5 methods your dusty outdated Samsung telephone can change a Raspberry Pi

A Raspberry Pi has lengthy been a well-liked choice for house initiatives as a result of these single-board computer systems are extremely customizable and have historically been comparatively low-cost. As the costs of Raspberry Pi fashions rise, you might be searching for various choices. You could also be shocked to study that your outdated Samsung telephone might make a wonderful Raspberry Pi substitute for some initiatives.

Block advertisements throughout your community

Like operating Pi-hole with out the Pi

One of the most well-liked makes use of for a Raspberry Pi is to run Pi-hole. Pi-hole is open-source software program that may act because the DNS server in your house community. It compares every DNS request from units in your community towards a blocklist of identified advert servers and trackers, then blocks these requests so advertisements by no means seem in your units.

It’s attainable to get network-wide ad-blocking utilizing your outdated Samsung telephone. Someone is operating a venture on an outdated Samsung Galaxy S10+. They put in postmarketOS, a Linux distribution designed for telephones, and turned the Galaxy into an always-on house server. By operating AdGuard Home on the Linux system, the telephone can block promoting and monitoring domains throughout the native community.

Make your telephone the brains of your sensible house

Home Assistant does not have to run on a Pi

For a very long time, a Raspberry Pi was one of the crucial frequent recommendations for {hardware} to run the superb Home Assistant smart home software. I ran Home Assistant for a number of years on a Raspberry Pi 3B+. The increased prices of many Raspberry Pi models imply that it’s not the reasonably priced choice that it as soon as was.

You can use a telephone to regulate your sensible house units by Home Assistant, nevertheless it’s additionally attainable to run the Home Assistant software program on an outdated Samsung telephone. One methodology makes use of Termux, an Android terminal that allows you to run command-line packages in your telephone. Using Termux and udocker, it is attainable to put in Home Assistant by Termux and run it on even comparatively outdated Samsung telephones.

It’s not an ideal answer. Android can cease background purposes, and Home Assistant updates might break the workaround. If you’ve got a spare telephone mendacity unused, then it is price making an attempt it out.

Control your 3D printer remotely

OctoPrint operating in your telephone

Many 3D printers can print from regionally saved recordsdata, however because of this it’s worthwhile to work together immediately with the printer to make use of them. OctoPrint is software program that you may run on a separate gadget which lets you management and monitor your 3D printer remotely by an internet browser. You can add prints, begin jobs, monitor the progress, and extra.

A Raspberry Pi has been a well-liked selection for operating OctoPrint as a result of you’ll be able to depart the small single-board pc completely related to your 3D printer. It’s not the one choice, nevertheless.

Octo4a (brief for OctoPrint for Android) is an Android various to the OctoPi software program that’s particularly designed for Raspberry Pi units. It can run OctoPrint on an Android telephone with out requiring root. You can join your telephone utilizing USB On-The-Go (USB OTG) and even use your telephone’s digicam to observe the print or create Octolapse time-lapse movies.

Not each telephone can cost and keep an OTG connection. However, a number of Samsung fashions, together with the Galaxy S20 FE, have been reported to help charging similtaneously being related to a 3D printer.

Set up a retro gaming console

Move apart, RetroPie

A Raspberry Pi is a superb selection for constructing a retro gaming console. Projects resembling RetroPie convey collectively all the things it’s worthwhile to run retro video games in your Raspberry Pi, turning the single-board pc right into a devoted gaming station.

Your outdated Samsung telephone can run retro video games and make a strong various to RetroPie. RetroPie makes use of the RetroArch part to load totally different cores to emulate totally different consoles, and you’ll run RetroArch on Android.

I used my outdated Samsung Galaxy S8 to run RetroArch and hooked the telephone as much as a monitor with a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter. I used to be in a position to pair a PS5 controller with the telephone and play retro video games with out the necessity for a Raspberry Pi.

Your telephone could be a tiny NAS

A file server with a built-in UPS

You can use a Raspberry Pi to arrange your individual network-attached storage (NAS). This is storage that is accessible to any gadget in your native community, relatively than being restricted to the gadget that it is related to. For instance, you’ll be able to join a tough drive to a Raspberry Pi and save recordsdata to it from different computer systems in your house.

Samba is widespread open-source software program that implements the SMB file-sharing protocol that’s supported by Windows, macOS, and Linux. By operating Samba on a Samsung telephone, you’ll be able to expose its folders to different units on the community. You can share the storage already out there on the gadget, together with microSD storage, and doubtlessly join exterior storage, relying in your telephone mannequin.

The better part is that even when there is a energy outage at your house, your phone-based NAS can maintain operating, because of the telephone’s battery. It’s like having an uninterruptible energy provide (UPS) in-built.

Your telephone is already a tiny pc

A Raspberry Pi is basically a small pc, and so is your telephone. While your telephone might not do all the things a Raspberry Pi can, it may deal with loads of initiatives. You could also be shocked by what you need to use it for.