A time might come when you have an outdated smartphone, and you want to get a new one. If your old android or iOS phone is still in usable condition, then you can sell it or trade it in. However, there are other fun things you might do with it in your car.
You can have your old smartphone as your exclusive car phone and set it up to do all kinds of interesting things. Let’s look at a few options right now
Table of Contents
What to do with an Old Smartphone?
#1. Dash Cam
Before we get into the various things you can do with an old smartphone in your car, we should mention that you should always be careful not to let it distract you when you’re driving. In 2018, distracted driving caused 2,841 deaths and 400,000 injuries.
In many cases, the driver was distracted by trying to do something with their smartphone while driving.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into one of the most fascinating ways to use old smartphone as security camera. You can set it up as a dashboard camera. Dashboard cameras are useful because…
- They can record car crashes or traffic incidents
- You can use the footage you took if you ever need to appear in court after an accident
You can set up your old phone using a suction cellphone mount. Next, download an app like Car Camera. There are a few other ones too.
Then, you can install a high-speed SD memory card. You can power the phone with a USB cable. The final step is to set up the app to record video in an endless loop, with the newest videos overwriting the oldest ones.
Now, you can capture anything that happens on the road in front of you.
#2. Wireless Media Updates
You might also use your outdated smartphone to update your wireless media library to use in your car. Some people listen to media on a USB drive plugged into the car’s stereo system. They add podcasts or new music to it by:
- Taking it out of the vehicle
- Plugging it into a laptop or PC
- Downloading the new media
- Putting it back in the car
There’s an easier way. You can use your old phone with on-board storage and a Wi-Fi File Transfer program. Turn on the phone’s Wi-Fi, connecting it to your home network. Then, plug the smartphone into the car’s stereo with a USB cable.
The USB will keep the smartphone fully charged at all times. With the Wi-Fi File Transfer software on the phone and the smartphone connected to your home’s Wi-Fi via the USB cable, you can log into any computer on your home network. You can use a web browser and move the files from and to the smartphone when it’s in the car.
#3. Use the Smartphone as a Silent Car Alarm
One more fun and useful thing you can do with your old smartphone in the car is to set up a silent alarm that will inform you if anyone ever tampers with the vehicle. You’ll need to download the Haven app.
Once you have, set up the sensors to detect light, sound, and pressure changes. The app will send you an alert if someone breaks into your vehicle. The alarm will come to you via your new smartphone, on which you’ll also install the app.
The noise sensor can pick up if someone smashes a window. Someone will trigger the pressure sensor if they open one of the car’s doors. This app can even record video from the phone’s camera if someone breaks in, which get automatically uploaded to the cloud.
Even if someone takes off in your car, you’ll have footage to show the police. Make sure that the phone has SIM-card connectivity for this to work.
#4. Navigation System
This is the best option to use an old cell phone to go to right destination. Use the phone as navigation system and using a mapping app, you’re good to go.
Many people use the maps, so if you have an old phone then you can open the google maps on that phone and go to your destination quickly.
As we know these come with voice assistance too so here it quite easy to understand the routes. If a rout has bad traffic then this will alert you too and you can pick an alternate way!
#5. GPS Tracker
One last thing you can do with your old smartphone in the car is to use it as a trusty GPS tracker. You’ll need an app with GPS functionality.
All you do is install the app and power the handset permanently, hiding the device and power cord somewhere like under the seat. With the phone and app running, you can track the car on your laptop back home. This is another way to keep track of the vehicle if someone steals it.
There are tons of things you can do with an old smartphone if you get creative with it. You don’t always need to sell it and not get much from the sale.
