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Turning your old Android phone into a WiFi home phone

This weekend I turned my old Droid Incredible 2 into a WiFi home phone for my mother in-law who will be visiting us for a few weeks. This is how I did it.

Please note: As far as I know Google Voice does not do 911. There are some setups that might help with this but they require additional hardware. Do not rely on the product of this post to work in emergencies.

What you will need:

$3.99
Google Voice account
Amazon account or Android Market account
WiFi connection
10-15 minutes to spare

Steps:

Purchase Groove IP (About $3.99) from the Android Market [https://market.android.com/details?id=com.gvoip] or the Amazon App Store [http://amzn.com/B004Z1P53W]. In this case I chose the Amazon App Store since it didn’t require me to link my personal Google account to my phone. Please be aware however that if you do the same, the Amazon account needs to stay logged in for the app to work.

Note: Though it requires an Amazon account, you can always sign out and uninstall the Amazon App store after you install Groove IP.
Set Groove IP as your default dialer: On Groove IP go to

Menu > Settings > Native Dialer Options > Built-in Dialer Preference > Use Groove IP on Wifi Only

Menu > Settings > Native Dialer Options > Built-in Dialer Preference >
Make sure Native Fallback is NOT checked

Menu > Settings > Miscellaneous > Startup >
Make sure Autostart is checked ON

Menu > Settings > Miscellaneous > Startup >
Make sure Allow Rotate is checked OFF
Now to keep your phone from disconnecting from WiFi once it goes to sleep. Download and install Advanced Wifi (FREE) from the web or Android Marketplace. [http://opotech.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/advanced-wifi-lock-1-3-update/]
Direct Link to APK in case post is changed or removed: [http://bit.ly/advwifilock]

Open the app and make sure it is enabled and the Foreground Settings setting is checked ON.
You are set on the phone side! Proceed only if you wish to simplify the user interface on android. I did this because my mother-in-law is not a techie person and I don’t want to confuse her with ANY extra options.
Now we download a home launcher that can be simplified. In this case I chose Go Launcher EX (FREE) [http://amzn.com/B004US4K2C].
Remove all the widgets that come with Go Launcher EX and all the extra screens. Making it look like this.
Now on the screen you left add the “Contacts” widget. Go Launcher EX might ask you to download it but that’s okay, no app store/market needed. It gets it straight from the web! Kudos Go Launcher EX.

How you set this widget up is your choice but I suggest you make the people that you chose to show on your list be set up as “Direct Dial”. This way avoiding any other sort of app popping up like the web browser or SMS (Groove IP doesn’t do SMS).

Remove any shortcuts on the dock and create a new one linking to Groove IP. This is so that you can also have the ability to call a number not on your phone book.

Note: This will leave unable to access the App drawer but no worries, you can always change an empty blank space on the dock to be an app drawer link if you need it.

What you have now should look something like this.

Pretty cool and simple! Easy access to Favorites as well as a dialer without any additional apps or widgets getting in the way. Not a bad way to put that old Android phone in your drawer to good use.