11 Clever Uses for Your Old Phone or Tablet

Upgrade meter has finally rolled around and you ’re wondering what to do with your one-time headphone or tablet . If you do n’t need toflog it on eBay , give it to a friend ordonate it to a estimable causethen there are many dissimilar ways you may make employment of it . Most of these idea ask change by reversal your phone or tablet into a dedicated , single - purpose equipment with the help of an app or two .

1. Home security camera

As you do n’t involve your quondam smartphone or tablet to travel around with you any more , you could fix it on a windowpane or in a corner and utilise it as a home surveillance gadget or a infant monitor . raft of apps are available to cover the software side of the equation : iCamSpy , PresenceandManythingare all hefty options that enable you to keep an centre on your prop or your tiddler from somewhere else .

2. Remote control

There are a numeral of options for control a number of devices with your smartphone or tab . Witha outfit from Logitechyou can utilise an onetime gadget as a remote for your media centre for model , whileDSLR Remotelets you control your digital camera . Apple hasits own remote appand if you ’re a Chromecaster theneverything works mechanically .

3. MP3 player

In the days before smartphones were very good at playing music , we all carry pear-shaped portable MP3 players to listen to tunes on the go . Your honest-to-god smartphone or tablet can still take a pile of audio tracks and play them back on your stereo or in your motorcar — focalize on local files and turn off the connectivity choice if you require to maximize battery life . You wo n’t have to worry about phone calls cutting into the music either .

4. Digital photo frame

If there ’s a way of keeping your honest-to-god smartphone or tablet hook up to a power supply and you may incapacitate the screen blind and lock features , then you may use it as a digital photo frame . Dayframefor Android can plug away into a host of societal web to add you updated pictures from your circle , whilePicmaticdoes the same sort of job on iOS . There are passel of other apps to prefer from reckon on what you want .

5. E-reader

earpiece and tablet screens are n’t quite as well-off on the eye as Es - ink but they ’re okay for a quick turn of scan on the go . As well as iBooks and Play Books you’re able to utilise the officialKindleorKoboapps to sync your interpretation with a separate vitamin E - reader and across multiple devices . You could also use your older phone or tablet entirely for catching up on your on-line reading — InstapaperorPocketare two apps that can help out here .

6. Alarm clock

Particularly worthy if you have an old charging dock as well as an honest-to-goodness phone , there are gobs of apps that will let you use the equipment as an always - on warning signal clock that can wake up you out of your slumber . As well as the alarm function build into the earphone ’s software , you could go for less conventional alternatives such asWake , TimelyandWalk Me Up(which only shuts off the alarm after you ’ve take a certain number of stone’s throw ) .

7. Twitter ticker

Something of a social media junkie ? Apps likeTweetBot , RobirdandTwitterificcan keep your Twitter timeline on ceaseless display and update it with Modern posts as they come in , strike there ’s an available Wi - Fi connection to latch on to . Keep your old smartphone or tablet propped up at the side of your laptop and you may stay on top of incoming tweets without having to keep switching to it in your World Wide Web web internet browser .

8. Kid’s toy

If you have nestling in the house then giving one of them your aging smartphone or tablet is an obvious pick , partially because there ’s a stack of great educational apps and game around . If you do n’t have to worry about sharing the equipment with your materialization then you could tighten upthe relevant parental controlsand leave them to get on with it , keeping all of your authoritative stuff on your brand fresh equipment .

9. Radio

While your SIM carte du jour may have been switched to your new gimmick , presumptively your old one can still expend your place Wi - Fi , so why not reverse it into a compact receiving set ? Almost every station broadcasts online now — ascertain for prescribed apps from your preferent ones — and there are a pile of online radio apps you may make usage of , includingTuneIn RadioandiHeartRadio . If your old equipment comes with a sour grass , it will work even better .

10. Dedicated word processor

Now thatOffice is free for iOS and Android(and of path available on Windows devices ) you could installWord , stick with a aboriginal tool or expend one ofthe many alternativesto plough your out - date pill into a dedicated word processor that is n’t littered up with gaming apps or social culture medium distractions . It ’s a particularly good choice if you already have a tablet stand and Bluetooth keyboard , of course .

11. Barometer

Did you have intercourse the up-to-the-minute iPhone 6 handsets have a barometer sensor in them ? Even if you ’re not using the latest computer hardware , you’re able to find an app that will look up entropy from the nearest climate post and get atmospheric condition forecasts to your phone or tablet . WeatherSignalis deserving a looking for iOS whileBarometer & Altimeterdoes the same caper on Android . For that dead on target barometer - mode effect you could mount your twist on the wall .

[ Header image : Georgejmclittle / Shutterstock.com ]

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