thanks everybody, good info.
i had thought about a prepaid phone, with just minimal minutes on it, but the ones they sell were older and i was worried about obsolescence. and just was wondering if there was still such a thing as a smart nonphone - appearantly not. and i did not know that you could just buy a newer phone without a contract.
mc
My kid has an old phone of mine that he uses exactly this way. It doesn’t get service but he plays games and watches youtube videos and such by using our wifi. He even texted me the other day…he found some app he can use to text and make calls so if he’s got wifi he can even use it as a phone without phone service. Pretty nifty.
If having the latest OS is an issue, he should be much more carful about getting an Android seeing as how even brand new Android phones won’t necessarily support Android 7.0, let alone older ones.
Every iPod touch from the last 4 years or so is going to be able to run the vast majority of apps in the App Store. And if not, it will just download the last compatible version.
But there is, most notably the iPod touch as others have already mentioned. I get you’re not an Apple fan, but it does exactly what you’re looking for. If you’re concerned about obsolescence, a current iPod touch is fairly similar to an iPhone 6 which was released about 2.5 years go. Generally speaking, Apple’s iOS devices see about 5 years of software support, so it’s still got some life left in it.
Contacts are useful for emailing; phone & v-mail could easily go.
A newer phone w/o a contract is going to be more expensive than an older model. Unless you need the processing speed of a newer phone (gaming?), I’d go with an older model. When that becomes obsolete, get a then-older model (probably today’s latest & greatest two years from now); even buying two, three, or five older ones will quite likely be less money than one newer one today.
IOW, I totally agree with AB’s first (bolded) sentence.
go buy a boost mobile phone from the budget price lines
i have a couple old ones of theirs, use as mp3 players or mini tablet or e-reader etc.
They do everything, even make phone calls if using google voice and are on wifi.
I’m running Android 5.0.1 Lollipop and I haven’t encountered any problems downloading apps. Even a phone running Kit Kat should be adequate. Apps do get updated for Marshmallow and Nougat, but in my experience, they don’t break the apps for older versions of Android.
thanks for the info, i had to look up most of those words!! :o
mc
Android gives names to the different versions of their OS. But basically, if you get a phone running version 4, it should run apps as well as a phone running a later version. I’m on version 5, but have no problems running apps. I’ve never been notified that my software is outdated, as I did when I had an iPhone.
For $50 or less you can get a decent used phone on eBay or an older-model Kindle Fire (beware, they are a bit fragile, but are dead simple to use). The latter won’t fit in your pocket, though, so just get an older used Moto or something and connect it to your wifi. Done. If I hadn’t broken it, I could still probably use my first smartphone circa 2009 for everything I want it for (ebooks, light internet browsing, simple apps). It also seemingly took the best pictures of any phone I’ve had, and had a nice slide-out keyboard that almost no phone has anymore. Miss that thing! It was some sort of Motorola. If I could remember the exact model, I’d pick one up for cheap as a backup, at least.
I’m writing this on an iPod touch that hasn’t given me any trouble since I bought it in 2012. The button sticks a bit but it doesn’t even have any cracks. I recommend 'em!