9 New Uses For Your Old iPhone

Save as a Secondary, Expendable Phone

Ever gone on a trip where you knew things would get rough? Rock climbing, several days at the beach, or a safari through some African jungle? These, and many more places, may not be the best places to take your brand-new phone, especially if there is a distinct possibility that you’ll lose it. And chances are that if you go on such a trip, the main purpose of bringing your iPhone will be to use it as a phone and not as a do-everything device.

Having a backup is crucial, whether it’s because your phone broke on the way to work or because you won’t have access to a replacement for several days. But when it comes to phones, most of us are completely unprepared. Several Tom’s Guide staffers have found themselves sitting in a carrier’s local office for hours, waiting to replace their recently laundered, washed, dropped, stepped-on, driven-over, or smashed phones, as many of our readers have, only to hear that it would take a few days for a replacement.

Some of us don’t want to wait and are busy, have important work to do, or have data on the phone that needs to be recovered immediately. Thankfully, Apple’s own stores handle iPhone replacements very well, but relying on their 287 stores worldwide (221 nationwide, in 41 states) isn’t always enough. Some of us need a contingency plan now.

That’s a perfect reason to keep an old iPhone around. Not only can you sync everything your new iPhone has straight onto the older device thanks to iTunes backing up all your data, but your old SIM card can be reactivated within minutes with your own phone number. It’ll be like you never lost or broke your phone at all, except for it feeling a bit sluggish. That peace of mind is priceless. Keeping that old iPhone can save hours of frustration, days of work, and keep your life revolving around you–not your cell phone.

James Pikover is the founder and CEO of More Voltage, a product development company helping deliver better products to consumers. He also teaches courses in user experience design and product management. Prior to that, he worked as a freelance tech journalist. His work has appeared on many sites, including Tom's Guide, Medium, IGN, Mashable, and more.

  • icepick314
    what?

    no paper weight or door stop?
    Reply
  • abhifx
    or it can be given to someone like me who cant afford a smart phone. believe me its a good idea :)
    Reply
  • NuclearShadow
    Apple products have a perfect logo a Apple with a bite taken out of it. What do you do when you no longer want/need a apple that you took a bite of? Do you give it away? NO! Do you find some other purpose for it? NO! You throw it in the trash. And that is what Apple wants you to do. Buy the new and discard the old because the old is uncool and you want to be cool right?

    This is a paid advertisement from the Church of Steve Jobs and the Macintosh Saints.

    P.S. Expect your new hardware to be outdated in 6 months. Remember only those who stay true to Jobs and buy all the new products to be saved from eternal torment from the devil Bill Gates and his place of eternal anguish Microsoft.

    Praise Jobs! Macllelujah!
    Reply
  • dredg98
    NuclearShadowApple products have a perfect logo a Apple with a bite taken out of it. What do you do when you no longer want/need a apple that you took a bite of? Do you give it away? NO! Do you find some other purpose for it? NO! You throw it in the trash. And that is what Apple wants you to do. Buy the new and discard the old because the old is uncool and you want to be cool right? This is a paid advertisement from the Church of Steve Jobs and the Macintosh Saints.P.S. Expect your new hardware to be outdated in 6 months. Remember only those who stay true to Jobs and buy all the new products to be saved from eternal torment from the devil Bill Gates and his place of eternal anguish Microsoft.Praise Jobs! Macllelujah!

    Everything gets outdated in 6 months!
    Reply
  • brianmoz
    dredg98Everything gets outdated in 6 months!i dont get it. are you talking about technology in general or apple...my wife has 3g and is happy with it...that came out 2 years ago. Its not good to be a fanboy or a hater. the more you guys make these indignant claims as if your victims of apple or something the more you sound pathetic. Its a company that makes products. People buy them that want them and people who dont want them dont buy them. some people get angry about them for ...why?
    Reply
  • JimmiG
    abhifxor it can be given to someone like me who cant afford a smart phone. believe me its a good idea
    Same here. Still using a Samsung clamshell phone I bought for about $90 in 2006. It still works great, but I'm buying a smart phone finally this summer. I will keep the Samsung as a secondary phone for when I don't want to bring the bigger and more expensive smart phone (ie pubs etc.).
    Reply
  • dredg98
    brianmozi dont get it. are you talking about technology in general or apple...my wife has 3g and is happy with it...that came out 2 years ago. Its not good to be a fanboy or a hater. the more you guys make these indignant claims as if your victims of apple or something the more you sound pathetic. Its a company that makes products. People buy them that want them and people who dont want them dont buy them. some people get angry about them for ...why?

    Technology in general once you buy something its pretty much outdated
    Reply
  • OK.. so basically an old iPhone can be hacked and improved or used like a flash drive. Since the replacement phone will presumably be better than a jailbroken iPhone with a skype app; and since flash drives are smaller and more reliable than anything Apple makes I think my conclusion is: I'd rather smash it with a hammer.
    Reply
  • NuclearShadow
    hammatimeOK.. so basically an old iPhone can be hacked and improved or used like a flash drive. Since the replacement phone will presumably be better than a jailbroken iPhone with a skype app; and since flash drives are smaller and more reliable than anything Apple makes I think my conclusion is: I'd rather smash it with a hammer.
    Now your thinking the Apple way! Why do you think the all mighty Jobs does not want you to upgrade a Mac? The very thought of upgrading is silly you simply smash the old Mac and buy a new!

    Jobs iBless you, Jobs ibless us all! iAmen
    Reply
  • compprob237
    JimmiGSame here. Still using a Samsung clamshell phone I bought for about $90 in 2006. It still works great, but I'm buying a smart phone finally this summer. I will keep the Samsung as a secondary phone for when I don't want to bring the bigger and more expensive smart phone (ie pubs etc.).
    >_> I'm still using a Motorola SLVR L7e. Although, my Zune HD replaced everything a "Smartphone" would do without the bulk. On the plus side I like the fact I can drop my SLVR from my 2nd story balcony (everybody drops their phone at least once) and know that it will still work and not be broken nor expensive to fix/replace.
    Reply