What to do with your old phone

Your old phone has many potential uses
Credit: Macworld UK

Bright, shiny new mobile phone – but what to do with the old one? Some people have a drawer full of them. Two of the more popular options are: sell it, or pass it on to a family member or friend. These are obviously good options, depending on your circumstances, but there are others.

Keep it as a spare – that bright, shiny new phone, may suffer a misadventure – drop, or other physical damage, internal failure, loss or theft. In any of these circumstances, another phone to swap the SIM into, or a new SIM, depending on the misadventure, could be very useful.

Second phone – many have abandoned their fixed phone. A second phone with its own account can become a home phone. Some mobile phone providers have pay-as-you-go accounts, with no cost while the phone remains unused. I used such an account with an old phone, for several years, to contact family members at home, at no cost.

Use it as a mobile router – free public WiFi, is not always available when you need it, & is not secure¹ – your own mobile data is a more flexible & secure choice. You can use the hotspot function of your mobile phone, or, if your data allocation is insufficient, an additional, data only account. Rather than buying a purpose-built mobile router,² use your old phone at no cost.

Other possibilities include:
● add it to a multi-camera video shoot
● baby monitor
● video doorbell
● GoPro replacement
● dedicated VR headset
● white noise generator

7 ways to repurpose an old Android phone
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/ways-to-repurpose-an-old-android-phone/

8 ways to repurpose an old iPhone
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/repurpose-an-old-iphone/
__________

¹ HitchHiker’s Guide 2 Tech: “VPN Internet security for mobile use”, https://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2017/03/vpn-internet-security-for-mobile-use.html

² Many mobile routers are available, such as: Huawei's Mobile Wifi Pro, http://m.huawei.com/enmobile/consumer/mobile-broadband/mobile-wifi/detail/e5770-en.htm

Google, “mobile router”, to see many more.

/ what to do with your old phone your old phone has many potential uses bright shiny new mobile phone what to do with the old one some people have a drawer full of them two of the more popular options are sell it pass it on to a family member or friend other options spare bright shiny new phone drop or other physical damage internal failure loss or theft another phone to swap the SIM in new SIM useful second phone fixed phone second phone with its own account home phone mobile phone providers pay-as-you-go accounts no cost while phone remains unused old phone contact family members at home at no cost mobile router free public WiFi not always available when you need it not secure your own mobile data more flexible and secure choice use the hotspot function your mobile phone your data allocation is insufficient additional data only account purpose-built mobile router your old phone backup phone dedicated camcorder add it to a multi-camera video shoot baby monitor video doorbell GoPro dedicated VR headset Amazon Echo nightstand repurpose an old Android phone repurpose an old iPhone VPN Internet security for mobile use mobile router mobile router smartphones smartphone upgraded upgrade upgrade your old phone sell it defray the cost of the upgrade option repurposing that old phone favorite uses for a discarded Android smartphone iPhone phones lost stolen broken phone my old standby access to my calendar contacts email they're all synced daily-use apps Facebook Spotify Twitter password manager no better short-term rescue option new phone pop the SIM card out old phone restoring voice and data repair repairs old phone in a drawer low-cost second line no-cost second line unlocked GSM phone model SIM card Freedompop sign up Basic plan 200 voice minutes 500 text messages 200MB 4G data per month at no charge how to set up a backup phone dedicated camcorder recording wedding kid's soccer game music video indie movie multiple cameras edit mix footage different angles positions create much more interesting video your old Android great second camera older lower-end phones capture at least 1,920x1,080-pixel video 30 frames per second as much storage as possible new footage baby monitor video Android phone baby-monitor duty exceed standalone products app like Dormi audio and video monitoring app offers two-way audio crying baby audio video audio/video feeds Android phone connected via Wi-Fi Dormi app supports multiple parent devices phone that's doing the monitoring app is free unlock lifetime monitoring video doorbell door duty outdoor Wi-Fi webcam smart doorbell phone full-time video monitor Canary Flex versatile security-minded webcam video doorbells August Doorbell Cam DoorBird Video Door Station Ring Video Doorbell SkyBell Video Doorbell GoPro video option turn your old phone into a GoPro solid camera in there mount it for action-video duty Velocity Clip phone mounts bike chest head strapped to your head cheaper than buying a separate GoPro mount option cheap Bluetooth camera-shutter button start and stop video recording dedicated VR headset old Android phone iPhone virtual reality smartphone virtual reality VR experiences headset and some apps headset universally compatible VR goggles adjust focal width adjust focal length accommodate users less-than-perfect vision Bluetooth gamepad control games and access menus apps Google Play Store search for VR Google Cardboard Android and VR headset iPhone iOS App Store nightstand old phone nightstand lamp serve countless purposes alarm clock alarm Voice Snooze Alarm iPhone iOS App Store alarm clock snooze customizable vocal command clock radio TuneIn Radio alarm sleep-timer features dedicated e-reader iBooks Kindle Nook OverDrive iPhone iOS App Store app meditation player Calm spare Roku remote latest update white-noise machine white noise machine /