4 Creative Ways How to Upcycle Your Old Phone, Tablet, and Computer

Every year, millions of people buy a new phone, tablet, or computer, and put their former devices aside. Many of those devices, therefore, remain unused, with no other purpose.

With the new Samsung "Galaxy Upcycling at Home" program which encourages owners of older Samsung Galaxy devices to give their devices a new purpose, the idea of upcycling comes into play.

The thought of upcycling things in fun and creative ways has already been around for some time. We believe this is a great opportunity to provide you with 4 tips on how to upcycle your older phone, tablet, or computer in a creative way and give those devices a new purpose.

#1 Turn phones, tablets, and computers into a reliable baby monitor

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

How? All you need are two devices - one for the baby's room (this is where a spare older phone or tablet comes in handy) and one for you - and a smart baby monitoring app, such as Bibino.

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.

With the Bibino app, both parents can watch over the baby (so you're not limited to just one device). We have some exciting features coming to Bibino in 2021 (such as the option to monitor multiple babies from one device), so if you want to keep with what's coming, join our Bibino community.

Bibino makes it easy for you to watch over your baby on the daily-bases, but it also comes in handy 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 on your vacation with you, 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.

#2 Watch over your dog with a dog monitor

Another great option how to upcycle your older device is to turn it into a dog monitor.

Dog monitors became especially helpful for dealing with 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 at a higher risk of developing separation anxiety when being left at home alone.

All you need to have a reliable dog monitor at your fingertips are two devices - one for your dog and one for you, and the Barkio app.

Monitoring your dog is a great opportunity to upcycle your older phone or tablet and leave it at home with your dog. With Barkio, you can then connect to the dog's device from your phone, tablet, or computer and see everything that's been going on.

With the Barkio app, you can watch over your dog remotely - see your dog through the live video feed, hear every bark, and even “talk” to your dog and calm it down remotely with two-way audio and video and commands (short prerecorded voice messages).

If you can't (or don't want) to be watching the dog in real-time, you can switch to Barkio background mode and receive a notification whenever your dog is noisy. You can replay the noise and check all of the past activities.

Barkio is free to download and free to try on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Linux. We make sure to support older versions of the operating systems (Android 5.0 and higher, iOS 10.0 and higher). There's no need to purchase any additional hardware cameras or special collars, as you can upcycle devices you already have at home.

Although Barkio is primarily designed for monitoring your puppy or dog, it helps pet owners watch over their other pets as well.

“I don't have a dog (yet), but I find Barkio useful to watch over my little cat Siri. ? I check on her from work to see if she's okay (and because I miss her ?), but I've also used the Barkio app during the first and second lockdown when working from home. My cat was in the living room, and I always knew whether she's peacefully sleeping or she wants to eat or play outdoors,” says Anna, our Barkio team member.

#3 Upcycle an older device into a lullaby player

With 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) into a smart music play to help your little one fall asleep.

Choose from a wide range of lullabies and sleeping sounds and help your baby fall asleep with Twinkle Twinkle, white noise, the sound of the forest, and many other sounds.

#4 Turn your tablet into a photo frame

Another creative way to upcycle and reuse your tablet is to use it as a digital photo frame. With designated apps like SoloSlides or Framee, you can create a slideshow of your photos and videos.

Unlike printed photos, you can easily update your digital photo frame and add the latest photos and videos (even those captured with Bibino and Barkio), and cherish great memories.

Whichever way 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.