iPhone 5 or earlier Using an iPhone with a bad touch screen

[thizisweird]

Not exactly sure how to phrase this one, but I'll give it a go

A friend has an old iPhone 4s (I believe) that has the left side unresponsive to touch, as well as some screen damage in that area. I figured it could still function enough to use as a dash cam, but I'm also not sure what I could actually do with the screen acting this way. Is it possible to use a my MacBook to get things going? We needed to wipe the device as it was, since he didn't know the password any more, so it's sitting at the generic "Hello" screen at the moment.

I think it'd be nice if I could use Xcode to manipulate the phone to my uses... but not sure what level of experience I'd need before tackling that, if it's even possible lol.

Some input on what I'm trying to do, even if you're telling me it's impossible, would be appreciated ?

 

[JPack]

A real dashcam like the Yi for $40 will provide a far better image quality and reliability than a smartphone.

Given it has an activation lock and a broken display, it's not worth it. Even if it were fully working, it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[thizisweird]

While I would normally agree with you on using an actual camera designed to be a dash cam, he's not looking to spend any money for a dash cam. I'm simply trying to repurpose the phone so he doesn't have to spend any money. It honestly should work for his minimal applications.

Not entirely sure how you arrived at it being activation locked. The phone was capable of being used, except the touchscreen doesn't allow for the full passcode to be entered (given certain areas don't work), and he also wasn't entirely certain of the correct passcode to begin with. I managed to do a factory restore on the device with my laptop, so it's really just waiting for me to set it up like it was brand new.

 

[JPack]

There is no way to enter in the passcode without replacing the display. The iPhone doesn't work well as a dashcam due to overheating. So spending $20 to replace the display isn't worth it if it's intended as a dashcam.

 

[thizisweird]

Makes perfect sense to me, then. I know it'll be likely to overheat (my phones have a habit of shutting down while giving directions in my motorcycle mount, especially during summer in Phoenix lol). I guess I'll see what I can scrap it for. Thanks for the input!