Making the Most of an Older Android Device

Being stuck with an older mobile, for whatever reason, is an often frustrating experience. Whether a newer device was broken or lost, turning to an older as a temporary backup can be a great reminder of how far the industry has come, but it can also render many of your current apps and uses untenable.

That said, older devices can still perform far better than we realize and have recently adopted an older Android device as a dedicated media machine, we thought it could be helpful to list a few great uses for an older device, available out of either necessity or for fun.

Perhaps the most obvious and simple to achieve the function of these devices is to relegate it to a secondary music or media player. Seeing as larger MicroSD cards are now very cheap, sticking one of these in an older phone can be a great way to get some use out of a dated device, and in a way which doesn’t rapidly drain an aging battery.

This can be especially helpful for those who live in an area with unpredictable weather. Exercising outside with the risk of rain has kept us from taking our modern devices for fear of water damage, after all, but losing an older device is a risk we are far more willing to take.

“Mobile games – Bejeweled” (CC BY 2.0) by IN 30 MINUTES Guides

The second use we would recommend is the adoption of these older devices as secondary gaming machines. While these will lack the power to play the latest games on the market due to their age, most Android compatible games are not bogged down by high requirements, so this issue isn’t as great as we might perceive.

Those new to gaming don’t need to be concerned about the wide range of choice either, as the surrounding reviews industry can easily recommend a direction. Online casinos have easy to follow guides to help players find the best bonuses and signup offers, for example, and there are many others which can help sort the more traditional forms of video games into genre and ratings.

The final application is that of a file backup and transfer device. This can be incredibly helpful for both business and personal use, with an Android effectively acting as an external hard drive or flash drive which users can carry around in a briefcase or bag.

“Dropbox mobile” (CC BY-ND 2.0) by download.net.pl

The advantage over these other straight storage devices comes from the fact that free apps can be downloaded onto these devices allowing editing this data directly in a manner which normal storage doesn’t manage. From here, users could also access the internet via wifi, should it become necessary to send any included information without a direct hard-line connection.

Whatever users might think of their older devices, remember that we often take this technology for granted. While dated by today’s standards, even earlier Android smartphones and tablets are still incredibly powerful and flexible tools which can be used in a great many ways. Whether for personal or professional use, our older Androids don’t necessarily need to be discarded or left to waste away, so consider what yours might accomplish with just a little attention and work.