Summary

• Turn your old tablet into a helpful recipe book for easy step-by-step guidance in the kitchen.
• Repurpose your tablet as a learning tool for kids with educational apps for a valuable use.
• Use your old tablet as a digital photo frame to showcase favorite memories without spending extra money.

E-waste is an increasingly bigger concern as more and more devices flood our lives, and we move on from one to the next. An old device is hard to recycle, or you may just not be ready to give it away just yet, but you don't know what to do with it anymore. Thankfully, if you bought a new tablet and have an old one lying around and you want it to still have a purpose, there are many ways you can do that.

We've rounded up just a few things you can do with an old tablet you're not actively using anymore., so hopefully you can find one that fits into your specific needs.

6 Get help in the kitchen

Turn your tablet into a recipe book

If you enjoy cooking and trying new recipes, using your old tablet as a recipe book is a fantastic idea. There's nothing too crazy about this option, all you really need to do is set up your tablet with your favorite cooking app (or apps), and put it on a stand so it's always ready to help you with step-by-step guidance.

Recipe guidance is one of the things I've used a Google Nest Hub in the past, but why spend money on that kind of device if you have an old tablet? These apps are far more fully-featured anyway, and you can find a ton of recipes across different apps. If your tablet is running a bit slow, maybe try resetting it to remove all other apps and then just set up the apps you need for cooking.

5 Give it to your kid

Tablets can be a great learning tool

If you're someone with children, you can always repurpose your tablet as an educational tool for your kids. There are tons of educational apps both on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, including things like Khan Academy Kids, Duolingo for learning languages (or Duolingo ABC to teach younger children how to read), SplashLearn, and more. You can even use YouTube Kids for educational and fun videos.

On Android, you can use the Google Kids Space app to create a customized home screen for your child so you can make sure they won't open any apps that aren't suited for them. Another option is enabling app pinning in your phone's security settings and then pinning whatever app you want to the screen. This makes it so your child can't easily move out of an app, ensuring they don't get distracted. If you're going to hand your tablet to your child, youm might also want to get a good case for it for when it inevitably drops onto the floor.

4 Use it as a digital photo frame

See your favorite memories anytime you want

Digital photo frames are a fairly popular product category, but who says you need to spend money on one? Your old tablet can serve as a photo frame just fine, and it's a great way to extend its life if you no longer have a use for it. Simply throw your pictures in a folder, which can be on the tablet itself or on the cloud, and use an app like Fotoo for Android to create a slideshow based on those pictures.

Fotoo can keep running indefinitely as long as your device is plugged in, so you can have a great photo frame available at all times. If you use a cloud service for your pictures, you can even add them to the slideshow without every touching the tablet again, since you can upload them from any device. If your old tablet is an iPad, then there's an app simply called Digital Photo Frame Slideshow that accomplishes something similar. Either way, your old device doesn't have to go to waste.

• Fotoo

  See at Google Play Store

• Digital Photo Frame Slideshow

  See at Apple App Store

3 Turn it into a baby monitor or security camera

Keep your house or newborn safe

Another great way to repurpose your old tablet (or even a smartphone) is to turn it into a baby monitor, or more generally, a security camera for your home. Both of these use cases work pretty much the same way, which is to say they turn your device into a camera you can access remotely. One of the most popular solutions for this kind of thing is AlfredCamera, an app that's available for both Android tablets and iPads (and even Windows PCs, if you're so inclined).

With AlfredCamera, you can turn your old tablet into a security camera and then use another device to check in on your home or baby. The app also allows two-way communication, so you can turn your own camera and microphone on to talk to someone who's at home, or try to calm down your baby if it starts crying. You can even set up multiple cameras if you have more devices lying around. The free version of the app is already pretty capable, but you can pay for the premium version to unlock higher-quality video and recording support.

2 Control your smart home

Turn on lights, adjust thermostats, and more

If you have a lot of smart devices in your home, you probably already have apps that help you manage them, but having to grab your phone in a pinch may not always be the most convenient way to do things. If you have an old tablet, you can use that large screen to help you control all your smart home devices from one place. You can do this with a multitude of apps depending on what you have. On iPad, the built-in Home app can handle HomeKit-compatible devices, while Android has the Google Home app for devices that work with that ecosystem. There's also an Amazon Alexa app for multiple platforms for smart homes that rely on that.

If you also have an old PC or something like a Raspberry Pi lying around (or you're comfortable with solutions like Docker), you can also use Home Assistant to control your smart home devices, and it works with all kinds of products regardless of the ecosystem they're designed for. You do need to use a computer to run the Home Assistant server, but this is the vest way to create a platform-agnostic smart home hub that doesn't send all your information to the cloud.

1 Use it as a second screen

Extend your laptop or desktop

Another potential great use for an old tablet is using it as a second screen for your laptop or desktop. Some tablets actually come with this feature built-in, specifically some Samsung tablets and iPads. The problem is, Samsung's SAecond Screen app only works with Windows, while Apple's Sidecar feature only lets you use your iPad with a Mac. If you want a more widely compatible solution, you can try Duet Display, which works with all major platforms, but this is a paid app.

If you want a free tool, SpaceDesk is a good option, though it requires a bit of setup. AirDroid Cast also lets you mirror your computer's screen to an Android or iOS device, but you can't use your tablet as an extension of your screen; it can only mirror what you're seeing. Essentially, all these tools require you to install an app on both the tablet and your host PC, and these apps can then communicate with each other to extend your screen.

There's still life left in your tablet

Besides all of these, of course, you can probably find other ways to make the tablet useful, such as selling or giving it away, but these options give you some interesting ways to keep it relevant without having to dispose of it entirely. You can always have it as a backup in case your main device gives you trouble, and it serves a purpose in the meantime. Regardless, there are plenty of ways to avoid creating more e-waste, so don't be too quick to throw something away.