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Repurposing old devices for barebones use

H

Harvenstein

Lurker
Not quite sure, if this is the right place for this, but here I go anyway:

I've been toying with the idea of stripping down an old smartphone and just have it retain basic phone functionality and at most the ability to run whatsapp. Everything else is, at least for now, unimportant.
So far searching for it myself has ended with a lot of garbled and unrelated info, so I was wondering if someone in this forum might have some insight if something like this is possible and if so, where I could find information on it.
 
Hi there, Harvenstein! Great question!

There are a few things to consider:

(1) Processing speed. An older phone is going to process things at an agonizing pace compared to today's devices - but if all you want it to do is make calls and do messaging, you really don't need the latest octa-core processors to do that.
(2) Network. Depending on the device and its age, you may find yourself limited on what networks you can use. Is it a GSM phone or CDMA? Is it 3G capable or 2G Edge?
(3) Battery life. If it's a really older phone, I would suggest replacing the battery because they're only good for so many charges. Many older phones have removable batteries, and they are probably cheap online.

If you can live with these considerations, then by all means... enjoy your old phone as long as you can.

:)
 
Please post more details on the phone model and which version of Android it's running. It's hard to make specific suggestions without more details on the phone itself.
 
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