6 ways to repurpose an old iPad

Published Sep 21, 2026, 3:47 PM EDT Sydney Butler is a technology writer with over 20 years of experience as a freelance PC technician and system builder and over a decade as a professional writer. He's worked for more than a decade in user education. On How-To Geek, he writes commerce content, guides, opinions, and specializes in editing hardware and cutting edge technology articles. Sydney started working as a freelance computer technician around the age of 13, before which he was in charge of running the computer center for his school. (He also ran LAN gaming tournaments when the teachers weren't looking!) His interests include VR, PC, Mac, gaming, 3D printing, consumer electronics, the web, and privacy. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Research Psychology with a minor in media and technology studies. His masters dissertation examined the potential for social media to spread misinformation. Outside of How-To Geek, he hosts the Online Tech Tips YouTube Channel, and writes for Online Tech Tips, Switching to Mac, and Helpdesk Geek. Sydney also writes for Expert Reviews UK. He also has bylines at 9to5Mac, 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, Tom's Hardware, MakeTechEasier, and Laptop Mag. The Apple iPad is an exceptionally long-lived device. There's no reason to upgrade them frequently and in my personal experience these tablets don't show much battery wear over the years either. In fact, I now have a five-year upgrade cycle, and my original iPad 2 stayed in use for a decade, as it was passed down from one family member to the next. Which is all a way to say that even if you get a new and shiny iPad, there's probably something cool or useful you can do with the old one that's worth more than simply selling it. Turn it into a smart home controller And mount it to a wall or fridge, if you want Credit: Ben Lovejoy / How-To GeekCredit: Ben Lovejoy / How-To GeekCredit: Ben Lovejoy / How-To GeekCredit: Ben Lovejoy / How-To GeekCredit: Adam Davidson / How-To GeekCredit: Ben Lovejoy / How-To GeekCredit: Ben Lovejoy / How-To GeekCredit: Ben Lovejoy / How-To GeekCredit: Ben Lovejoy / How-To GeekCredit: Adam Davidson / How-To Geek Having a central, shared screen anyone can use in the home to control your smart home devices is a genuinely useful thing to have. With an iPad, you can essentially install whatever app is used by your smart home ecosystem, and just leave it open or at least front and center on the home screen for anyone who needs to adjust something. Sadly, you can no longer use an iPad as an Apple HomeKit hub, but it's still perfect for HomeKit UI duties, paired with a hub device like an Apple TV or HomePod. Use it as a digital photo frame There are plenty of cheap digital photo frames you can buy online or in stores, but why spend $50 or more on a digital photo frame when you can use an old iPad you already own? The screens on iPads are excellent, and there are so many mounting options that you won't have a hard time making something elegant and attractive. The only small niggle here is that the built-in tools for photos in iPadOS aren't really suited for this purpose. You can set up a basic slideshow and get a barebones photo frame experience going, but to do it right you'll need a third-party app. If you want one free of ads, a paid one is the right way to go. I don't have any specific recommendation, since there are quite a few options, but Synched Photo Frame has a single once-off fee, and is a good example of the type of app you should be looking for. One thing to keep in mind is that your old iPad is still more than just a photo frame, so you can have it idle as a frame, but then pick it up any time or hand it to a guest to use for something else like web browsing. Rework it into a kitchen assistant My iPad lives in my kitchen Credit: Christian Zibreg / How-To Geek / Apple I've actually found that my main personal iPad is my most useful cooking and kitchen tool. I have several digital cookbooks on it, I constantly use Siri to set timers and reminders, and, of course, I look up information and videos when I'm in doubt. So dedicating an old iPad to your kitchen for everyone to use isn't a bad idea at all. Turn it into a second monitor More screens, more fun Credit: Sydney Louw Butler/How-To Geek I actually use my personal main iPad as a second monitor for my MacBook when I'm working away from my desk, but if you have an old iPad this is a great way to give it a permanent and useful extra life. After all, portable screens aren't cheap! If you have a Mac, you can use the built-in SideCar feature to turn it into an extended display. If you have a Windows system, then you'll have to use a third-party application like Duet Display. Certain USB-C iPads can also act as HDMI monitors, but using a USB-C HDMI capture dongle and a third-party app like Orion. Use it as a drawing pad or 3D modeling station We're gonna need an Apple Pencil Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek There are so many great drawing apps for iPad, that it's the perfect solution as a dedicated drawing pad. The idea is of course to use an Apple Pencil, assuming you have an iPad compatible with one of the Pencil models. However, if you don't want to spend that much extra, you can get quite far with a "dumb" stylus in apps like ProCreate. Another intriguing option is to use an app like EasyCanvas to turn your old iPad into a PC-connected drawing tablet, similar to how Wacom's devices work. Letting you draw directly in software like PhotoShop. Turn it into a retro or cloud gaming console Great for a weekend on the couch Credit: Sydney Louw Butler / How-To Geek Thanks to Apple's relaxed stance on emulators, I've been enjoying using my iPad as a retro gamng machine. Not only is the typical iPad more than powerful enough to emulate most retro systems, the 4:3 aspect ratio that the vast majority of iPads have is perfect for games from the CRT era of console gaming. There's superlative controller support in iPadOS, and it's easy to hook it up to external displays (depending on the model) and external audio. Don't let that old iPad go to waste! There are also numerous great cloud gaming services, which means playing the latest games via Wi-Fi on your tablet. As long as you temper your expectations, an iPad can be a truly great gaming option.