Ideas to repurpose
your older devices
What to do with a spare phone
Ideas to repurpose
your older devices
What to do with a spare phone
Not sure what to do with older devices just lying around? Here are some ideas.
It’s useful to have a spare phone around that’s in good working condition. Instead of stashing them away in the junk drawer, here are some ideas to repurpose and breathe new life into an old phone.
Bedside clock and alarm
Turn your spare phone into a sleek bedside clock and alarm—useful if you’re trying to cut device usage before sleep. You can now keep your personal phone far from your bed without worrying about missing alarms.
Samsung devices
- Go to Settings > Lock screen.
- Tap Always On Display and toggle the switch on.
- Here, you can adjust settings such as when to display and screen orientation.
- To tweak clock colours and style, go to Settings > Lock Screen > Clock style.
- To set alarms, use the built-in Clock app.
Other Android devices
- Go to Settings > Display > Screen saver.
- Tap Current screen saver, then choose Clock.
- Tap When to start and choose the option that works for you (e.g. while charging or docked)
- Screen saver appears when your phone goes to sleep automatically (i.e. it won’t trigger if you manually lock your phone).
- To set alarms, use the built-in Clock app.
iOS devices
Unlike Android, iOS doesn’t come with a built-in screen saver clock function. There are third-party apps out there that mimic it, such as:
- MoonDial — Bedside Night Clock: Free app, highly customisable (e.g. fonts and colours).
- Fliqlo: Paid app, displays a retro flip clock.
To set alarms, use the built-in Clock app.
Digital photo frame
Transform your old device into a digital photo frame and display your favourite photos.
Samsung devices
- Go to Settings > Display.
- Tap Screensaver and toggle the switch on.
- Tap Photo Frame, then the gear icon next to it to select which albums to include
- Screensaver appears after your screen turns off automatically (i.e. it won’t trigger with manual lock) while charging.
Other Android devices
- Go to Settings > Display > Screen Saver.
- Tap Current screen saver, then choose Photos.
- Tap the gear icon next to Current screen saver to tweak settings (e.g. choose albums and change data usage settings).
iOS devices
iPhone users can download third-party photo frame apps, like:
- LiveFrame (free)
- SoloSlides for Google Photos (free)
These apps let you customise which albums to display and choose different transitions and filters to apply to your photos.
Security or pet camera
Use your spare smartphone as a security camera by installing a third-party app. Generally, you download the app onto two devices; one works as the camera, the other as the monitor (i.e. where you view footage).
Some free security camera apps you can check out include:
