( Image credit: Philippe Donn/ Pexels) BOINC, in spite of its name, is really a rather severe Android-only app which can harness the number-crunching power of your extra phone to assist add to various research study efforts.
These can consist of the hunt for extraterrestrial life, in addition to medical and environment research study, to name a few choice examples. Your phone will use up some electrical energy while charging (to keep the app powered) of course, but thats a little price to pay to assist make sure the survival of the mankind, dont you believe?
7. End up being a shortcut king (Android just).
( Image credit: HappyConz) Dash cameras have increased in appeal over the past few years, and with good reason. They offer unassailable proof for insurance coverage claims from both motorists and bicyclists, while sometimes recording crazy events like meteors streaking through the sky or trees being blown over.
If youve got an old phone with a working electronic camera, then youre great to go. AutoBoy Dash Cam is a solid choice if youre breathing brand-new life into an old Android handset. It immediately deletes older recordings that you do not require, and has a crash sensing unit to make sure important video is never ever lost. You can likewise set it to back up your videos to YouTube, and itll even work in the background, letting you double the phone up as a sat nav too.
The iPhone app equivalent – Smart Dash Cam – is similar, although it does not support background recording, so you cant use any other apps while driving.
Keep in mind that youll likewise need to purchase a mobile phone mount that connects to your windshield, and have some method to charge the phone in your vehicle to prevent the battery from conking out on long journeys. If you do not have a USB port in your ride, or only have one, then there are lots of affordable in-car USB adapters available on Amazon.
2. Watch on your child( s).
( Image credit: Google) If youre after a tabletop clever assistant you could fork out for a smart assistant-powered screen like the Amazon Echo Show 5 – or you might simply use your old phone. Get a dock, leave it plugged in, and boom – youve got a full-time assistant on your hands.
From Siri and Alexa, to Google Assistant and even Cortana, youll have weather condition, news, radio shows, calendar entries, music and more, all simply a voice command away. For finest results we d recommend connecting to a speaker so that you can plainly hear everything over the clacking of keyboards, or sizzling of bacon, depending upon your area.
Older phones are likely to have the much-missed earphone jack which will make things simpler, however if youve got Bluetooth speakers then youre all great to go.
6. Find aliens (Android just).
( Image credit: YOSH) Sure, you might spend hundreds on an elegant action electronic camera, but for casual swimming pool and snorkeling snaps, theres a much more affordable alternative – a water resistant phone bag.
You can get the YOSH IPX8 for less than a tenner on Amazon, and it will fit most devices up to 6.8 inches in size, totally protecting them from a prospective watery grave. Its worth the cash for the assurance alone, even if your spare handset is water resistant, and specifically as seawater has a nasty habit of being rather corrosive.
You will not be able to operate the touchscreen manages when youre totally submerged, however nearly every device permits you to operate the shutter button by pressing the volume controls, which is a perfect workaround.
5. Get a desktop butler.
( Image credit: all set made/ Pexels) No, we do not mean chuck it in the bin – were speaking about recycling and/or offering. If your spare phones only a year or 2 old, its well worth the effort of seeing what the going rate is on websites like eBay and phone recycling websites (more on that in a 2nd).
Apple fans will be pleased to hear that iPhones hold their value more than any other handset – two times as much as Samsung phones, in reality. Its bad news for everybody else though – beyond those two brand names, resale value can be pretty grim.
Still, it never injures to look, and you can still anticipate to get a decent amount of money for last years flagship. Use a website like Compare My Mobile to see what your phones worth throughout a wide variety of different sites, and pick whichever supplies the very best price.
Some of them provide a somewhat greater quantity in the kind of vouchers, which you might prefer, and youll sleep much better in the understanding that – in most cases – your old handset will be recycled.
Offering it to someone in requirement is another alternative if you d rather your phone brought on your legacy in working order. Charities like Oxfam will be more than grateful to receive any extra gadgets youve got lying around if theres no one that springs to mind.
Is it in a drawer, collecting dust among loose batteries and an instruction manual for a long-forgotten waffle iron? Do you even understand where it is?
Accusations aside, its worth thinking of, since theres likely a lot of life in it yet, and it might even save you some cash. From dash webcams to baby displays, your old Android and iPhone devices can be repurposed to provide years of faithful service till they lastly break, or deep space reaches a state of entropic heat-death – whichever comes first.
With a growing number of individuals ending up being progressively conscientious with their waste and environmental impact, you d be doing your bit to assist in saving the world too. With all that in mind, here are a few things you can do to help usher your old handset into a new afterlife.
1. Turn it into a dash web cam
Is it in a drawer, gathering dust amongst loose batteries and a direction manual for a long-forgotten waffle iron? Do you even understand where it is? If youve got an old phone with a working video camera, then youre excellent to go. If youre breathing new life into an old Android handset, then AutoBoy Dash Cam is a solid option. You can likewise set it to back up your videos to YouTube, and itll even work in the background, letting you double the phone up as a sat nav too.
( Image credit: Alfred Systems Inc.) In a similar vein, you can likewise utilize old phones to develop a total house security system, with perk points for positioning them inside stuffed animals and hollowed out books.
An app like Alfred Home Security Camera – available on iOS and Android – utilizes the camera and microphone powers of your handset, supplying views of your house, total with automated notifies if any invasions are identified.
The app has functions similar to a child display, minus the lullabies obviously, enabling you to frighten possible intruders or analytical squirrels with two-way interaction and/or a remote alarm.
You can add friends and household to your circle of trust too, though youll wish to keep in mind that fact next time youre walking sans towel.
4. Check out the deep.
( Image credit: Riva Farabi) If youre a hardcore streamer, media lover, music fiend, or just like to multitask as effectively as possible, then Deckboard is the app for you.
Developed to develop macros for your Windows PC, the possibilities are near unlimited, allowing you to create personalized buttons that can do anything from launching apps to opening folders, seeing chats and much, far more.
Having an irreversible screen with all of your most-used apps and functions at your fingertips is a veritable blessing for eager time-savers. Its a pity that iOSs walled garden approach strikes once again though – this is another Android-only affair.
8. Just eliminate it.
( Image credit: VIGI Limited) Babies supply a huge selection of brand-new challenges, and new moms and dads will be especially eager to do all they can to guarantee their hereditary copies are as safe as can be. Sure, you could purchase an expensive baby monitor, however why do that when youve got an extra pocketable computer with an integrated video camera and microphone?
Cloud Baby Monitor (available on iOS and Android) is an extensive app which beams your little tykes snoring face to any other gadget you elegant.
Its rammed with functions, including privacy file encryption, a summary of sleeping patterns, instantaneous noise and motion notifies, two-way communication, an adjustable light for exposure, integrated lullaby sounds, and more. Regretfully, it wont instantly feed hungry mouths, however who knows what a future update might bring.
3. Secure your home.
