Samsung software turns old Galaxy phones into IoT devices
Chances are if you’re a long time Pocketables reader you’ve already turned an old phone into a baby cam, made a room-to-room intercom, or done something with an old device to keep it running. Samsung’s releasing some software that does that for those who haven’t.
While it doesn’t appear to turn your old phone into a Google Home or equivalent, it does appear the app is going to be updated to bring functionality to those old devices in the form of a baby monitor, light sensor, some rudimentary audio recording, and automation.
The update brings a smart phone into the SmartThings category and can… do things with that… doesn’t really say much other than light sensor triggering, audio recording.
There is no link listed for downloading, doesn’t appear in the Play Store or the Samsung Store, and it appears to be in beta at the moment, so take this as most likely “coming soon to an unused Galaxy phone near you” announcement. Oh wait, there’s a reference to it being in the SmartThings App (which the link is broken on their site but here you go.)
I’m not seeing it in the SmartThings app at the moment, but also may not have a supported device or who knows… it’ll be there.
There are a limited number of Samsung devices this will work on, and the question I guess becomes why not release this for everything? Let my old Kyocera flip phone find new life in a Samsung galaxy. Let the HTC EVO 3D that still sort of powers on in my drawer shine once more.
Probably due to some Samsung power tweaking but seems like it would be good for the world if they allowed other devices into the Galaxy Upcycling game.
[Samsung]
