, Weather Underground is a good choice as it is integrated with what you already have.
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Turn your old TV or monitor into a smart display
It’s a hassle to have an old TV lying around, you don’t know what to do. You probably paid too much to throw it away. Even if you did it, flat screen TVs are big and don’t belong to normal garbage. A better option is to turn it into a smart display.
The two biggest names for the smart display space are Dakboard and Magic Mirror. Dakboard is a monthly or annual subscription service. It’s easy to use from a user’s perspective, but you can pay around $100 a year for a complete plan. Magic Mirror is open source, but the free price is complicated by setup and customization. Both options require a Raspberry Pi or something similar to running it.
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Don’t throw away your old phone
Remove technology from the garbage
Given the constant advancements in hardware cycles, it is almost impossible not to accumulate old technologies. Still, that doesn’t mean you need to fool your old stuff and waste it. Even if you don’t want to reuse old technology, you can safely recycle it in a place like Best Buy or donate your old devices. It may be old for you, but it may be new to someone else. Don’t forget to make a factory reset before resetting your phone or tablet.
