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What do you do for your elderly parents that can't understand smartphones?

So, my mom always has issues with her phone. It's an iPhone and she is not tech savvy at all. But, she still uses her phone for stuff like online banking. Any good options for more simplified phones? Even if there's software to make a smart phone more accessible
 

Kamina

Golden Boy
My father is mid 70 and was able to learn after i showed him that he can look up stuff for his home improvement projects.
The key is that they need to see the benefit of using it, otherwise they will just give up and come with stuff like “i am too old for this shit”
 

dalyr95

Member
Oh and make sure recovery options are set on anything important but not to one thing. Between losing phones and forgetting logins it’s a right pain.
 

Alebrije

Gold Member
Help them keeping thier user info but specially learn from the situation because if by luck You get to 70-80 years Old surely Will be a new device that Will cause You problems to use.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
Get them a Jitterbug. Designed for seniors with visual issues, bad hands, or just "not down with the tech, yo". They have slab and flip phone models with special UIs.

Edit: And DEFINITELY take a look at her banking apps and security. Elders are especially vulnerable to cons and hacks. Hell, every damn year my folks get hit with a ransomeware attack and end up paying that damned $250 fee for "advanced virus removal" because they believe the pop-up. DAMMIT!

The Beekeeper isn't a movie, its a documentary of about what I'd like do to those fuckers.....(allegedly)
 
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INC

Member
Happy Birthday Celebration GIF by Wired Productions
 

*Nightwing

Banned
A schizophrenic response:

A)-
Suck it up. Make sure you know their iCloud username password so when they break/lose their phone you can restore all their logins.

Be prepared to fix for ever brightness, volume, triggered shortcuts (voiceover etc)
So true, just bite the bullet, realize it’s now your responsibility to protect them now from a world they don’t understand anymore, and take control of it for them most likely without them realizing you are so they don’t nag you on top of it.


2):
Why is it your problem? They're grownups let them figure it out.
It’s survival of the fittest bitch… scam your way to taking your inheritance from them before they loose it all in a strangers scam since it’s a digital banking world and they have no idea they are in it nor that their phones are they keys to it all.
 

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
Suck it up. Make sure you know their iCloud username password so when they break/lose their phone you can restore all their logins.

Be prepared to fix for ever brightness, volume, triggered shortcuts (voiceover etc)
This man olds, I got my dad a complete dumb phone, he can't text and barely uses it, my mum has an android but I'm forever fixing it like I am their TVs, it's just a thing with the older generation, shit like go to into options, select this, toggle that just don't stick and I'm forever calling in after work to fix stuff.

I'm lucky in that I'm tech savvy enough and they live up the road so it's easy for when they run into any issues but when I think of other old people who don't have a kid in close proximity to sort them out it must be an absolute nitemare to sort, I'm gonna give it another 5-10yrs or so and then get them iPhones and iwatches so I can keep track and monitor them and probably install an internal ring cam for when they get proper old
 
So, my mom always has issues with her phone. It's an iPhone and she is not tech savvy at all. But, she still uses her phone for stuff like online banking. Any good options for more simplified phones? Even if there's software to make a smart phone more accessible
For non-tech savvy users, there are a few options for simplified phones. One option is to use accessibility features built into smartphones, such as VoiceOver on the iPhone, which describes aloud what's on the display. Another option is to consider a simplified phone designed for seniors, such as the Doro Liberto 825 or the Jitterbug Flip2. There are also third-party apps and software that can simplify a smartphone interface, such as the "Senior Safety" app. Ultimately, the best option will depend on your mom's specific needs and preferences.
 

TwiztidElf

Member
I hate this thread premise that a slavephone is mandatory, even for elderly.
My folks are elderly, and they use a home PC for any technology need (like internet banking) and get along just fine.
As a matter of fact, I'm GenX and I reject having a slavephone. I don't want one and I don't need one.
 

BlackTron

Gold Member
I hate this thread premise that a slavephone is mandatory, even for elderly.
My folks are elderly, and they use a home PC for any technology need (like internet banking) and get along just fine.
As a matter of fact, I'm GenX and I reject having a slavephone. I don't want one and I don't need one.

I use my PC for the same stuff but still use a "slavephone". It's just primarily a communication device and I have very few apps on it.

It's just too useful to have it to do that one task WHEN you do need it. Even if it's as simple as maps. Even as a dedicated GPS die-hard, I've still needed it.
 

Billbofet

Member
My mom is terrible with technology. She has an iphone and somehow her credit cards are compromised at least three times per year.
I try to help, but she is on her phone more than a 14 year old girl that just got Instagram.
The best I can do is make sure I have her passwords so I can adjust her settings to be as optimal as possible.
Everytime I get one of those emails that my Netflix account payment was declined or they are trying to reach me for a UPS delivery, I think "Who falls for this shit?!?!" then three days later she calls me to tell me Netflix somehow stole her credit card......
 

Ovek

7Member7
Zero sympathy. I told my parents that they can’t hold on to technology forever and to suck it up and learn. Converted my mum first and when my dad’s shitty old flip phone died he was given my old smartphone and no other option.

Sounds harsh and it is, but in the UK it’s getting harder and harder to do anything without one. A big one is requesting prescriptions from their doctors as that now requires them to use an app.

I help them of course when they need it but they aren’t brain dead by any means although you would think it sometimes when they are confronted by a new button and have seemingly lost the ability to read.
 

Cohetedor

Member
The most important thing I've found is to make sure you know their recovery password, whether it's Google for Android or iCloud for Apple.

My mother has severe short term memory problems, twice in the space of a month she has set a screen lock on her phone and had no memory of doing so, not a lot of fun.
 

dalyr95

Member
A schizophrenic response:

A)-

So true, just bite the bullet, realize it’s now your responsibility to protect them now from a world they don’t understand anymore, and take control of it for them most likely without them realizing you are so they don’t nag you on top of it.


2):

It’s survival of the fittest bitch… scam your way to taking your inheritance from them before they loose it all in a strangers scam since it’s a digital banking world and they have no idea they are in it nor that their phones are they keys to it all.
My neighbours are in their 80s and I’m IT support. They’re as likely to get a hang of smart phone paradigms as I am to fly a 747. They have no frame of reference like me on an 747 and that’s if they remember the things I told them not through their lack of trying. They forget to lock their front door FFS.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
I get an android and they all have iphones - so I can't help, sorry. Same with PC and Mac.
 

Miles708

Member
Looking at how my parents interact with technology makes me realize how completely inaccessible it really is.

Heck, even turning the volume up and down on Android requires 3 different scrolling bars for media, ringtone and apps. Who makes this shit??
 
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Trunx81

Member
I got my mother in law an Alexa echo. For the things she needs it’s perfectly fine. No issues at all, as I got the control app. She’s alone now, so it’s great for her to have someone to talk to.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
Both my parents know how to use their smartphones. Hell my dad even jailbroke his firestick lol.

Even my grandma knows how to use her phone and spams me with social media posts.
 

deriks

4-Time GIF/Meme God
Teach their shit, and mostly do for them. They did the same to me while I learn to use a fucking spoon, so it's just how things work in life
 
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