PhyPhox app. Let’s you access every physical sensor your android device SoC has access to (at least for most major manufacturers). Especially on high end phones, they include a huge array of sensors from accelerometers to magnetometers to high accuracy air pressure barometers. Plus it includes a lot of processed sensor outputs, like rudimentary range finding sonar, audio frequency spectrums, etc… And it’s free!

I assume this is pretty basic for people on Lemmy, where you can’t throw a rock without hitting a couple of programmers and Linux nerds, but I always feel so cool using Termux to SSH into my laptop that I use to self-host a couple of things. Makes me feel like a 1337hax0r person.

As a flight computer/logger when paramotoring. Shout out !paramotor@lemmy.world 😊

Here’s a screenshot of flight playback from this evening!

I like JustWatch because it lets you search all your streaming services at once. If you set up a (free) account, you can limit it to just the streaming services you have personally. Handy as hell.

Or get gameboy. No tracking at all

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I use the desktop mode of my phone when I want to multitask my laziness in multiple windows simultaneously. I can YouTube using vanced, scroll through Lemmy and read manga.

I’ve been playing around with Super Image more and more. Recently I used it to upscale some Ghibli stills so I could use them as wallpapers. It’s so neat to me that I can do it all offline, with the power of my own device.

I use Admin Hands for ssh and sftp access to my NAS.

You can turn an old phone or laptop into a wifi extender.

You can use an old iPhone to get iMessage working on an android.

If you attach a lens to it you can use your phone as a binocular

You can use your phone to scan a document and turn it into a digital file.

You can use it to make a signature, upload to computer to make a legally binding e-signature (the security of this is ambiguous, do at your own risk).

Theres probably an app somewhere to use it as a trackpad (if not can somebody please do this).

I’m pretty sure there’s an app to use it as a secondary monitor for your PC or laptop

If you ever repair or fix things, take pictures at various points to have a reference to how it comes back together.

It you ever need to remember anything just take a picture. (Use this all the time at work for stocking things, take a picture of its location address, walk down the warehouse etc)

I think there’s an app to use it as an angle gauge by tilting it. Used for hanging pictures and stuff.

Probably a pair of calipers with the right app and calibration.

You can get a “remote controlled button presser and switch flicker”. You attach it to a light switch or anything else to remotely activate it. Great for turning on and off a space heater or computer.

Use an old one as a remotely viewable security camera, with battery.

Pierce the battery to make a fire (can only be used once)

That’s about all I can think of right now

I haven’t done much with it yet but I have Termux installed on my phone. Termux is a free and open source app that, while it’s very limited, allows you to run Linux applications on an android phone/tablet. So far the only things I’ve done with it was that I ran neofetch and I used ciso to compress some iso files into cso files, both of which were just to test it out and get used to using it. I do plan on enabling and trying out X11 at some point but android prevents Termux from having hardware acceleration and the amount of software available for non-android Linux distros is very minimal, so I have no idea how useful it would be.

Chinese space station tracker with iss detector

A remote when watching films from my PC with kdeconnect

I once considered using my phone as a VR tracking point for full body tracking with slimeVR

rensim! (I tried to share the app, not sure if the link will work) it’s puyo puyo.

kore over wireguard to control kodi in a relatives house.

Kde connect is just awesome too and also works over wireguard

Voice recorder for meetings to recap later.

You can also use WiFi and Bluetooth to see what devices are nearby.

I use my phone like a sensor for accelerometry when I’m curious about the forces acting on me. Or iI use it as a spectrograph.