Can I make my old iPhone 4s work for my mom?

September 10, 2014 6:44 AM

I am an iPhone 4s user who has been holding out for the newest model. Yay, it's almost here! Now that I have a release date I'm wondering what to do with my old phone. I could sell it to Gazelle, but a more appealing option is giving it to my mom. Is this a good idea?

She has a very old flip phone which she has trouble operating and hearing (although she doesn't have bad hearing). She gets by fine using the house phone, and only has a cell phone for "emergencies." This means she never turns it on and does not text and is also hard to reach when she's not home. She does, however, use iMessage with me from her iPad when she's at home over wifi.

I'd like to give her a phone that was easy to use (she loves her iPad), and that is a bit more modern technology. Mom does not need the latest technology and does not want a contract. Her new fancy car has bluetooth and she's expressed interest in her phone connecting to the voice features in the car. My questions are:

1. My 4s is running the old operating system (6.1.3) because everyone I know with a 4s who upgraded bricked their phones because the phone is too old for the newer OS. Is this phone compromised by running on the old OS, and would upgrading for her (and wiping my info) be best?
2. If I did this I would need to get her a inexpensive plan, maybe even pay as you go. She really just needs 5-10 talk minutes per month, but some data would be great as well. I foresee her using Google Maps, possibly looking up something on the internet if she's lost, and perhaps iMessage. However, data isn't a total necessity. What companies should I look at for the Chicagoland area? Her current phone is on Verizon.
3. I've never jailbroken a phone before, but am pretty handy with technology. Do I need to jailbreak if I'm out of contract (AT&T)? Can I bring my phone in to a store and get a new sim? How can I wipe my data (photos, music, texts, email, etc.) and add some of her own music without syncing the phone over my new phone. Is it possible for her to manage content on her iphone and sync it with her iPad wirelessly on the cloud or do I need to set up iTunes on her very old PC?
4. I like Apple and she's familiar with the interface from her iPad. Would it be much better to buy her a cheaper (non-Apple) smart phone from one of the small providers I hear about?

posted by Bunglegirl to Technology (19 answers total)

Best answer: 1: My 4S works perfectly on the latest iOS7. I intend to use it in my car as an ipod touch after I upgrade but it would be perfectly fine for the use you suggest.

2: I have a US AT&T pay as you go line (GoPhone) which works fine with a 4S and would fulfil your requirements as stated.

This seems like a no-brainer to me, and it feels a little bit overthinky not to just get her a pay as you go contract on your phone after you have wiped it. Set it up as a new phone through iTunes from your own computer using your Mum's apple ID (with her there, presumably, unless she'd give you her password).

I don't think I see the complication, nor do I see the need to buy a whole new device if you have a perfectly good one already.
posted by Brockles at 6:50 AM on September 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

I had a similar question about a year ago. Our solution was to get a pay-as-you-go plan ($100 for the year on AT&T) which includes phone and text. On the plan, calls are $.10 per minute and texts are $.20. More than good enough for occasional use. Internet access is wifi only; to add it would have been considerably more expensive.
posted by DrGail at 6:56 AM on September 10, 2014

Would it be much better to buy her a cheaper (non-Apple) smart phone from one of the small providers I hear about?

NO. You'll be stuck teaching her to use a phone that you yourself are not familiar with. You already have the iPhone - it's free - and she knows how to use it (because iPad) - so I don't understand why you would consider this as an option.

I have a 4s that's been running iOS 7 since it came out and it's fine, not bricked whatsoever.

Just wipe all your sexts off of it, get a PAYG plan and hand it to her.
posted by desjardins at 6:57 AM on September 10, 2014

Best answer: I gave my old iPhone 4 to my daughter. It was a lot more tedious than you'd think to unpick all my stuff from it - although that might be a lot easier if you wipe it completely (I didn't do that because my daughter already had all her games etc on there). In particular, iMessage and Face Time were a PITA to get working.

On your specific questions...
1. My other half's iPhone 4S is fine on IOS7, but my iPhone 4 was horrible.
2. My experience would be that you'll want to turn cellular data off altogether if you have a finite amount per month - or you'll use a load of data without realising. Just use wifi instead.
3. Don't know anything about jail breaking. To sync new content you'll probably end up ditching everything that's already on there. If your mother uses the same Apple ID on both devices, she should see all the same content in iTunes etc. No need for a PC any more, as long as you trust their cloud.
4. if your mother is already happy with an iPad, she'll find the phone easy too - an Android device would probably have more of a learning curve - especially with content syncing

Shame to let a reasonably good device go to waste.
posted by rd45 at 6:58 AM on September 10, 2014

1. I have a 4S and use the latest OS. Not sure what you mean when you say everyone you know bricked their phones trying to do that. Every time a new OS is released I always see a ton of people on facebook complaining that their phone was bricked trying to upgrade. Since all of these people continue to have smartphones, my only assumption is that this is just general whining about change, and their phones are not literally ruined.

2. Pay as you go, if you don't want to be forced to add a data package. If she is OK with the added cost of data, I don't see any reason to change the plan she currently has with her current provider.

3. Considering the 4S comes free or practically free with a new contract, and you guys don't use the same provider, I'm a little confused about why it's better for her to have a used jailbroken 4S as opposed to a brand new one. Is she bound and determined never to sign another wireless contract or something? She could literally call up Verizon and get a free brand new 4S right now.

4. I was in the market for a new smart phone as cheap as possible about a year ago and didn't find anything significantly cheaper than an iphone assuming one is renewing their wireless contract/cashing in their upgrade at the same time. iPhones are relatively expensive at retail prices, but short of some kind of antiquated Sidekick type thing, they're in the same ballpark as other options with a contract.
posted by Sara C. at 7:10 AM on September 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

You are incorrect about upgrading your phone's OS to the latest version. It will not brick your phone. The people whose phones bricked themselves likely didn't follow standard operating procedure when it comes to downloading a massive update, which is to plug their phones into a power source, connect to stable wifi, and then leave their phones completely alone as it processes the upgrade. I would therefore give your phone to your mom after you update it to iOS 7. iOS 6 has a number of security issues that render it unsafe for inexperienced users to use daily.
posted by Hermione Granger at 7:15 AM on September 10, 2014

Do I need to jailbreak if I'm out of contract (AT&T)?
No, you can ask them to unlock it using this form: Unlock form
Use the info on your current account - your phone number, email and name.
If it doesn't work the first time, try once more. I unlocked mine back in March (took two tries) and it works perfectly. I also upgraded my 4S to 7 without a problem as soon as it came out. It is the 4 that has an issue with iOS7.

I would need to get her a inexpensive plan, maybe even pay as you go. She really just needs 5-10 talk minutes per month, but some data would be great as well.
Could you add her to your plan? It might be cheaper than her having a separate acct. She might not need to sign a contract if she brings her own equipment (i.e. your phone).
posted by soelo at 7:22 AM on September 10, 2014

How can I wipe my data (photos, music, texts, email, etc.) and add some of her own music without syncing the phone over my new phone. Is it possible for her to manage content on her iphone and sync it with her iPad wirelessly on the cloud or do I need to set up iTunes on her very old PC?

When you get your new phone, you will go through the steps to copy your old phone's data to the new phone. Then you can plug in your old phone and wipe it and then set it up on your PC as if it was a new phone. She should be fine with just the phone and iPad, especially if she can plug into your computer once every few months for a backup. Remind her to update apps only when on wifi. You could get her iCloud account set up to sync things like bookmarks, contacts, etc. I'd suggest using somewhere else for picture storage (Dropbox, Flickr, etc.) if she needs it, since it takes up a lot of space.
posted by soelo at 7:34 AM on September 10, 2014

Best answer: A couple of years ago, around August or September, I tried giving my mum my old android phone (it was a Samsung Galaxy Gio, not that this detail really matters) and she hated it! I tried to teach her how to use it and never really got anywhere. For Christmas that year, my brother, his partner and I all chipped in for an iPhone (I'm not sure what model... Probably a 4.) and she loves that phone. She never had any problems learning to use it. Her only issue with her phone is that it doesn't have enough storage for photos, because she takes a lot of photos.

I'm pretty sure that she has a PAYG sim with very little data, and she uses even less data than the credit would allow her to. I would say that 250 mb of data would be a good amount to have for just in case. I don't really see the point of having a smart phone if you can't use it to access the internet whenever you might need to.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 7:35 AM on September 10, 2014

I also have a 4S running the latest upgrade. I haven't had any trouble with it, except I don't have enough empty space for upgrades, so I always have to take my music off, do the upgrade and then put the music back. But I have a lot of music on it.

Also it occasionally gets stuck in the photo app, but if I just shut the app down and start it up again it fixes it.

I would factory reset it and set it up fresh for your mom.
posted by interplanetjanet at 7:57 AM on September 10, 2014

My 4S 32GB is a perfectly good phone. I'm hoping I can keep mine until at least iOS9 and don't see why not since 8 will just improve on 7 and 9 shouldn't be drastically more resource-intensive.

I did have issues with the phone making bad shut-off decisions based on battery life and got rid of it by uninstalling a few location-tracking apps.
posted by michaelh at 8:41 AM on September 10, 2014

Best answer: I have a 4S - it's my main phone until I can actually get a 6 - running the very very latest (not 7) and it runs perfectly well. The 4S is definitely not too old for 7 and is supported in 8 even. Your friend's phones were probably either jailbroken or they were trying to install beta versions of 7 or they just straight up did it wrong - all of those can cause issues with upgrades.

Once you have your new phone set up and your stuff transferred over, do a full restore on the 4S. That'll get it up-to-date and will essentially make it a new phone for your mom:

• Sign out of iMessage and your Apple account on your old phone. Go into Settings, then Messages, then Send & Receive, then tap your Apple ID and hit Sign Out. Also, go into Settings, then iCloud, then hit Sign Out there. This will ensure that the phone's not still registered to your Apple ID for iMessage (there's some weirdness with that).
• Hook the phone to your computer and hit the Restore iPhone button in iTunes. This will download the very latest software, erase your phone completely, and then install the software.
• When the restore process is done and you're at the set up your iPhone screen, disconnect your phone and turn it off. Do not go through the setup process - you'll do that with your mom.

When you set the phone up for your mom, have her put in her Apple ID, and that will get her set up with her iMessage and all that. If the iPad's set up to sync contacts and stuff into iCloud, those will all be copied over too. She'll be able to put apps that she's bought on the iPad on the phone as well (assuming they work on both - some are iPad-only). You won't have to connect it to a computer at all.

I can see absolutely no reason why you would need to jailbreak it unless you just want to have problems with the phone. As noted, you can have AT&T unlock it since it's presumably out of contract. AT&T also has pre-paid plans too and now might not be a bad time to make sure she's getting the best deal out of that.
posted by mrg at 8:52 AM on September 10, 2014

I run iOS 7 on an iPhone 4 without issue (I also have the 5s). It's a bit laggy on the boot, and some apps seem slow, but it's a fine iPod and a fine phone. Your mom will be fine with it. They are even still being sold as prepaid models at Wal-Mart on come with iOS 7 on them.
posted by cjorgensen at 12:23 PM on September 10, 2014

Seconding everyone else here:

- The 4S will be fine with iOS 7. Have it unlocked, don't jailbreak it.

- Make a last full encrypted backup - encrypted so that your passwords are also saved. When you restore a new phone from this backup, everything will "just work".

- Remember to sign out of iMessage before you do anything else. This is a stupid flaw but critical - you will regret it if you don't do this! Also sign it out from Find my iPhone, if you have that set up.

- Restore it to factory settings, get a SIM on a prepaid plan (AT&T PayGo, Cricket, AirVoice, H2O, etc. etc.), and pass it on.

Good luck!
posted by RedOrGreen at 1:16 PM on September 10, 2014

Best answer: I have this $30/month t-mobile prepaid plan (only available via Walmart) running on my iphone 4.

It comes with 100 minutes of talk, unlimited texts & unlimited data which works great for me because I only call during emergencies, but use the cellular data extensively (maps, coupons when shopping, internet when waiting around).
posted by belladonna at 3:17 PM on September 10, 2014

Both of my parents, in their 50's, have been iphone users for a few years. My dad, in particular, has terrible eye sight and is not tech savvy at ALL. However, of all the smartphones out there, this is definiately the most user friendly. They both also have 4s phones that run iOs7 perfectly with no issues.

If she is farmiliar with the iPad, she will be one happy chick with the iPhone.
posted by Sara_NOT_Sarah at 7:00 AM on September 11, 2014

Response by poster: Great advice so far, everyone. I appreciate links to plans that would work (e.g., the t-mobile plan). I am a little confused on that front though, I have an AT&T phone and my understanding was that it only works with AT&T plans and other sims, etc. are incompatible. Once it's unlocked, can I take my 4s AT&T iPhone onto any network? If so, do I need to physically bring it into a location to replace the card? My understanding, which I hope is false, is no.
posted by Bunglegirl at 8:41 AM on September 11, 2014

My iphone 4 was formerly with AT&T & the previous owner unlocked it (by contacting AT&T) when they sold it to me. I just used a pin to pop open the SIM slot & insert the new t-mobile SIM.
posted by belladonna at 10:33 AM on September 11, 2014

Best answer: I have an AT&T phone and my understanding was that it only works with AT&T plans and other sims, etc. are incompatible. Once it's unlocked, can I take my 4s AT&T iPhone onto any network?

Once it is unlocked, you can take it (easily) on to any other GSM network by removing the AT&T SIM and inserting a SIM card of the appropriate size. In the US, this means you can switch between AT&T, T-Mobile, and any other vendor (MVNO) that resells capacity on these two networks (e.g., Cricket, AIO, Airvoice, H2O, etc.) - as well as most other carriers outside the US.

However, it isn't easy (it's impossible?) to switch this phone to Verizon or Sprint or any of their resellers because they use CDMA networks. That's a different standard, and does not use a SIM card.

This discussion is going to become moot in future as everything switches to LTE and Voice Over LTE, but for your AT&T iPhone 4S, you're stuck with GSM carriers in the US (as far as I know).
posted by RedOrGreen at 11:46 AM on September 11, 2014