How do you make use of your old iPhone?

[bj097]

If you don't trade in or sell it, how do you make use of your old iPhone to make your life more convenient?
IMO, I think it's never more convenient to bring two phones. Simple is elegant. What do you think?
I'd like to sell or trade in my old iPhone but the price is really bad that I'd rather keep it but I cannot think of what I can do with it.
Serve as a "power bank" so when my new phone is running of battery then I can use it for some backup solution?
Any other ideas?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Let it sit in a drawer for 3 years, until you don’t even get the really bad price but instead just “Donate” it for recycling? That’s the only method I’ve personally tried

 

[BugeyeSTI]

Use it as an iPod. That's what I use my 6S for....

 

[coredev]

Has anyone here tried to use two iPhones in parallel?

Perhaps there are situations in live where you don't want to carry your shiny new Pro Max
and use an old (smaller, lighter) iPhone instead?

It's generally not a problem to have iPhone and iPad linked to the same account and it keeps in sync pretty well,
but afaik the Apple Watch only links/syncs to one iPhone, right?

 

[eyoungren]

Use it as an iPod. That's what I use my 6S for....

I do this too with my 6s+.

Only…my 6s+ has an active cellular line and I am usually walking for ~35 minutes in the morning while using it as that iPod you mentioned.

 

[eyoungren]

Has anyone here tried to use two iPhones in parallel?

Perhaps there are situations in live where you don't want to carry your shiny new Pro Max
and use an old (smaller, lighter) iPhone instead?

It's generally not a problem to have iPhone and iPad linked to the same account and it keeps in sync pretty well,
but afaik the Apple Watch only links/syncs to one iPhone, right?

Both my 11 Pro Max and my 6s+ have the same Apple ID if that is what you mean. Messages I get on one phone show up on the other (as they do on my Macs). Photos are all synced.

But my 6s+ also has an active SIM, so thus it's own phone number. I take my 6s+ out on walks in the morning or for times I deem the situation to be hazardous to my 11 Pro Max. I'd rather kill the 6s+ if that's going to happen then my 11 PM.

But in any case, I have the same apps that I use regularly on both phones. I work from home, so if I'm out and get messaged/texted by people from work I want to be able to respond rather than finding out I have messages and texts when I get back.

Same with email. Most of the email I have set up on my 11PM is also set up on my 6s+ (particularly my work email). But all my email is IMAP so I get it on all devices I have it set up on.

 

[miemo]

I use my old iPhone X as a display showing what's playing on my streamer, also has a quick play/pause & next/prev controls. Nice to see at a glance what's spinning without needing to pick up the iPad or Macbook that's used as the main controller for the music.

 

[Reno Raines]

I use my old iPhones as an iPod touch.

 

[Farrgazer]

When I go abroad every now and then for business or pleasure, I put my home SIM into my older iPhone (currently the XR) and insert a local SIM into my newer one (currently the 14PM). Granted, I could use eSIM, but having two physical phones still lets me stay on the grid in some form if one of them breaks or gets lost.

I’ve experimented with using a phone as a pet camera many years ago.

 

[TECK]

I use it as temp backup, if my current iPhone is defective, etc. I always keep the previous iPhone, as rescue device.

 

[Andeddu]

I use an iPhone 13 as my main device but began using my OGSE a few days ago as a secondary device for media streaming when I am in bed & trying to get to sleep because I love the small size. I’ll also use it for Skype/FaceTime calls on Wi-Fi along with some light web-browsing. I do this because my main phone is usually charging wirelessly at night so I can’t really use it for anything.

 

[Boyd01]

I got a clip-on wide angle lens when it was on clearance sale for my old 6s Plus, then used it as an extra camera on a tripod at the rear for a fun "family concert" video shoot. Battery is long dead on that phone but it didn't matter because I powered it from an external brick. Worked very well for that.

Also used it for some testing of a web app I'm developing, just to see how well it would perform on an old phone. But it's been awhile since I've done these things and it's just sat on the shelf since them. May bring it out for another video shoot later this summer however. One advantage to using an old phone as a camera is that you can usually get accessories (like lenses) on clearance sale. Downside is, of course, camera quality is not as good on the older phones.