My Grandad is in his 70s and up until now, has been pretty anti technology. This will be his first smartphone, and has never really used a “dumb” mobile either.
My Grandma is in and out of hospital at the moment and they’re constantly being reminded the world has become digital. He’s finally bit the bullet and asked for a smartphone. By the sounds of it, he’s actually quite excited, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he won’t just shove it in the drawer when frustrated.
I’ve chosen an iPhone XS for him, as I thought it’s something that will last a few years but not too fancy. It’s got a new battery/screen, I will set up his email, Apple ID and will program in family members numbers. Also, warn him about scams, to not trust anyone who randomly contacts him and to contact me with any concerns.
That being said, I’m hoping to get some advice on:
TLDR:
What might be useful on iOS for an elderly person with no real technology experience?
Any similar experiences you’ve had that have transferable advice?
Thanks!
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I’m not sure if they still do it but apple used to give a class for people new to their technology. This might be helpful to learn the basic functions.
This is the last year iPhone XS will be supported with OS I suggest try an iPhone SE if within your means if not I understand iPhone XS it is im rocking one too till iPhone 16. I think apple has a guide here https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/iphone/welcome/ios
Teach how to use iMessage or whatever your family preferred messaging app…including how to add photos. Teach how to close tabs in Safari (my parents had more than 244 tabs open on their iPad that was slowing down and crashing). If other family is using Facebook or instagram or anything like that set up an account and show how to use the apps.
Make sure when you explain it and show them you give them the phone and make sure they can do what you just showed. (My mom likes to write stuff down while I show her and then I say “no you do it”. Show how to use maps for directions. Add them to Find My Friends to help “keep in touch”.
My mom has an android smartphone and that seems more complicated than iPhone with several messaging apps and browsers.
FYI, if you think the standard iOS interface might be too overwhelming or confusing, you can simplify things for your grandad using the Assistive Access Menu. This lets you pare down what he sees to the bare necessities.
The key thing is to practice practice practice.
Take the pressure off by saying the first three months are just fun times, meant to experiment and play around and he shouldn’t worry about losing data or anything else. Tell him you can’t break the phone by changing settings, but he has to use it X minutes a day.
Discuss with him that we learn best by trying and failing. Toddlers don’t learn to walk with a manual. The key is to fail a lot. Challenge him to fail 100 times and laugh about it.
Start with the simplest video game or texting with you while you are in the room to get him comfortable with the device.
It is much better to teach him one thing that he repeats daily than to try to teach him a dozen new things in one day that he will forget in three days and lose confidence. He might find it useful to make a list of things to practice every day until the muscle memory clicks in. It will be satisfying for him to cross them off when the realization that “I’ll never forget that” sets in.
Show him youtube and google on his computer (if he has one) and then on his phone and explain how he can find answers to his questions there without bugging anyone.
Let him watch you do simple things on your phone slowly while you narrate what you are doing. He needs to hear the language of what things are called or he won’t even be able to ask for help.
Don’t feel too bad if he does “bin it”. Your odds here aren’t great, tbh. Unlike toddlers most adults don’t like to fail and get back up. If he’s been anti-technology he has convinced himself that he is bad at it and it has become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Most don’t find it easy to overcome those psychological barriers.
Best of Luck. You are a good grandchild!
Nice of you to get him iPhone. I would recommend iPhone 11. If you have iCloud add him under family sharing so it will be easy to restore and guide him whenever needed
Iphone has “old person mode” that simplifies the entire UI and experience.
use assistive access on the newest ios, there are big icons and simple interface ideal for elders
My parents are in their late 60’s/early 70s and I gave them my old iPhone 11. They weren’t super tech savvy although my Dad knows his way around a computer when he needed to.
To be honest they love their iPhone. I didn’t add any specific apps (not interested in Facebook or anything) but they learnt how to send a text, add photos, use Facetime etc fairly quickly. My Dad manages to use Youtube because he used to pop it into Safari so I ended up downloading it for him.
They don’t use banking apps and would rather pay in cash so that wasn’t a huge issue for them, if they want something online they ask me 😂
My Mum still makes mistakes texting or calling, but she isn’t as confident as my Dad. My Aunt on the other hand has an Android and she is pretty clueless on how to use it so I have to help her more. I think they mastered it pretty quickly so you might be surprised!
As he figures out what exactly he wants to use the phone for have him (or do it for him) start customizing the Home Screen accordingly. Example if he wants to quickly call/text certain contacts show him that he can add those widgets to the Home Screen
U should force technology on em