8 useful things your (old) smartphone or tablet can do (2022)
Phones and tablets last much longer than they used to. If you want to upgrade a telephone, that does not mean that your old device has been written off. With these tips, your old phone or tablet can live a second life.
Contents
1. Fixed word processor
Phones can use useful office apps like Google Docs and Word from Microsoft. During my student days, my tablet with a bluetooth cover was therefore a permanent note machine, but telephones also have more to offer than you think. There are really only two things that really prevent your phone from functioning as a regular word processor: the small screen and the lack of a keyboard. Fortunately, there is a solution for both problems.
In fact, Samsung has the best desktop environment for Android phones with DeX. With DeX you use your smartphone as if it were a PC. Thanks to an HDMI adapter, you can connect a monitor to your phone, although DeX can also work wirelessly. Add a handy Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and you can get started. DeX opens all your apps in windows, kind of like the way Chrome OS does. At the bottom is also a taskbar for your apps.
Samsung is also not the only manufacturer to have such a desktop function on its phones. Motorola has launched something similar with Ready For and OPPO offers Multi-Screen Connect.
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Motorola Ready For
2. Transcribe and translate tool
Google has powerful apps that allow you to translate and transcribe text. With Live Transcribe, you only have to put your phone in the room and all conversations are easily converted to text. This feature is useful for people with hearing problems. Furthermore, the app also allows you to easily save transcripts or search through transcripts.
Did you know that you can also transform an old phone or tablet into a full-fledged translation machine? This is of course possible with Google Translate, but there is also a way to translate speech in real time and to record that translation in a document. This works via a function of Gboard with the following steps:
- Open Google Docs or another app to jot down
- At the top of the Gboard keyboard, press the icon with the three dots
- chooses Translate
- Press on the top right microphone
- Let your phone do its job
Gboard’s translation feature also works with speech
Don’t have a car that supports Android Auto? In that case, a phone or tablet can provide smart functions. For example, browse your music, have notifications read aloud by the Google Assistant and follow navigation from Google Maps.
There’s a lot to be said about ways to use your phone or tablet in the car. Start by choosing a phone interface for your car, then look at these useful accessories. Your old phone doesn’t need a SIM card either, because you can store music offline and the same goes for the maps in Google Maps.
4. Security camera or webcam
Your old phone can connect to the WiFi and of course it has a camera on the back. In other words, your smartphone has everything it takes to function as a security camera that keeps an eye on things at all times.
On the other hand, it can also work as a webcam for your PC, and in many cases your phone will take better images than real webcams. In this article we discuss several free apps that you can use for this.
5. E-reader
Would you like to use your phone to read books, but do you also find it annoying that it consumes too much of your battery? Therefore, use a second phone or tablet as an e-reader.
With apps like Kobo Books, Google Play Books or Amazon Kindle, you can keep a whole library of books offline on your device. You then adjust the display settings in the app to limit the impact on your battery life. You can also use an app such as Digital Welfare to filter the blue light from your screen when you read before bed at night. That way you will be able to sleep more easily afterwards. In this article, we discuss the best apps to read e-books.
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6. Cloud Gaming Handheld
Your old phone may no longer be one of the fastest, but that doesn’t mean it can’t play the latest premium games for PC or consoles. Thanks to cloud gaming services such as NVIDIA GeForce Now or Xbox Cloud Gaming, you only need a good internet connection to play. You can also connect your phone or tablet to a Bluetooth controller or use an accessory such as a Razer Kishi controller.
7. Contribute to scientific research
You really can’t find a task that your tablet or smartphone can perform and you don’t want to sell it? Then certainly don’t let him rot in the closet, but enlist him to contribute to scientific research. Whether it concerns an old device or a high-end device, each device can assist scientists to perform calculations via DreamLab. We explain here how it works.
DreamLab – Support research
DreamLab – Support research
The coronavirus affects the whole world and although we are seeing increasingly favorable figures in the Netherlands, it is especially important that we have a vaccine as soon as possible so that ..
8. Media server
Do you have an old phone lying around that has enough internal storage or a microSD slot to expand your storage? In that case, you could easily use the device as a media server. You can store all your films, music, series and photos on the storage of the old device and you can then view them at any time on your new telephone or television.
What you need to make a media server from an old Android phone is the right software. Use an app like BubbleUPnP, which allows you to set up your phone or tablet as a network device. Your set-top box, smart TV, new phone or game console can then wirelessly access all the media from your old device. Your old phone or tablet only needs to be connected to the same WiFi network. Using your old phone as a media server frees up space on your new phone for other things.
BubbleUPnP for DLNA/Chromecast
BubbleUPnP for DLNA/Chromecast
Many people will already be familiar with the media streamer Plex, but BubbleUPnP is a possible alternative. With this app you stream all your music, photos and videos.
Even more tips
It’s not the first time we’ve been looking for a new job for your old phone or tablet. In this article you will discover another six things that your old device can do. Maybe you have more great tips in mind? Share them in the comments at the bottom of this article.
Do you know of more useful tasks that an extra smartphone or tablet can perform? What do you do with your old appliances? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of this article.
