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Ask Slashdot: What Can You Do With An Old Windows Phone?
Slashdot reader unixisc writes:
While it's always been well known that Windows phones in the market have floundered, one saving grace has always been that one could at least use it for the barest minimum of apps, even if updates have stopped... Aside from a door stop or a hand me down to someone who'll use it like a dumb phone, what are your suggested uses for this phone? A music player (if the songs are on an SD card)? Games? As far as phones go, I have what I need, so for this, anything it's good for?
The original submission suggests problems connecting to wi-ifi -- something partially corroborated by complaints at Windows Central -- though Microsoft's site says they're still supporting wifi connections.
Slashdot reader thegreatbob suggested "shuffleboard puck" -- then added, "Snark aside, if you're into writing custom applications and such for them, there's probably a bootloader/root solution for you out there."
Leave your own best suggestions in the comments. What can you do with an old Windows Phone?
The original submission suggests problems connecting to wi-ifi -- something partially corroborated by complaints at Windows Central -- though Microsoft's site says they're still supporting wifi connections.
Slashdot reader thegreatbob suggested "shuffleboard puck" -- then added, "Snark aside, if you're into writing custom applications and such for them, there's probably a bootloader/root solution for you out there."
Leave your own best suggestions in the comments. What can you do with an old Windows Phone?
Turn it into a Zune
Table-ized A.I.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
There is a recycling program for these right?
Do people regularly use their Samsung S3s or iPhone 3GSs? Just sell it or recycle it when you no longer use it, and start using a new phone.
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
1) stare at it and cry
2) regret life
3) buy hope
4) ????
5) profit
where it belongs.
Put it through a garden shredder before emptying it into the bin.
Keep it as a burner phone, or give it away for someone who doesn't care about the smart part.
You can basically see it as an ancient Android phone, or an even more ancient iPhone.
Because that's the state of apps, and the OS is dead.
Alarm clock, mp3/video player, etc.
Games? It's a fraction of what Android and iOS have, but hey, perhaps give it to a kid that wants to play Minecraft on a smartphone for some reason. A few of the biggest game devs also probably have some of their games there. That is to say, it's better than nothing, but still worse than most other options.
I wouldn't even recommend wasting time with it if you are a developer... Windows Phone was built to be a similar walled garden thing like iPhones, there's even less resources to make use of and less cross app communication, so unless you are really willing to waste your time, you should instead be looking into app development for either Android or iOS. I mean, Windows Phone is going nowhere, and no one will care about it not long from now anyways.
...and make a nostalgia movie on it for youtube, hoping that it still connects to the internet. ;) ...that is if youtube, ebay & co still exist then...
See what's happening to those old Apple II, TRS80 or Commodore Amiga...
Maybe you will be getting a lot of $$$ from ebay auctioning it
Yes. Everyone in my family who has one still uses it. In my case, with LineageOS. Others may differ. They are really good. We have at least 6 batteries in my house, and three chargers - you can leave the house with a fully charged battery, and when you return, replace it with another fully charged battery.
Of course we have other phones. Do you have more than one watch? I don't, but a lot of people do. A second phone is sometimes useful for your "secret identity" as sometimes you have to deal with organisations you don't trust (Equifux?)
Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
You could use it to deliver a message to Microsoft about how you feel about their treatment of the platform. Of course, you'd probably need to write the message on a piece of paper, attach the piece of paper to the phone, and then throw the resulting assembly though the window of one of their stores, but that would also help to emphasise how you feel about it, so that's OK, right?
More seriously, just use it as a slightly more capable dumb phone when you're doing something where you're doing some activity that might risk damage your regular phone, when travelling to avoid the of TSA taking a peek into your private life, or just load it up with games (while you still can) and media and use it as a kind of Gameboy/MP3 player.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
Women shelters used to take them. They used them exclusively for 911 calls. I gave my old one to my mother who keeps it in her car. All she has to do is recharge it once every few months.
Care killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
See what's happening to those old Apple II, TRS80 or Commodore Amiga... ;)
Maybe you will be getting a lot of $$$ from ebay auctioning it
That worked for these because they were quite successful and popular machine back in their era.
On the other hand, Windows-running-phones barely qualify.
They are more like those old computer companies that failed to gain any market, went bust after only pushing a handful of unit and everybody has forgotten since then.
You'll be having a hard even remembering that they even existed.
The only thing that might keep Windows phone barely noticed is that they were a failed product coming from a bing company.
But even with that I'm doubtful they'll enjoy a celebrity nostalgia career in 20 years (common is Microsoft Bob that much popular on Youtube now ?!)
...that is if youtube, ebay & co still exist then...
The company will be gone, but the niche will be probably taken by successor.
It'll be probably snapchat video, and whatever twitter has tried to pull to try to be financially successful (after their take over by Mark Zuckerberg) :-P
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
I use my nokia 520 for a GPS. The GPS app supports offline maps, so I don't even need a sim. It isn't quite as convenient as a dedicated unit, but it was only $20.
Selling it is a good option, older phones are still in demand (well, maybe not phones that old). You won't get much for them but they'll make someone else happy.
My old iPhones find a second life as smart home control panels. The oldest one actually is a 3GS and still runs the latest version of the control software. They control the stuff of te room they are in, and I can access video surveillance and whole house audio from it (well it's 3 rooms only thus far). My only gripe is that I'd like to remove the battery from the phone but it turns out they won't run on the charger without a battery present.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Do people regularly use their Samsung S3s or iPhone 3GSs?
Well, I regularly use my Samsung Galaxy Note 2. I'm not a big Smartphone user . . . I use it for programming my own apps. Hey, it still has the original battery! And, yes, this is my main cell phone.
It's been dropped multiple times. The screen looks like an LSD induced episode of the Spider Man cartoon from the late 60's. But the damn thing still works! An "IBM Fellow" looked at my phone once and told me that it was a sign of honor among geeks . . . to have phone with a bashed up screen that still works. Kinda sorta like that boring book we were forced to read in high school, "The Red Badge of Courage".
When this kid actually was a kid . . . we had a big, black, butt-ugly phone on the wall from Ma Bell for as long as I can remember. With . . . a dial! Have any Slashdotters actually dialed a telephone!?!?! Well, the thing worked, and I guess folks talked with each other more back then, instead of hanging on the telephone all day with their pseudo-friends, so why replace it . . . ? Hey, if you have a Windows Phone, you took the wrong boat, and it won't be updated and shiny new every year or so . . . but if it does what you need . . . why get rid of it . . . ?
Oh, I also programmed FORTRAN on an IBM punch card machine in the late 70's in high school, and used a Teletype to save BASIC programs on paper tape . . . so I'm a bit of a dinosaur.
Ah, that crisp, crunchy touch of the Teletype keyboard. . . being a geek was fun back in those days!
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
My 2012 Note II is the same generation as the S3 with very similar hardware. I use it every day because it is a perfectly decent phone and also happens to be the one working smart phone I own (also have an original Note I with smashed display). The only thing it lacks *for me* is hardware HEVC/H.265 video decoding. I might head to ebay and upgrade to a 2013 S4 just for this.
My 2012 Note II runs Android 7.1 thanks to LineageOS. It works fine and it gets weekly updates (security patch level is 5 August 2017) so I'm satisfied using it for shopping, banking and so on.
It is old hardware though. When the earphone jack got crackly and contact cleaner no longer did the trick I had to spend £2.50 on ebay and get and install a new part. When the original battery got weak I had to buy a new one. When the body of the phone got to looking *really* worn out I spent £13 and swapped all the guts into a new chassis/case. The display is still pristine.
So, no need for a new phone but am occasionally considering a newer used phone.
All the money I save I spend at Franklin Mint. Waste not want not.
Source right here:
https://github.com/ms-iot/virt...
Example video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Turn it into a Zune
Hehe, ... funny, but he asked a serious question. I hooked my old iPhone up to an 5000 mah external battery pack and put the thing in a plastic bag. Then I hid it in a small compartment behind an access panel in the boot of my car that's used to change the light bulbs in the rear lights and used it in combination with the 'Find my iPhone' web-app as a LoJack to track my car in case it got stolen. Other than having to re-charge it every 5 days or so it worked well. I dunno if you can do this with a Windows Phone but I'm pretty sure you can do this with an old Android device too.
... I could find some useful information here about things I could do with my Xperia X1!
Which reminds me of the fact that there are no slider smartphones anymore. And no, the Blackberry Priv (which I own, for lack of other options) with its keyboard on the narrow side is no real substitute...
Throw it away! :-)
6) put it under the table-leg and stop the tilting
7) send it to Kim Jong Un - as part of his cyber defense - its so rare that not even the NSA has exploited it
- btw. this might be illegal under current regulations.
8) send it to south korea they can tie it to a ballon and deliver it
"Slashdot for Consumers."
The dumbed down edition.
"I heard Ginny got a new iPhone. It's the rose gold one!"
Some of those old POS clunker mother fuckers can be made to run android instead. Not most, just a very select few.
Nothing official though. Look for roms at places like XDA.
Oh wait, someone decided to yank that out of the OS shortly before stopping updates.
That was the one change that totally ticked off my kids. They loved their Windows phones because of this feature.
Cheers
sudo rm -r -f --no-preserve-root /
Do people regularly use their Samsung S3s or iPhone 3GSs? Just sell it or recycle it when you no longer use it, and start using a new phone.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 - and it really does do all I need - e-mail, calendar, Facebook, Telegram, photographs, Viber, Skype and a few games (5 in a row, Reversi, etc. that kind of stuff).
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
Not really possible with most Windows phones. My partner has a Lumia 1020 that she's just replaced with a newer Android phone. The 1020 still has a much better camera and similar other specs. She'd much rather run Android on the 1020, but there's no port.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Well it's funny, but just remember that all cells will work without a sim card for emergency calls. So if you have an elderly family member, it might be a good option for them. Especially if they're old enough that a fall could potentially cause them serious harm so they can't get help but are still conscious. Had a friend who's grandparents broke down in Tennessee while taking a detour route because of construction on I75, he'd given them his old cell "just in case" they kept it charged. It came in handy wouldn't you say? 911 had no problems getting a hold of some state troopers who came by and waited with them for a tow.
Om, nomnomnom...
Hang it on the wall as a reminder that if you donâ(TM)t change with the world, it will leave you behind, and no amount of pretentious posturing or loud-spoken denials about the state of the world will save you.
Can't you use the Jolla (type 1 I assume) outside Europe?
I for sure do.
"Trump!!", the new Godwin.
This!
I was just about to post the same thing. Those cycle computers are crazy expensive and any old phone is capable of so much more.
I use my old phone to play my music, keep offline maps in case i get lost, and track my stats for Strava (Heartrate, cadance, speed, distance...).
Thieves/robber will have to much pitty with you / not enough interest in the phone to steal it and nobody will ever hack it. After all, who uses Windows Phone?
And I'm not even joking that much.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
There are still new ones that have compelling hardware, notably the Alcatel Idol 4 Pro that was recently reviewed on The Phones Show as having the best front facing speakers of any phone. I'd be tempted if I could replace Windows with Android.
https://youtu.be/crB9JNFghuk
Max.
I've been waiting for this! Thanks. Is there a comparable one for old android phones? Obviously one could hack the android phone but my goal is to find some canned method that works right out of the box so I can use this with kids in a class room bringing in old family phones. So I don't want to have to custom code them . I just want to have something that someone else already worked the kinks out of.
Perhaps you can point me to a similar project for androids?
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
I still have a Samsung S3 but for some reason I could never get LineageOS/Cyanogenmod working properly on it, so it'll be retired soon.
But for anyone in their mid 30s or older, it's damn frustrating to see that the $600 smart phone from 2012 or 2013 that has a current street value of $10 even if it works well would have qualified as a damn supercomputer in 1997. So yes, I do want to find another use for it because it seems criminal to dismantle and recycle something that still has an impressive amount of computing power for any time in my life except the past 12 years.
... but make sure no one sees you. It might violate some "electronic trash disposal" laws.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Throw it in the trash.
Chewbacon
The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
Damn! First it was the headphone jack and now it's all the ports?
#DeleteFacebook
Go to Redmond and find one of those, "turn in your iPhone" shame bins. Trade up.
I haven't experimented with that myself, but there seems to be several different options. From DIY to ready made.
DIY:
http://www.instructables.com/i...
Out of the box, but a bit pricey:
https://1sheeld.com/:
As long as your wireless provider still lets it connect to their network, I would just keep it. If it still does what you need it to do, then why spend $700 on a new phone and a new more expensive wireless plan?
I still have mine, a Nokia Lumia. I got it in 2013 and use it every day. I use it to check email, check the news/stocks, check the weather apps, make phone calls, and for web browsing. It can even be used to listen to FM radio broadcasts with a set of headphones.
The browser crashes all the time now, but it did not before. Todays websites load up so much advertising cruft that the phone runs out of memory. Those sites just don't get used now.
I realize that I am missing out on all of those essential apps, but I don't need them. The fact that my companies email admins don't support the phone is actually a bonus.
If you want to remain in the Windows universe, you can get the HP Elite or Alcatel Idol. You should be able to try out the HP at a Microsoft store. Staples also sells HP phones now.
The HP Elite seems like a very good phone, but it's been out for a year now.
They can still be used to call 911 without a paid plan.
I don't know, call people?
-Dave
I've noticed a lot of people in the past decade or so have gotten a sort of disorder where they need to have all new gadgets, and the second one isn't considered "new" to them any more, they feel they can't use it. It's super strange to me. Have there always been people like this (new cars every year?)? I don't seem to remember talking to/reading about so many people who are obsessed with only using the newest gadget.
Regardless, I still use my Windows Phone all day, every day. It works just fine. And, I know my data isn't be slurped up by Google or Apple.
I don't respond to AC's.
I don't know why everyone bashes the Windows Phone. I love mine! It is the perfect size to shim up that old table in the den with the short leg.
The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
E-waste it responsibly.
Return to Microsoft, producer responsibility.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
There's no headphone jack issue on any Windows phone. But Raven is right - one can't just install any Android on a Lumia
I have usually handed phones down. Like I had an iPhone 5s, which I handed over to my niece when I upgraded to a 7
Not really the same thing. On an old desktop, one could install some Linux distro on it and run it. Not something one can do on a Lumia, since those phones are locked down
I do agree w/ you on your second statement, though. People typing w/ their thumbs have totally dumbed down the language, sounding like bots on TMZ
the apps crashed, the browser loaded infections, the flesh melted off the users' cyber-presence and he screamed in agony.
"he chose.....poorly", deadpanned the knight
Interesting, given that the phone series in question - the Lumia - started off w/ Nokia
Now that you mention it, I had forgotten about the Insider Program before I erased it. I have the 550 - the entry level W10M phone. I did participate in the insider program for Windows 10 before it debuted, but haven't touched it since
Of the 4 things you mention, I disagree about the camera - since I have an iPhone 7 as well. I don't know about its GPS, since I do have a navigation unit in my car. On the PDA thing, I just wish it had Franklin Covey in it, maybe integrated into Outlook (which comes w/ it)
On the music thing, I did have my entire collection of music downloaded from YouTube and on an SD card. It worked great at home for that purpose. However, in the car, which is where I most often listen to music, I hit the limits. Microsoft runs videos using the Movie app, instead of Groove, where it would have been more useful. I can use the steering controls to flip b/w songs, but the display doesn't show me what's playing. The car nav unit has a built in iPod player, but that can't be used by Windows. (When I participated in the Insider Program, I did have a suggestion to them to manage music audio & videos in one app, and home photos & videos in another, rather than mix them in the movie app. That way, I could have a playlist that included music videos.) Ultimately, I got an iPod nano just for the car, so that I can not only include playlists, but also see what's playing.
The uses that you listed are all good, but I wonder how the GPS would work if there was neither a SIM in, and the WiFi didn't work either. Actually, until a week ago, the phone seemed fine, until the WiFi hotspots suddenly stopped being listed. I had that phone on auto-upgrade - just upgrade whenever it's plugged in and ready for one, and the last one seemed to have blown it apart. Now, I could neither use WhatsApp, nor check emails, so that pretty much did it for me.
burnitwithfire.jpg
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
Reverse engineer Cortana, rename her Clippy, bring back Clippy's animation library and tada, you've revived your phone with what would be the world's best AI system ever.
ôó
1.) If the windows phone in question can be "upgraded" to windows phone 10, then upgrade the phone and all the apps, and keep using it as a smartphone, with limited apps. Is not diferent than using Sailfish phones, or bada phones, or BB10 10.3 phones (my case)... Also, remember that microsoft baked a lot of the "enterpisey" functions, like VPN connections right into the OS, no extra apps needed, so, while supported with security patches, they make decent enterprisey phones.
2.) If the windows phone in question is stuck in windows phone 7.5 or 8.x:
a.) Get it to the latest firmware supported. Do so before microsoft and/or the hardware maker elimitates the server infrastructure with said firmware...
b.) You can use it as a cheapo media player with VLC (Or any other software you like) : https://www.microsoft.com/en-u...
c.) You can use it as a cheapo DashCam with Dashcam GTX+ (or any other software you like) : https://www.microsoft.com/en-u...
d.) You can use it as a cheapo minitablet. For kids, for example.
e.) As Freizchutz said, you can use it as a cheapo LoJack.
f.) Put it in a drawer, and use only when your normal smartphone is damaged or out of commision (exploding batteries, water damage, cracked screen, botched OTA update...).
g.) Use it as the smartphone you use to go to places were you can lose your smartphone (clubbing, disco, festival/rave, dangerous parts of town)...
h.) Put it in the glove compartment of your car and use it as an emergency phone.
i.) Use it as a "better than a dumbphone worse than a smartphone" phone. Basicaly, as the phone you give to a person who needs certain smartphone apps (say, facebook, uber, and the like), but who will never ever use or install any other app. You customize it to their liking (using either apps, or pinned mobile websites [uber is a prime example]), and then tell them to not move anything.
j.) In the olden Nokia times, there was a hack were you coul make the phone take a call automaticaly without ringing, vibrating, turning on the screen, or turning on the speaker, just pick up the call and turn on the microphone in the highest sensitivity. It was called the "James Bond Mode". I am certain that an app can be had (or made) to do that.
k.) An app to use the phone to measure cell network parameters.
These are some of the possible uses...
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
I use mine as a nice C# box.... I control several DIY projects of mine through TCP/IP sockets from that phone. Granted, I could use mono/xamarin on Android (or Java), but I don't want to leave my main phone in the living room. Honestly, C# has the best development tools out of every programming language I've used, specially for RAD (or agile, as you kids call it now days.)
Yes to the S3. Bought it two years ago, when it was about three years old. Have been running CyanogenMod 12 (Lollipop), then LineageOS 14.1 (Nougat).
It runs fine and is up-to-date with a week-old build.
If someone made a solid Android build for a Windows phone, I'd at least consider it for a backup.
My Touchpad runs KitKat. . . .
You could install the Plesk App on them and use it to remote control a RaspberryPi (or similar) that's acting as the front-end.
No, I haven't. Windows' Phone companion is completely redundant if I connect my Lumia to the laptop via USB, and the integration seems to have come apart. Like if I open up the 'Messaging' app on the desktop, it doesn't show or download my text messages from the phone, like it used to. That one used to be handy, in case I wanted to type SMS messages on my laptop while chatting w/ people. It's almost like the converse of what MS did to Nokia w/ Elop, Samsung seems to be doing to Microsoft }:-) Getting them to internally sabotage their existing Windows phone platform to make it completely unusable by current users, so that they are forced to look at Galaxies (which the MS store now sells) or iPhones.
I've not tried VLC: does it support playlists? Even if it does, I doubt an iPod player, like my car's, will be able to read it while I'm driving. The 2017 model of my car has a nav unit that supports both CarPlay and Android Auto, but the current 2014 model that I have just supports an iPod player.
Did you open the map application for the first time with coarse location sources turned off, see it fail to find an access point in 5 seconds, and close it? If so, the failure is explainable.
If operated with help from coarse location sources, such as the location of a nearby access point, a GPS receiver can request the almanac and ephemeris from a server through the Internet, guess where the satellites are likely to be, and quickly refine the coarse location. Otherwise, it has to trilaterate its position from the satellites' signals from scratch, which involves waiting for the periodic broadcast of the almanac and ephemeris. This may take a minute, or 15 minutes if you haven't turned on the receiver in several months.
Strange, mine does 3G, 4G.
"Trump!!", the new Godwin.
I have a Lumia 635 that I use as a media player and a "I don't care if it gets trashed" HD camera.
Your grandma would love to hear from you
Actually I think the demise od Windows Phone is a tragedy. I like the UI a lot
The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
I'm still using my Windows phone, but the battery is starting to go down faster than it used to (I have to charge it every two days). And its camera isn't the best. But then I've dropped it on concrete, and it still ticks! And I do like the Windows UI, much better than the Android UI (I used to have an Android phone).
I have mounted two Nokia 520s in old cars to replace failed speedometers. Probably at least as accurate as the original speedo in a 1965 Chevy truck.
They make nice novelty tea coasters for the technically inclined. Keeps the coffee stains off your authentic tabletop Pacman cabinet
If you gave me a choice between a printer and a giraffe with explosive diarrhoea, i'll get my ladder and my raincoat
Crush it.
aaaaaaa
Donate it to a shelter for abused spouses. Nursing homes or children's hospitals might be able to use it also, if it has a browser that works on wifi.
Cheap storage VM.
The Lumias had fantastic cameras. I'm using mine for time lapse photos.
If you're building a fireplace, you can us it as filler in an outside area. 50-100 years from now when it comes down they'll wonder what the hell it is. Some dumbass will think it's proof of time travel thinking the fireplace was built in the 1800s.
That's not a bad idea, thanks.
I've heard a Windows phone is really good for hammering nails with. Very sturdy.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - Jiddu Krishnamurti