Things to do with your old iPad/iPod/iPhone
By Holly (
Celyn)
In 2018, Apple sold over 217 million products (reference:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...cal-year-2007/ ) so it’s likely that you may already have bought, or received as a gift, one of their gadgets, such as an iPhone, iPad, or iPod. However, as newer products are released, older ones may become less compatible with important updates and as a result, may not be able to install the latest iOS. This can mean that, over time, you won’t be able to get updates for your currently installed apps, and in future, may be limited in the apps that you can download or use from Apple’s app store. So what do we do when our Apple products start becoming less useable? This article explores a variety of functions, uses and other options you can still do with your older Apple gadgets.
While an older device may no longer be able to receive the most updated version apps, there are other functions that may still work. For example:
- Photos/gallery- you can still look through your photos and create slideshows making your old iPad a gallery for your photos and screenshots.
- Camera- if your device has a camera, it will likely still work leaving you to continue capturing all your selfies and other photos (not applicable to the first generation of iPads).
- Calendar, reminders, notifications, alarm clock and timers- you will still be able to use these features which can be useful to keep track of things or to wake you up in the morning.
- Continue using apps- though your apps will no longer be updated, you may still be able to continue using them.
- While you may not be able to download new apps from the app store, if you have a newer Apple device that is up to date and is linked to your older device, you may be able to download old versions of apps that you have on your new device. If you download an app on your newer device, and then access your purchase history on your old device, you may be able to download a previous version of that app on your old device. You may receive a pop up on your old device that says the newest version of the app isn’t compatible with your iOS and it may ask if you would like to download an older version instead. By selecting yes, you’ll be able to access an app that you may not have been able to download previously (a warning, however, that the app will be outdated and you should use caution not store any personal data on an outdated app. The app may also stop working after some time as older versions may be made redundant if an app cannot be updated).
- Read- you will still be able to read any books that you have bought on iBooks, and you may still be able to read other ebooks if you already have a reader app e.g. Kindle.
- Watch movies, listen to music and podcasts- you will also still be able to use iTunes to listen to your music and watch movies that you have downloaded to your device. You can also still catch up on any podcasts that you follow.
- Use the browser- while some apps may not work and you are limited with browsers that can’t make use of flash, you can still use Safari to browse the internet. However, be careful not to enter or save personal information like credit card details as older Apple products may be more vulnerable to bugs which can be exploited by hackers.
Even though you may be limited with what to do with your old iPad, you may find it handy to use in certain situations. For example you can use it:
- As a journal/note taker- Using the notes function you can type up diary entries, school notes or anything else and you can also send these notes to your email address, making it easier to transfer to a computer and keep up with school work.
- As a spare for when your newer gadget is charging- if your new gadget runs out of power, you can always keep your older gadget as a spare.
- As a spare for when you are travelling- it can be entertaining to take something with you without worrying so much if anything happens to it compared to a newer device.
- As a homework planner- since you can still use the calendar, reminders and notes, it makes for a very good homework diary too!
If the above options don’t appeal to you and you won’t be using your old iPad but don’t know what to do with it, you can consider:
- Give it to someone else who may need it, such as a young person- if you have some age appropriate games or are able to download some and/or educational content, consider giving your device to a young person.
- Donate it to charity.
- There are many websites (e.g. Gumtree) and local groups on Facebook or other social media platforms where you can swap or sell devices. In the UK, Apple has a trade in scheme https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/trade-in where you can get money for most devices that are traded in. For those more concerned about the environment, they also have a free recycling scheme too.
Important: Remember to restore your device to factory settings and remove your credit card information before donating or selling to prevent your information ending up in someone else’s hands and to prevent others from running up bills on your card!