10 Brilliant Things To Do With Your Old Smartphone

What can you do with your old cell phone? Did you know that your old cell phone lying in the closet can do surprisingly effective things that you were ignorant about? Or, maybe there is a handful of them sitting around your office. All of us love switching to newer, faster, and more advanced versions of it.

And more often than not, the old ones pile up, gathering dust and annoyingly eating up space.

Here’s a little secret, though. These ignorantly lying gadgets are virtual gold mines if you know how to tap into their potential and give them new life.

What to Do with Old Phones?

So, grab a dust buster to get your old phones to do stuff that could amaze you.

Here’s a sneak peek of ten things that your seemingly useless gazette can do with perfection:

10. Sell Your Cell

We know you know this, but we wanted to remind you and get your attention. There are many sites and places to sell old mobile phones, even though second-hand phones are over a billion-dollar market in the UK.

If your phone is operational, cosmetically decent, and not outdated, it can fetch some hundred dollars. Even if it’s broken and dead, know it has a price that could surprise you.

Mobile manufacturing organizations also trade in old mobile phones to get recycled stuff. Of course, there are stringent quality parameters to adhere to.

9. It Can Work as a Remote Computer Terminal

Your old phone can seamlessly access the office computer from home or vice versa. It could also serve as an effective stationary screen to keep a remote system within arm’s reach.

We can create a sync that would create a bridging interface using the newer and free version of Chrome Remote Desktop, TeamViewer, and Companion App.

8. Your Separate Music Player

At the beach, poolside, or any place where there’s a risk of damage to your new phone, but you also need your favorite music, your old mobile phone could fit in melodiously.

Play radio and podcasts, or listen to your most loved YouTube Channel with utmost peace of mind.

You could play your stuff without worrying about getting wet, sandy, or whatever.

7. Your Hidden Car Tracker

Choose a basic plan for your old smartphone and keep it hidden in your car.

Not only would it serve as a backup phone in an emergency, but it would also silently track the vehicle in case of any unforeseen theft.  This is just a cool, handy trick for vehicles that don’t have an inbuilt tracking mechanism.

We know that you will be sure to keep it charged.

6. Personal Camera for Kids

Your kid wants to take photos throughout the day, but you’re hesitant to share your new, costly phone. Get them the old ones to do their stuff freely. They can also try their hands with an app like Canva that could get them started with their editing skills on the shots they take.

Of course, they could rely on you to tell them to take a backup or move them to your repository.

5. A Free Standing Security Camera

You actually don’t need a fancy-schmancy-connected security camera when an old phone is lying inside your cupboard.

When integrated with third-party apps like IP Webcam, your old phone can instantly turn into a security camera to let you keep an eye on your assets and surroundings from anywhere. Advanced features like video recording and motion detection could also come into play, depending on your phone’s compatibility and features.

4. A Full-time Video Conferencing Station

You never knew, or maybe it never occurred, that the ignorantly lying mobile phone could let you video chat across Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, WhatsApp, etc.

Have it on your desk or conference room table – say hocus-pocus for good measure and ta-da.

You’re all set to have a permanent access point for virtual face-to-face communications.

With enough old phones lying idle in most homes, one can easily have an entire house or office-wide video conferencing system. When you sign in to each device with the room’s name as the username, connecting with anyone will be a couple of quick taps.

3. Your Live Window into the World

Do you want more life and energy on your desk? Your old phone can be your window to wild and exciting global locales.

Just download the EarthCam Webcams App to gain one-touch access to an exciting and adventurous list of live-streaming cameras worldwide. You can experience the rush of New Orleans’ Bourbon Street or virtually immerse yourself in the whizzing serenity of Niagara Falls.

There are hundreds of views, and you can pull up anyone you like, go full screen, and let the positive vibes envelop you throughout the day.

Should you need more variety with live cameras worldwide, a one-time $5 subscription does it for you?

2. Your Dedicated E-reader

You’ve always wanted a distraction-free reading environment without all those phone notifications, temptations, and unconscious switching to unwanted tabs.

 

Get your old phone with only the apps you need for reading – Kindle, Nook, Play Books, or whatever your taste or text-ingesting fancy is.

An Audible account could also allow you to listen to your favorite books.

Disabling notifications from Gmail and noisy apps, and even putting it into airplane mode once your stuff is downloaded, can give your dedicated e-reader that doesn’t allow any disturbances.

1. Contribute Your Two Cents to Science

If your old smartphone phone still turns on, it’s perhaps as capable and powerful as your late-90s desktop. Donating it for a good cause would give you a sense of contribution.

Though just for Android, The University of Berkeley developed the BOINC app to garner your smartphone’s computing powers for crowdsourced science.

You can also extend your support for health and sustainability research with IBM’s World Community Grid, which works for our planet to avoid getting hit by an asteroid and other similar projects.

There are many other earth conservation and scientific innovation projects that you may want to support to help our species move safely into the future.

Whatever you do or intend to do with your old smartphone, please don’t let it add to the trash. A study by the Environmental Protection Agency suggests that almost 35K Lbs. of copper, 772 Lbs of Silver, 75 Lbs of Gold, and 33 Lbs of Palladium can be set aside from every one million phones recycled.

It’s high time your old smartphone sheds dust, gets out of the dark corners of your home, and helps you lead a better and more organized digital life.