Empty your drawers and give a second life to smartphones that you no longer use by transforming them into useful objects for your daily life.
We all have somewhere, at the bottom of a drawer or a cupboard, an old iPhone an old Android smartphone that we no longer use because it does not include the latest technologies in vogue. While some of you choose resale to finance a new device, others abandon your old devices as soon as you receive your brand new smartphone.
However, these old devices, sometimes technologically outdated, can be used to perform certain low-consumption tasks in your daily life. Finding a new utility for an old smartphone is almost child’s play because the options are so many. We have selected three, which will allow you to recycle an old device into a Webcam, a dedicated GPS or a remote control for your TV.
Also to discover in video:
1. Turn your smartphone into a webcam
If your computer is not natively equipped with a webcam, do not run out and buy one and rather search the back of your drawers. You probably have an old smartphone that you don’t use anymore, but it still works. So why not dedicate it to a single task, by transforming it, for example, into a webcam that you can use on your computer in any videoconferencing application?
In addition to saving money and helping the environment, you will get a good quality image. There are many applications for using a smartphone as a webcam, but not all of them are created equal.
On Windows or macOS, whether you have an old iPhone or an Android smartphone, you can use the free Iriun WebCam app. Extremely simple to use, just launch the application on your smartphone and on your computer.
The connection between the two devices is done automatically as soon as they are both connected to the same Wi-Fi network. You will then only have to go to the settings of your videoconferencing software to select Iriun Webcam by as a webcam to be used by default.
Download Iriun Webcam for Windows (Free)
Download Iriun Webcam for macOS (Free)
Download Iriun Webcam for Linux (Free)
Download Iriun Webcam for Android (Free)
Download Iriun Webcam for iPhone (Free)
2. Use your smartphone as a GPS
Another option to recycle that old Android smartphone or that old iPhone lying around in your drawer, turn it into a dedicated GPS. If it does not have an Internet connection in the car, nothing prevents you from first downloading a GPS application offering to locally download the map you need to use it offline. And the most interesting application in this area is undoubtedly Here WeGo, formerly Nokia Here Maps.
Once installed on your smartphone, open the main menu of the application and tap on Use offline. You will then be prompted to download locally on the device the mapping of a region, a country, or an entire continent.
Download Here WeGo for Android (Free)
Download Here WeGo for iPhone (Free)
3. Turn your smartphone into a remote control
Whether you have an Internet box or an Android or Amazon Fire Stick type multimedia box, depending on the model, you can use an old smartphone as a remote control. All operator boxes have, in principle, a dedicated application and some offer a remote control function. To work, your mobile device must generally be connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your multimedia box.
Once the application is launched, it usually automatically searches the network for devices that it is able to control and connects to them. You can then use your smartphone’s touchscreen to navigate the menus of your TV box.
Download Android TV Remote Control for Android (Free)
Download Android TV Remote Control for iPhone (Free)
Download Amazon Fire TV for Android (Free)
Download Amazon Fire TV for iPhone (Free)
Download FreeTelec Freebox Remote Control for Android (Free)
Download FreeTelec Freebox Remote Control for iPhone (Free)
Download Orange TV for Android (Free)
Download Orange TV for iPhone (Free)
Download B.tv for Android (Free)
Download B.tv for iPhone (Free)
Download SFR TV for Android (Free)
Download SFR TV for iPhone (Free)