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What to do with an old iPad

(odb.ar)
190 points owenmakes | 4 comments | 05 Sep 25 17:14 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source

Coming back with my own blog (hosted on iPad 2) after asking here the same question
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quotemstr ◴[07 Sep 25 00:26 UTC] No.45154151[source]▶
I've tried to use an old iPad as a wall-mounted control panel. The device has continuous power but will occasionally run down its battery anyway, especially when displaying the Home Assistant app. Not consistently reproducible and annoying, but makes the device a poor match for what I want to do with it. It's a shame because it could have had a good, long post-retirement career in this role if it could only run at peak use while charging without drawing down the battery.
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1. hn92726819 ◴[07 Sep 25 03:37 UTC] No.45155184[source]▶
Kind of a nasty solution, but if you have a smart plug, you could plug the iPad into it and have HAS toggle power for an hour a day (or whatever time). That way it's as if you unplugged the iPad yourself for a period.
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2. SoftTalker ◴[07 Sep 25 16:15 UTC] No.45159505[source]▶
How does unplugging the charger for an hour improve the situation? Does it reset the charging logic back into "high charge" mode or something?

Would not even need a smart plug for that, just a simple mechanical timer would do it.

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3. hn92726819 ◴[08 Sep 25 00:13 UTC] No.45163500[source]▶
I don't know if it will. I actually have never even heard of this bug before, but I would assume that it gets fixed somehow and I imagine it involves unplugging it and plugging it in again.

I just suggested a smart plug because the original commenter said it was for HomeAssistant, which is really good at scripting stuff like this (if smart plug detects wattage below X, assume ipad is bugged and cut power and return it after n duration, for example). A mechanical timer might also work.

Also, I just bought 11 smart plugs so everything is starting to look like a nail :)

4. twinspop ◴[08 Sep 25 01:40 UTC] No.45163978[source]▶
This is exactly what i do with an older iPad. It’s running HASS. The smart switch* is turned off when charge is over 80%, and on when charge drops below 30%. It’s been like this for 4 years. No issues. And I’ve been logging every on/off cycle. Some day I’ll check to see how it’s changed over the years.