What to Do With an Old iPad or Tablet: 10 Ideas

The best thing to do with an old iPad or tablet is to give it one job it can do all day on a stand and a charger: a digital photo frame, a kitchen screen, a home dashboard, a bedside clock, an e-reader or a kids' tablet. First check which iPadOS version it can still run, because that decides which apps it can install. If it can't do any of these jobs any more, erase it and sell, donate or recycle it.

Our own old iPad has had the same job since 2017. Manuel, my husband, built Digital Photo Frame App while I was pregnant with our twins, so his parents, who live in another country, could watch them grow up. An old iPad in their living room plays an iCloud shared album, and every photo we add from our phones shows up on it. They don't install anything or remember passwords. That album now holds more than 2,000 photos.

We're not the only ones. In a year of our app's own data, almost half of the iPads that played a slideshow were models first released before 2020 (our study of older iPads).

First, check what your old iPad can still run

Every year Apple's newest iPadOS leaves a few older iPads behind, and apps follow a while later. Before you pick a job for an old iPad, find out two things:

1. Its iPadOS version. Open Settings, General, About. The version is listed there (older iPads say "iOS" instead of "iPadOS").
2. Whether it can update. Open Settings, General, Software Update. If it says the iPad is up to date, that is the newest version it will ever get.

The About screen also shows the model. If you only see a model number, look at the small print on the back of the iPad: it starts with an A (for example A1566) and you can match it on Apple's Identify your iPad model page.

What the version means in practice:

• iPadOS 15 or later: most of the ideas below work, including a photo frame with Digital Photo Frame App.
• iOS 12: the built-in apps still work (Photos, Books, Safari, FaceTime, Clock, Music), but many App Store apps no longer install. There is a trick for that, below.
• iOS 10 or older: most websites and apps won't work well any more. Use it for music, a clock or the photos already on it, try the trick below, or recycle it.

1. Turn it into a digital photo frame

This one had to be first.

An old iPad has a sharper screen than most photo frames you can buy, and it plays videos and Live Photos too. With Digital Photo Frame App it plays your albums all day, and photos added to an iCloud shared album appear on it by themselves, which is how Manuel's parents get theirs. It also shows photos from Google Photos, the Files app, Immich or a NAS.

You need an iPad on iPadOS 15 or later, a stand and a charger. The full setup takes about 10 minutes: see how to turn your iPad into a digital photo frame. If you're deciding between an old iPad and a new frame, we compared them in iPad vs Aura, Skylight and Frameo.

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2. Make it a kitchen display

Cooking with a cookbook balanced against a fruit bowl is a thing of the past.

Prop the iPad on a stand and use it for recipes while you cook, in Safari or a recipe app. No more unlocking your phone every few minutes with floury hands. Between recipes it can set timers with the Clock app, play music or a podcast, and show the family calendar.

It's especially fun when cooking with kids. They can read each step and pick the next recipe together, without everyone crowding around one small phone.

3. Use it as a home dashboard

One glance for the time, the weather and what's on today.

Digital Photo Frame App can show the date and time, the weather and your next calendar events over your photos, so the same iPad is a photo frame and a dashboard in the hallway or kitchen. See weather and time over your photos.

If you have smart home devices, the iPad also makes a good wall or counter remote with the Home app or your devices' own apps. One thing has changed, though: an iPad can no longer be an Apple Home hub. Apple's current Home system needs an Apple TV or a HomePod for that, so the iPad works as a control panel, not as the hub.

4. Make it your bedside clock

Trying to spend less time on your phone before bed?

Move your phone across the room and let the old iPad show the time. A clock app turns it into an easy-to-read bedside clock, so checking the time at night doesn't turn into checking email. It can play sleep sounds or a playlist too.

Digital Photo Frame App can do this over your photos: the date and time box has a Huge text size on iPad, readable from across the room.

For the night itself, the app can close at bedtime so the iPad goes dark, and start again in the morning: see slideshow by day, sleep at night.

5. Read on it

Reading on an iPad is surprisingly comfortable.

Apple Books is built in, and most e-book and magazine apps have an iPad version. With adjustable text size, dark mode and brightness, it's easy on the eyes in the evening. Because it isn't your main device, you're less likely to be pulled away by notifications. Turn on Do Not Disturb and it becomes a quiet reader for novels, comics, magazines or cookbooks.

6. Give it to the kids

An old iPad is a good first tablet: if it gets dropped, nobody cries over the newest model.

Erase it, set it up with a child account through Family Sharing, and use Screen Time to choose which apps they can use and for how long. For a younger child, Apple's Guided Access keeps the iPad inside one app, like a drawing app or a video player, until you enter a passcode. See how to lock your iPad into a single app.

On an older iPad, check that the learning apps you want still install before you hand it over.

7. Keep it for video calls with family

For grandparents, a big screen that's always in the same place is easier than a phone.

FaceTime is built into every iPad, and the larger screen means the whole family fits in the picture. Leave it on a stand in the living room, plugged in, so a call is never more than a tap away. Between calls it can play the family's photos. More ideas in digital photo frame for grandparents.

8. Use it as a second screen for your Mac

Extra space for chats, notes or a reference document.

Apple's Sidecar turns an iPad into a second display for a Mac, wirelessly or with a cable. It needs a recent enough Mac and an iPad (6th generation) or newer, an iPad Air (3rd generation) or newer, an iPad mini (5th generation) or newer, or any iPad Pro, so it suits newer "old" iPads rather than the oldest ones. Check Apple's Sidecar page for your exact models.

9. Watch your cameras or the baby

A permanent screen for your security or baby camera.

Instead of opening the camera app on your phone again and again, leave the feed on screen in the kitchen, the home office or near the front door. It's a simple way to keep an eye on deliveries, pets or who's at the gate, and it works as a baby monitor screen if your camera's app supports live viewing on iPad. Some apps can also turn the old iPad itself into a camera; check that the app supports your iPad's version first.

10. Put it to work in a shop, café or food truck

A free screen for a menu, a price list or your best photos.

A small business can use an old iPad as a menu board, a slideshow of products in the window, or a photo display at the counter. Digital Photo Frame App plays the slides on a loop and can ask for a passcode before anyone stops the slideshow: see a digital menu board for food trucks.

When to sell, donate or recycle it instead

If none of these jobs fit, don't leave the iPad in a drawer.

• Sell it or trade it in if it still works and gets updates. Apple Trade In gives credit toward a new device, and resale sites and buyback stores pay for older models too. Values depend on the model, the storage and the condition.
• Donate it if it still works but isn't worth much. A school, a charity or a relative may give it a second life, as long as it still runs the apps they need.
• Recycle it if it's broken or too old to be useful. Never put it in the trash. Apple recycles any Apple device for free, whatever its model or condition, and many electronics stores and local councils take tablets too.

Before it leaves your hands, erase it:

1. Back it up to iCloud or a computer if anything on it matters.
2. Open Settings, General, Transfer or Reset iPad and tap Erase All Content and Settings (on older iPads: Settings, General, Reset).
3. Enter your Apple Account password when asked, so Activation Lock is turned off and the next owner can set it up.

How to keep an old iPad running all day

For the jobs above that run all day, a few settings make a big difference:

• Keep it plugged in and on a stand. A photo frame, clock or dashboard should never depend on the battery.
• Turn off Auto-Lock (Settings, Display & Brightness, Auto-Lock, Never), or use an app that keeps the screen on by itself, as Digital Photo Frame App does while a slideshow plays.
• Let it rest at night with a schedule, so the screen isn't on when nobody is looking.
• Lock it to one app with Guided Access if kids or guests use it.
• Check the battery now and then. If the case bulges or the screen starts to lift, unplug it, stop using it and take it to be recycled.

Tell us other ways you use your old iPad. We'd love to hear from you: write to us.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your old iPad's new job.

Margo Kopec

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