How to upcycle your old phone, tablet, or computer

Each year, millions of people all over the world decide to change their current phone (or tablet or computer) for a newer, more advanced model. As they put their former devices aside, those devices are left unused and with no other purpose.

In January 2021, Samsung introduced their new "Galaxy Upcycling at Home" program to encourage owners of older Samsung Galaxy devices to keep and reuse their former devices.

The idea of upcycling things and devices in a creative way has already been around for some time. As developers of apps for different types and versions of operating systems, we believe this is a great opportunity to share with you 4 tips on how to upcycle your older phone, tablet, or computer in a practical way and give those devices a new meaning.

#1 Turn your phone, tablet, and computer into a reliable dog monitor

If you are a dog owner, chances are you have considered getting a dog monitor to help you watch over your dog when you're at work or running errands.

With Barkio, you can turn any two phones, tablets, or computers (old and new) into a handy dog monitor.

Dog monitors are a great tool for every-day monitoring as well as for identifying signs of dog separation anxiety. With the ongoing pandemic in the world, pet owners are spending more time at home with their dogs, which now puts dogs and puppies at a higher risk of developing separation anxiety when being left at home alone.

How exactly does this work? You leave one device at home with your dog (which gives you a great opportunity to upcycle your older phone or tablet), and you take the second device with you (phone, tablet, or computer). From your device, you can check on your dog, watch HD live video, hear every bark, and even communicate with your dog and calm it down remotely through two-way audio and video or commands (short prerecorded voice messages).

If you can't (or don't want) to be watching the dog in real-time, you can switch Barkio to the background mode and receive notifications whenever your dog is noisy or resting. You can always check the monitoring history and replay past activities.

Barkio is free to download and free to try on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Linux. Our Barkio team makes sure to support older versions of the operating systems (Android 5.0 and higher, iOS 10.0 and higher), so you can truly reuse your older phone or tablet. With the Barkio app, you already have everything you need to watch over your dog, without the necessity of purchasing any hardware cameras or special collars.

#2 Turn older device into a baby monitor

If you have a little baby, you can turn and upcycle an older phone, tablet, or computer lying at home into a reliable baby monitor.

How? With Bibino app. With Bibino, you can watch over your baby through live HD video and audio stream, soothe your baby through two-way audio and video, play a lullaby to help your little one fall asleep, and newly also capture any moment from the monitoring with the video recording feature.

You can also go through the monitoring history and replay activities from any of the previous monitoring.

Additionally, both parents can watch over the baby so you're not limited to just one device, unlike with regular hardware baby monitors.

Bibino makes it easy for you to watch over your baby on the daily-bases, but it is also helpful when traveling with the baby. With the Bibino app you have a perfect baby monitor on the go, without the need to bring cumbersome hardware baby monitors with you.

In case you forgot to bring your older device to your vacation, you can use your family member's phone or tablet instead - Bibino can be downloaded and used anywhere in the world.

Download Bibino for free and try it yourself. You can download it on iPhones and iPads (iOS 10.0 and higher), phones and tablets (Android 5.0 and higher), macOS, Windows, and Linux.

#3 Upcycle an older device into a lullaby player

If you already have a baby monitor that you're happy with, you may consider upcycling your older phone or tablet into a smart music player for your baby.

Apps like Baby Dreambox, you can turn your older phones and tablets (Android 4.0 and higher) and iPhones and iPads (iOS 8.0 and higher) can help your little one fall asleep with lullabies and sleeping sounds.

You can choose from a variety of lullabies and sleeping sounds, such as Twinkle Twinkle, color noises, household sounds, nature sounds, and many others.

#4 Turn your tablet into a digital photo frame

Another creative and fun way to give your older tablet a new meaning is by using it as a digital photo frame. With designated apps like SoloSlides or Framee, you can create different slideshows of your photos and videos.

With a digital photo frame, you can easily update your photo library and add the latest photos and videos (even those captured with Bibino and Barkio) - which is not possible with classical printed photos - and cherish great memories.

If you choose to upcycle an older device, you contribute to saving the planet and our environment. We're proud that our apps can help you with upcycling and finding a new purpose for your older phone, tablet, or computer.