I found a few old phones from my family. II cleaned them, installed LineageOS and rooted most of them. On one I installed postmarketOS, one is still stock Android and one is lets say bricked (after installing lineagesos it stay on boot logo for ever, before that I installed lineageos and nethunter on it). One one disk encryption doesnt work for some reason.
Phones (all samsung galaxy):
- S4
- A5
- A5 (bricked)
- A5 (postmarketOS)
- J3
- J4+ (no encryption)
- A31 (stock)
What can I do with them? Something like Monero node or Tor relay, but I’m already running that on old pc. For something that needs speed I have rpis (like a website). Camera security system? Tracking device?
Is it possible to run (and autorun) cli apps and/or services that can access interent, bluetooth, gps, sensors, camera, files, etc. just like on linux? I’m a programmer and I don’t like making normal android apps for a simple project.
Some words of caution:
For anything internet related: Keep in mind that you likely are not getting any security updates anymore, even on a custom ROM.
Also keep in mind that each accu you have in your home rises the risk of fire slightly. Obviously it always depends on the type and age of each accu.
Now some ideas
Someone on Lemmy wrote about using a phone as Home Assistant box, but I don’t remember if it was usable enough (e.g. possible to access usb/sensors/etc)
You might use them as sensors for Home Assistant, however the accu might not last that long, and/or having them connected to power might not be great for the accu
Run a media center on it (e.g. Kodi) and cast it to your TV
Connect some speakers and use them as Spotify boxes in different parts of the house (as it is specifically easy switching devices with Spotify. Maybe there is software for general WiFi speakers)
Use one to create a smart mirror that displays current information like weather etc
Its meaning is understandable from context, but what is accu?
Accumulator / Rechargeable battery
as opposed to “regular” one-use battery
Ahh. Thanks.
It turns out my contextual understanding was completely wrong.
In German we basically use Akku vs Batterie.
As an engineer, I like that distinction, but in English there is no such general clear distinction in every day language (is colloquial the right translation for this?) as far as I know.