I've been collecting some older Apple devices over the past few years—nothing too serious, just a small collection. I'm curious if anyone has any ideas for putting these devices to good use instead of selling or trashing them. I currently have an iPad Mini (1st generation), an iPhone 6, and an iPhone 5. The iPad runs iOS 9, so my options are limited; I've managed to put some movies on it, and I have SoundCloud and a few games. The iPhone 6 is on iOS 12, and while I think I have some games and possibly Prime Video, I'm not sure what else I can do with it. The iPhone 5... I'm not even sure what apps would work on that. If anyone has suggestions for apps to download or other ways I can use these devices, I would really appreciate it. By the way, the iPhone 6 has 98% battery health, but it seems to die quickly even when not in use, while the iPad Mini still has 100% battery health and lasts a while without being used.
2 Answers
Unfortunately, older Apple devices are pretty locked down within the Apple ecosystem. Most apps won't support the outdated iOS, which means you're stuck with what's already installed, as they usually rely on newer requirements. If you had some old Android devices, you could sideload older apps and repurpose them into things like media servers. They tend to have far more flexibility than Apple products.
I have the same devices as you, and I'm dealing with the short battery life on my iPhone 6 too. The downside is that as they age, fewer apps will run on them. My original iPad is pretty much useless now, but it can still handle some oldies like YouTube in a Safari tab. The options are definitely limited.
Yeah, my iPad 4 can run a few outdated apps and YouTube, but it’s not doing much else. They really don’t keep up as the software advances.
I've heard that jailbreaking an old iPhone could give you some more options, but then you'd be risking Apple's support, which could be a pain.