Is an Android phone without a carrier a paperweight?

[InfinityDevil]

I'll be on contract with my provider for another year and a half and am happy with my carrier-provided OS flavor. But once that contract is up, and I either switch to another phone or switch carriers entirely, what can I do with my smartphone without phone service or a data plan?

Do any of the replacement OS's installed by rooting the device allow it to operate like a tablet, using my Google account and getting Market access to the Apps and such that I've bought and used over time over WiFi only?

Or does the phone become a paperweight or doorstop without being able to activate even rooted OS's on a carrier? Would I be forced to buy a tablet and sign my Google account in there?

 

[alucky0]

Perfectly good without a contract

I've had a Droid X off-contract since the day it came out (won it in the DroidLanding thing) and it works perfectly fine, working exactly like a mini-tablet. So you can still use it as normal, you just have to over Wi-Fi. Hope I answered your question

 

[LANAtron]

Same here. You can have multiple phones linked to your google account so you can still download app via wifi and of course browse.

I've turned one original droid into a gaming system for my 3 year old and another a music/picture/recorder for my 14 yo.

It's much better than sitting in a drawer.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk

 

[jordanqkoch]

My droid doesn't have any service provider. I bought it to make a free google voice phone through wifi

It's the same thing only your calls are limited and you have to be somewhere with wifi to use market and email and such. Everything else works perfect like playing games or anything.

 

[newboyx]

My daughter uses my old intercept on wifi to text her friends thru a google voice number I set up. She installs apps from the market and spends most of her time on facebook. ;-) It also makes a pretty good PMP for her.

 

[kandrelly]

Hello, I am trying to set up my old droid x to work as a sort of "tablet". I did a factory data reset to get rid of all the old info, but now it wants me to activate the phone. I can't get past the activate phone screen to use it as wifi only. Any suggestions?

 

[cyanogen-man]

It should just be your Google email and password type it in and it should unlock it as a mini tablet

Sent from my Desire HD using Android Central Forums

 

[ciniob]

Just activate the device as the screen prompts tell you to. Then, get all the internals set while you are under a carrier, then cancel the account. You should then be able to use the device as a wifi device.

I have multiple devices that I use as wifi devices with no issues. However they were all activated at one time and then deactivated.

Right now, I have an S3, a Palm Treo, and a couple of tablets (that have only been wifi...).

You don't have to have a contract. Just set up an account long enough to get your device synced and up to date and then cancel the device.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Android Central Forums