{"id":58751,"date":"2014-01-21T12:12:29","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T10:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onsoftware.en.softonic.com\/?p=58751"},"modified":"2025-07-02T00:56:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T07:56:14","slug":"turn-your-old-android-phone-into-a-new-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/turn-your-old-android-phone-into-a-new-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"Turn your old Android phone into a new tool"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you have an Android smartphone that you no longer use but don’t want to throw away?<\/strong> Believe it or not, there are plenty of useful things you can turn your Android phone into, without spending a dime.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you’ve switched phones or upgraded to a new model, you might have a\u00a0spare Android phone lying around collecting dust. It may not have a high\u00a0resale value, but with the right apps, there are still plenty of uses for your Android smartphone.<\/p>\n

Here are 5 things you can do with your old Android phone.<\/p>\n

Turn your\u00a0Android into a trackpad<\/h3>\n

\"Remote<\/strong><\/p>\n

Remote Trackpad<\/a><\/strong> – Why buy a wireless trackpad\u00a0when you’ve already got an Android phone? Remote Trackpad\u00a0is a completely customizable app <\/strong>that lets you access your PC from a distance.<\/p>\n

You can choose whether you want\u00a0to click by\u00a0tapping anywhere on the screen, or by using virtual buttons. There are multiple ways to right-click as well, including\u00a0tapping the screen\u00a0with\u00a0two fingers.\u00a0The level of energy consumption is quite high, but for a phone you’re not using regularly,\u00a0it shouldn’t be a big issue.<\/p>\n

To use the app, you have to install the Remote Trackpad Server<\/a> on your PC. If necessary,\u00a0unblock the firewall if its preventing a connection to your computer,\u00a0and connect your computer and Android phone\u00a0to the same Wi-Fi network.<\/p>\n

\"remote<\/p>\n

Turn your Android into a\u00a0joypad<\/h3>\n

\"Ultimate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ultimate Gamepad<\/a> <\/strong>– If\u00a0you’re into\u00a0video games\u00a0but don’t like to\u00a0play\u00a0using a\u00a0keyboard and mouse, don’t bother buying an expensive joypad. Instead,\u00a0install Ultimate Gamepad\u00a0on your Android.<\/p>\n

The app emulates a console joypad<\/strong>, with the arrows for movement, as well as the\u00a04 main\u00a0and 4 secondary buttons (L1, L2, R1 and R2 for PS3, or RT, RB, LT and LB for\u00a0Xbox). You can use it with Windows, Mac\u00a0and Linux computers.<\/p>\n

To use Ultimate Gamepad,\u00a0you have to install Ultimate Control Receiver<\/a> on your computer, and then connect\u00a0via Wi-Fi\/LAN and Bluetooth.<\/p>\n

\"Ultimate<\/p>\n

Turn your Android into a remote control<\/h3>\n

\"RemoteRemote Control Collection<\/a><\/strong> –\u00a0Multimedia computer-based technologies are increasingly\u00a0common, and having\u00a0the ability to control them with a remote can really come in handy.<\/p>\n

Remote Control Collection is an\u00a0app that turns your Android into a remote control jack-of-all-trades<\/strong>. Do you want\u00a0a multi-touch touchpad mouse, or\u00a0a handy\u00a0keyboard at your fingertips to\u00a0type on your PC? How about\u00a0a remote\u00a0that controls the videos you’re watching or the songs that you’re listening to?<\/p>\n

Remote Control Collection has all of these functions, and more. The interface isn’t only\u00a0intuitive, but also nice to look at. Once you’ve installed the server on your PC, follow the step by step wizard to configure the app on your smartphone, and voil\u00e0,\u00a0you’re ready to\u00a0remotely control it.<\/p>\n

To use Remote Control Collection, you must have the\u00a0Remote Control Server<\/a> and .NET Framework v 4.0.30319\u00a0installed on your PC.<\/p>\n

\"Remote<\/p>\n

Turn your Android into a wireless\u00a0webcam<\/h3>\n

\"DroidCam\"DroidCam Wireless Webcam<\/a><\/strong> – With DroidCam Wireless Webcam, you can use your smartphone as a camera, but with the added convenience of being completely mobile.<\/p>\n

To use the app, you must\u00a0install the DroidCam Client<\/a> on your PC. Since some of the features are still in trial mode, like audio drivers when using a 64-bit PC, the\u00a0developer’s\u00a0page<\/a> has a\u00a0list of solutions to some of the most common problems you may run into when using the app.<\/p>\n

\"DroidCam\"<\/p>\n

Turn your Android into a\u00a0microphone for your PC<\/h3>\n

\"WoWO Mic<\/a><\/strong> –\u00a0A<\/strong> wireless microphone can be a huge convenience<\/strong>. It lets you talk without being tied down by a short cord, something which can make quite the difference.<\/p>\n

WO Mic requires you to download a\u00a0PC client<\/a> to use it. It\u00a0also supports Bluetooth connections, Wi-Fi and USB.<\/p>\n

\"WO<\/p>\n

Before you decide to throw\u00a0away or sell your old Android phone, \u00a0just remember that it’s called a ‘smartphone’ for a reason: as demonstrated above, there are a ton of other functions that you can use your smartphone for, maybe even saving yourself some money in the process.<\/p>\n

Check out our Android: Everything you need to know guide<\/a> for anything and everything Android.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you have an Android smartphone that you no longer use but don’t want to throw away? Believe it or not, there are plenty of useful things you can turn your Android phone into, without spending a dime. If you’ve switched phones or upgraded to a new model, you might have a\u00a0spare Android phone lying … Continue reading “Turn your old Android phone into a new tool”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2047,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":1},"categories":[],"tags":[],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-58751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2047"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58751"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":331514,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58751\/revisions\/331514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58751"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=58751"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=58751"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=58751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}