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Got an old Android? Contribute its processing power to scientific & medical research ♥️ (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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There are two great apps for this I've found for Android: DreamLab and BOINC. Android devices are great because they are some of the most efficient-per-watt computation available, and cost anywhere from 25 cents to a few dollars to run per year depending on your device and power cost.

BOINC is a network of many different projects, you can pick and choose which you want, just install the BOINC app and attach to the projects you want. It's a tad more complicated than DreamLab but way more powerful. There's medical research (World Community Grid), space research (Einstein@home, Asteroids@home, Milkyway@home), math research, and more. Note that the version in the play store is basically non-functional, you'll need to download from F-droid.

Note that many Android phones are not designed to effectively vent heat from 100% CPU usage constantly. Both of these apps allow you some degree of control over CPU usage, I generally set my devices to 50%. To be safe, remove batteries while these devices are running. It will help preserve battery life, increase power usage efficiency, and important will prevent your battery from becoming a dangerous swollen fire pillow.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Please also be mindful. These old devices don't receive security patches and are going to be connected to the internet. Any exploit or bug and you'll have a compromised device with local network access and even gps in the hands of bad guys.

There's also the battery as OP said. It's better if you take it out, if possible. Do not leave it running on 100% all the time or you'll have a fire in your house!