Top 10 Ways to Make Use of Your Old Smartphones

#1

You can save yourself the hassle of futzing around with your current phone every time you want to listen to music on the road by making your old device an always-available car-based MP3 player. Load it up with all the music you love to hear, then plug it into your car's power port, connect it to the stereo via either Bluetooth or the 3.5mm headphone jack.

#2

Want a distraction-free reading environment? Load up your old Android device with only the apps you need for reading Google Play Books, Amazon Kindle, Pocket or whatever tickles your fancy and keep it by your nightstand.
You can also borrow books from your local library. Check with your nearest branch for information on how to do it, or download the free OverDrive app, which is used by a variety of libraries, schools and other institutions.

 

#3

Who needs a phone when you have Wi-Fi? Set up your old Android device with apps like Google Hangouts and Skype and use it as a futuristic terminal for face-to-face communications. Think of it as an extra extension for your office or living room.

#4

Keep an eye on your home, office or kiddos by transforming your device into a Web-connected security camera. Just download the free IP Webcam app and follow its instructions and, within seconds, you'll be able to peek through your device's lens from any compatible computer browser.

#5

If you're out capturing photographs and you run of out storage on the camera's memory card, an old smartphone can come in handy. You can transfer all your photographs into it.
To use your Android smartphone for data backup, it needs to have a micro SD card slot and USB host capability.
You can purchase a 32GB micro SD card for as low as Rs 1,100 and you'll need a simple USB host cable.
Just plug the memory card reader directly into the phone and use a file explorer to transfer the photographs. You can also transfer stuff from a USB flash drive.
These days technology has advance in such a enormous manner that there is no need to purchase a microSD card, because certain smartphones are being manufactured with 16/32/64 GB of in build memory. Which is an advantage to users who plan to store movies, photographs, songs and much more.

#6

Use your old smartphone as a test device to check out new apps before installing them on your main smartphone to save your device from bloatware.
You can also test out various custom ROMs on older devices. Custom ROMs let you install the latest version of the OS, remove unnecessary bloatware/animation effects and even improves your device's battery life and performance.

#7

If your smartphone has TV out (via MHL or HDMI out), then you can easily convert it into a flash based media player for the TV. Get a high storage memory card for your smartphone like 32/64GB card and copy your movies and music onto it.
The next step would be to connect the TV and smartphone using a MHL or HDMI cable and enjoy your music/movies on a big screen.
You can also stream multimedia wirelessly over DLNA or Miracast if your smartphone and TV both support it.

#8

Using the built-in WiFi Hotspot feature, you can easily use an old phone as a portable router. Plug in a 3G SIM card and choose a data plan with enough of data available.
You can connect other devices like laptop, tablet, phones for data access instead of using individual SIM cards for each device.

#9

A HUD or head up display, projects an image onto the windscreen so that it appears to float in mid air. The primary advantage of a HUD is that your eyes don't have to refocus to see gauges and then refocus again to see the road ahead.
While HUD technology is not entirely new (it's commonplace in fighter jets), with a smartphone, you can have a HUD in any car. Many apps are available, though we like Ulysse Speedometer.
All you need is a non-slip mat on the dashboard and the app.
Place the smartphone on the mat with the screen facing up. In the app, switch to HUD mode and the display will invert (so that it's correctly viewed in the reflection). The app uses a GPS signal to accurately calculate vehicle speed and display it in the HUD.

#10

Keep an old phone or tablet around or keep it in your laptop bag and have an on-demand wireless trackpad and remote control for your computer. The free Gmote 2.0 app and a Wi-Fi connection is all you need to make the magic happen: Just download the app to your device, download the appropriate server-side software for your computer and set up a secure password. Then you can point, click and slide around on your device's screen to control everything from presentations to multimedia playback on your PC.