The march of technology is relentless, which means that many of us end up with surplus gadgets in our homes as we upgrade to the next new thing. This often leads to the question of what you can do with a tablet computer you no longer use besides letting it gather dust in your desk drawer.
You can always donate your device to your child or recycle it, but there are many other interesting and imaginative ways to reuse an old Android tablet. Here are a few ideas from Alcatel – most of which will work perfectly for your old Android smartphone, too.
1. Turn your vehicle into a smart car
You can use your smartphone as a personal navigation device, Wi-Fi hotspot and media centre in your car, but fiddling around with the small touchscreen can be distracting while you’re driving. Here’s where you old Android tablet comes in:
You can get a car dock so that you can mount your tablet and use it as your smart car command centre. Download the Android Auto app for an even better experience with a simplified interface, large buttons and powerful voice actions.
Android Auto is designed to make it easier to use apps that you love from your mobile device while you’re on the road, including maps, calendaring, and media. To use Android Auto, you’ll need a device running Android 5.0 or higher.
2. Use it as a photo frame
A nifty way to reuse your Android tablet is to mount it and use it to display your most treasured photos and precious memories. A simple way to get going is with the slideshow feature on Google Photos. Pixgram, Fotoo and PhotoCloud Frame Slideshow are alternatives to Google Photos.
Some of these apps have cool features like photo transition effects, the ability to add music, and support for retrieving photos from a variety of sources such as your tablet’s photo gallery and cloud storage services like Google Photos, Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive.
3. Make into a baby monitor
If you’re expecting a new addition to your family or have an infant in the house, an old Android tablet can be a cost-effective and flexible baby monitor. Simply put the old tablet in your baby’s room and then use your smartphone to watch and listen to your child remotely.
Popular baby monitor apps include Baby Monitor 3G and Dormi. Some baby monitor apps can do even more than a typical baby monitor, with features such as sleep pattern monitoring, alerts via call or message when the baby is crying, and the ability to talk to baby from your phone to soothe him or her.
4. Repurpose it as a home surveillance camera
Do you want a security camera to watch over your home, yet don’t want to go through the hassle of installing a full CCTV system? Then your old Android tablet – paired with an app like Alfred Camera – could be the solution you are looking for.
Alfred is a DIY home security camera you can set up in under three minutes. With Alfred, you can get features like live streaming, instant intruder alert, night vision, walkie-talkie, and unlimited cloud storage to store, share, and playback your video footage.
5. Reuse it as your reading device
The idea of using your smartphone to read is neat in theory, but many people find the screen too small to offer an optimal experience or find that they get distracted by notifications and other apps on their device. So, a great way to use your old tablet is as a dedicated e-reader.
Strip away any apps that you don’t need and just install the ones you need to download and read books such as Amazon Kindle or Google Play Books. And there you have it: your own e-reader without needing to spend money buying another device.
