Samsung is introducing a new feature through its SmartThings app that’ll help you use your old Galaxy phone as a child monitor or light sensor.

The SmartThings app will have a new function called SmartThings Labs that can use phone sensors such as mics and sound sensors to turn it into a smart device. Using AI, the app can identify sounds such as a baby crying, dog barking, cat meowing, or a door knock, it will send an alert directly to the user’s smartphone and the user can listen to the recorded sound.

This is not an entirely novel function; Apple introduced a similar ability for sound detection alerts with iOS 14. However, the advantage of the Galaxy Upcycling program is that you can keep your spare phone near the baby.

Through this feature, you can also use your phone as a light monitor and use it to control lighting or switch on the tv in your living room. Plus, you can manage other devices connected SmartThing network.

Since these are older devices being used for just a few tasks, Samsung will also issue an update to eligible devices for battery optimization.

Galaxy Upcycling at Home feature is available on all S, Note, and Z series released from 2018 running Android 9 or later. The company said it aims to include more devices under this program in the future. 

At launch, this feature will be only available in the US, UK, and Korea. This is a neat way to use your phone that might be lying just in a drawer, and it avoids the device ending up in the trash. 

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