9 New Uses For Your Old iPhone

By James Pikover
published

Upgrading? Turn that brick iPhone or iPod Touch into a useful tool as iPhone 4 arrives. Here are nine mini-projects to help you do that.

Webcam and Nightstand Companion

Webcam

Need a Webcam? We all do at one point or another, whether it’s to chat on Skype with friends or for an online business meeting. Of course, not all of us are packing laptops with built-in Webcams and spending $30-$100 on one that you’ll only use once in a blue moon just doesn’t seem worth it. Now, you can use your iPhone as a Webcam, thanks to iWebcamera.

iWebcamera is a $4.99 app with free drivers for your PC that works within minutes. The app isn’t perfect, but in the few weeks since its release, iWebcamera now works on a multitude of applications, including Skype, Youtube, and Yahoo! Messenger. It also only supports the camera and not a microphone, so you’ll need to work that out on your own. Still, it’s better than going out and buying a brand-new Webcam if you already have Bluetooth on your PC and an old iPhone.

Nightstand Companion

One sad truth about our connected age is how reliant we’ve become on technology and constantly being connected. The benefits are huge, but how many of us now keep our phones beside us even at night, charging until its alarm wakes us up in the morning? How many of us check our emails with our phones instead of getting up and going about our business? Heck, you may be using your iPad or iPhone to read a book in bed before falling asleep instead of a paperback.

Then again, not all of us want to be totally connected. Those of us in the business world have all had our fair share of international calls in the middle of the night or friends partying a tad too late. If someone really needs to reach us, that’s what the house line is for to call past 10:00 PM. Instead of keeping your iPhone on the nightstand, use that older iPod Touch or iPhone. It’ll do everything you need, from book reader to alarm clock, all without the annoying ringing at two in the morning.

James Pikover

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.

20 Comments Comment from the forums
  • 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