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.

9 Ways To Spruce Up That Old iPhone

Plan on upgrading to the latest iPhone 4? Great, but what do you do with your old iPhone or iPod Touch that now looks old, useless, and outdated? You could sell it and earn back some of what you originally spent or give it to a friend or family member. But, instead of getting rid of the old to make way for the new, why not put your old iPhone or iPod Touch to better use?

The iPhone and iPod Touch, including the oldest models, are still both very capable devices. Their capacitive, multi-touch screens are still some of the best and most accurate in the industry. Their shapes are thin and lightweight and the iPod Touch in particular is almost astonishingly flat. The user interface is simple and intuitive, and chances are you’re pretty familiar with how it works. It would be a shame to simply toss out a perfectly functional device when there are so many cool things anyone can do with it.

We’ve compiled a list of nine great things you can do with that old hardware to put it to good use. In the following pages, we cover our favorite uses for these older devices. If you think of something we missed, let us know in the comments section below.

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