Nowadays, it’s a quite common situation that when you purchase a brand new phone, you will either sell the old one, retire it in your drawer, or throw it away. If your old phone is still working, why not dedicate it for other purposes such as using it as a Wi-Fi device only to download files, movies, etc. Turning an old Android smartphone to a dedicated Wi-Fi device only is quite simple to do. As a matter of fact, all you have to do is turn off all cellular network and features and that’s it. As a dedicated Wi-Fi device, not only you preserve the battery of your brand new phone, you also prolong its general lifespan. Since you can dedicate downloading, gaming, and other stuff to your Wi-Fi only device.
Turning Old Android Phone to Wi-Fi Only Device
To start off, the first thing that you can do is to factory reset your old Android phone. It’s also fine if you do not want to reset your phone. We do, however, recommend it to refresh the device and delete data and files that you are already using on your brand new phone. Once done, below are a few more steps that you can do:
1. Enable Airplane Mode
As the title suggests, the easiest and fastest way to ensure that the phone will deactivate any cellular activity and prevent it from search one is by enabling the Airplane mode.
2. Enable Wi-Fi
Once you enabled Airplane mode, every wireless connection will be turned off including the Wi-Fi connectivity of the device. Airplane mode is designed to stop the device from emitting and receiving any wireless signal and prevent it from causing any possible signal interference to the airplane. Don’t worry, your phone will still be in Airplane mode after you manually enabled the Wi-Fi. This will allow the device to connect to any Wi-Fi that you have access to.
3. Consider Installing 3rd Party App Launcher
To bring new user experience to your device, consider installing a 3rd-party launcher app. Launcher apps change the way you can interact with your phone. It also changes the way it looks and the way it functions. Once you’ve done all the steps we mentioned above, you can now use your old Android smartphone as a dedicated smartphone for surfing the web, downloading files, and the internet of things. Heck, you can even use your old phone as a server to stream videos, access files, and more on your local network area.
Other Things To Do with Old Android Phones
Smartphones are more than just a phone and a device that can surf the web. They are also capable of other things such as turning one into a dedicated local area network server, a dedicated radio, clock, a gadget for kids, and more. So, if you don’t find turning your old Android phone into a dedicated Wi-Fi device only useful or appealing, then here are other ways you can use your old phone.
1. Use Old Phones as a Radio
Most people, especially younger generations, may have forgotten that smartphones are capable of tuning in to your local radio stations. Unfortunately, some models have this capability turned off intentionally by the manufacturers. You can, however, listen to the radio through online means. With that being said, it’s best to download and install an FM Transmitter app for Android for this sole purpose.
2. Use Old Phones as a Clock/News/Infographic Source
Now you might be wondering why you would need to use a phone as a clock since you already probably have one, but an Android phone is more than a clock. You can load up certain apps to present the news to you in the morning, share stock info, tell you about the weather and even wake you up. Finding the best clock app to pair it with can be challenging, but we recommend installing an app that displays the information on the screen without the need to unlock the device. Furthermore, it would be great if an app can display all the necessary information that you would want to know in one glance. For that purpose, we recommend the Chronus app. Chronus is an app that offers a set of a Clock, Weather, News, Tasks, Stocks, Fitness and Calendar widgets for your Home and Lock screen. Last but not least, if you ever decide to use your old phone for this purpose. We highly recommend ensuring that the device is always plugged into its charger. This will prevent the device from shutting down due to low battery. Additionally, we also recommend pairing it with a stand or holder. Check out this UGREEN phone stand holder. This universal phone cradle stand fits for 4 to 7.9 Inch smartphone, mini-tablet, e-reader with thickness up to 0.55″ (including phone case).
3. Turn Old Android Phone to a Kid-Friendly Gadget
If you have kids then why not use it to monitor them or give the phone to them to play games? Of course, before you hand it to them, you need to ensure that the device is configured to prevent the kids from surfing the web and displaying anything that should not be shown to kids. With that in mind, knowing the best apps for kids can be crucial. Most especially that some may appear friendly but once you use the app, you’ll find that the content is not for children at all. That’s why it is also important to which apps to use to keep your kids safe from using the phone.
4. Turn Old Phones to a Multi-Media Device
Smartphones, as is, is already a multi-media device. But for this one, we’re referring to turning it into a worry-free multi-media device. Since it’s an old phone. you probably won’t care about it as much, so why not use it for other purposes such as:
Using it to watch videos or read in the bathroom.As a Gym music player.As a Kitchen tool for watching guides.As a garage tool for watching more guides as well.
5. Using Old Phones as a Remote
Last but not least, using your old Android phone as a remote control at home. Depending on the phone model you have, you can either use it to control TVs with infrared receivers as well as air conditioners. Otherwise, you can use to control devices connected to the same Wi-Fi network such as SmartTVs, Wireless Speakers, and more.
Using Old Phones for Other Means
That’s about it for learning how to use old Android phone as Wi-Fi only device. These are usually quick solutions to finding uses for your old Android, so feel free to play around with them. Let us know if you have any questions about how to use your old device, and share other ideas for making a Wi-Fi only device. Featured Image
