Re-use cell phone as a computer? | Hacker News Reader

Re-use cell phone as a computer?

7 pointsdaly7 comments

My 3G cell phone no longer makes calls. But it contains a useful computer. This is such a waste.

Is there a good way to use a cell phone as a laptop-ish computer? A USB-C port can do HDMI. A keyboard/mouse could be attached through Bluetooth.

Has anyone managed to use an old cell phone as a portable computer?

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What kind of cell phone?

Slightly Android phone - just flash latest available LineageOS and install Termux and off you go.

Much older Android phone - probably not useful as a computer TBH, modern apps and websites need too much processing power.

Any other even older phone - perhaps useful for some home IoT/embedded stuff, not much more probably.

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A modern Android phone with USB-C (must be USB3) is a full computer, I'm doing it. VSCode server running in the background + browser to access it, full Node.js installation + wired display, mouse, and keyboard plugged in USB-C dock. The launcher automatically switches to windowed mode when I plug in the display.

My only problem with this setup is the UX on-the-go. I'd love something like the old Transformer tablet/lapdock where you could slide the phone inside...

Not all phones support graphical output through USB unfortunately. The Samsung S phones (with Dex) support HDMI, but my old Pixel 2 won't do that.

Can you provide more information?

I'm doing some of this on a Pixel 5a with a wired USB-A keyboard and a wired USB-A mouse connected to USB-C via a hub, and display through Chromecast. It works okay, but it's not ideal. I prefer wired over wireless usually.

I have Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus 256 GB version. I got it because I hate display notches or camera holes. I recommend to get a newer one, or the last Galaxy Note.

It's an excellent phone-computer overall. My USB-C dock has HDMI and USB-A which both work as well as with a PC and I use them to connect my classic PC keyboard, mouse and full HD display.

On the software side, don't waste your time getting stuff working on bare rooted Android. Download NixOnDroid or Termux and use that like you'd use a NixOS/Debian distro.

If you're a Node.js coder, it's very easy to get all your stuff working inside NixOnDroid. Don't worry about installing and using X or VNC, that sucks. You can run VSCode server and access it using Android Chrome or Firefox - that works flawlessly and provides seamless access inside the NixOnDroid environment too.

The default OS is well made, no need to reinstall it unless for ideological/privacy reasons - the S9 is actually still getting updates (4 years now).

I want to de-google my life so I flashed it and did not install any Google software and don't use any Google services. Flashing ROM on this phone is very easy. I am using ArrowOS.

Beware: I am in EU, so I got the Exynos version. Based on XDA-Developers, it seems like the Snapdragon version (commonly sold in US and elsewhere) isn't as hackable - but as I said the default OS is good and you can run NixOnDroid on it too.

The term to search for related to this is "convergence" - the idea that the very different computing form factors that we use today (smartphone, laptop, desktop, server, and so on) may gradually blend.

Reference: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/device-convergence-affe...

(in a separate context, "convergence" also relates to an idea that gained traction after WWII that the ideologies of the East and West could gradually combine into something reflecting the benefits of each while removing the downsides; that's another story, though)

Yup, using my Samsung S9 along with a product called Uperfect X. Loaded up nodeJS, vuejs even python using Termux. then used VScode. Has busybox, so most cmds are there. No root either.

Here's a nice article outlining these hdmi/keyboard shell laptops

https://liliputing.com/2021/11/5-laptop-docks-that-let-you-u...

$50 desktop from goodwill/recycling center will be infinitely more useful than outdated un-updateable phone forced to pretend its a general purpose computer.

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