Easy to use TV for elderly person?

Sympathies.

My aunt is a bloody nightmare with her TV. She wants to use the apps like iplayer but keeps losing them.

And if the TV drops it's internet connection it's a major disaster. One of my friend's teenagers does a good line in going round to fix it for me (I live 300 miles away and they live round the corner). Obv I drop him some cash to say thank you! I think she also gives him some cash - he has just gone to Uni and I've had messages from a couple of his friends who are staying put offering to replace him..

I also turned her iPad and phone onto assistive mode (basically for those with cognitive impairment) but she got very upset about the reduced functionality and insisted I turn it back to normal. But I still got phoned all the time because WhatsApp has disappeared. And trying to get her to video call without looking up her nose is impossible.

EDIT: I try to keep all her tech the same as mine so I can talk her through how to do something by actually doing it on my device. I got thwarted by bloody samsung though as they provided her with two remote controls for her TV and I only got one. One is more basic than the other and I didn't know this.

We've also got the fun at the moment of her having an iPad without a home button and a phone with one. Confusion central but she has had an expensive couple of months so I haven't wanted to use her money to buy an new iPhone as well as a new iPad.

My Mum is severely sight impaired and cannot do any menus. I just need a tv that comes straight onto a channel and one that she can change by pressing in the free view channel numbers which she knows off by heart. 😕

I have hidden about 80 channels on my own TV and all but 4 on aged relative's.
He doesn't use iplayer though - it's not connected to the internet. I would like him to be able to choose films and watch without endless adverts for funeral plans and crematoria.

I've really looked into it and I don't think that there is.

My mum is pretty on the ball and she has a really full life but she says this TV issue is getting to her. She can't just walk in the room and watch the tv anymore without pressing six different buttons.

She's even tried to get Sky to reinstall her Sky+ rather than the Q she has now as at least she knew where she was with that.

Has anyone found a TV suitable? I may have to consider buying second hand.

This morning i pressed the wrong button again and ended up in kids section.

It took me ten minutes and a ridiculous amount of button presses to get back to live tv. It's like they don't want us to watch live tv.

All the obvious things didn't work- guide/ live tv/ off and on again. 😡

Would any of these work?

I don't know how simple they are but are non smart

pointerclicker.com/best-dumb-tv/

And there's this Ferguson tv (not heard of these in ages!)

fergusontv.com/product/24-hd-ready-led-digital-tv-with-built-in-freeview-t2-hd-satellite-tuner/

There is a huge gap in the market. I needed to replace my mums tv and I did loads of research but even so, it appears impossible to find one that doesn't give a multitude of options on the home screen. We've never managed to get anywhere near iplayer as she struggles enough with just working out how to access the tv guide. We ended up with an LG but it's still really difficult, even though we've ignored the LG remote as that seems to come with an impossible to control Magic Mouse

"Amazon prime button trumps rakuten tv"

I have an LG tv and it is a pain. I want to press 2 buttons max to be able to watch live tv. Not quite sure why the default is a menu.

Yesterday I pressed the wrong tiny button and ended up with ketchup tv. I pressed guide and got ketchup TV guide! I couldn't work out at all how to get back.

Similar if I press the stupid button for that stupid Rakuten tv channels. I've worked out that amazon prime trunks rakuten tv and then i can get back to the normal guide.

When MIL was admitted to a psychiatric facility for older patients, the TV set she had in her room was very straightforward. Unfortunately having a TV wasn't good for her, but the operations were as simple as you'd like: on/off, channel up/down, volume. Buggered if I remember what model it was, as it was only in her room for a short time before it was removed for her safety, but I remember thinking it would be good for FIL, who doesn't always remember the correct sequence for operating his main TV.
We bought him a straightforward universal remote that has similar functions, and tested it with his telly, but he put it in a drawer and it only comes out if he's lost one of the remotes while we're there. Might be worth trying for someone who mainly watches live TV.

I would love a simple tv and I'm not elderly! I've delegated turning ours on to primary-aged-child.

I am basically doomed by the time I'm elderly, aren't I?!

What a good question OP. My mum is struggling with her TV too. She's so frightened she will do something wrong, she won't try to access iplayer or Channel 4 on demand (she loves foreign drama). My dad inadvertently signed up for Amazon prime and another subscription which were a nightmare to cancel and she's scared she will do that again. Our television is annoying (LG) as instead of going onto live TV when initially turned on, it goes straight to a menu, you have to press ^<> to get to the LIVE TV and then press and wait for it to connect. It actually takes a few minutes to get to a live channel, then wait to connect to the guide. It's slow and clunky. We've unplugged the sound bar too as that was just another level of annoying, watch TV but no sound until you pressed another load of buttons.
There is a definite gap in the market for simple TVs. Or actually just well designed TVs that work as they should.

My mum (80) has just got a new tv and she wants to throw it out the window. She hates the fact she had to press so many buttons to just watch live tv.

It's not just the remotes that are complicated, it's the menu.

She's trying to watch Last Tango in Halifax but when she uses the microphone on the remote it offers it on YouTube and drama channel but not on the BBC where she is watching it. Even if she opens the iplayer app first.

So she has to remember to say play last tango in Halifax on the bbc and then it plays series five episode two even though she's not up to there.

TVs are way too complicated. And sometimes you come downstairs one morning to find out that the entire interface of some aspect or another has been changed, and the options are now all down one side instead of across the top. What are you meant to do if you've got visual or cognitive impairments and have learnt to operate it a certain way? You never used to come downstairs one morning and find out that all the knobs on your TV had switched places.

We’ve done coloured stickers on the remote… but she manages to subvert every system by buying extra tech- sound bar etc- and adding a new remote.

She can ask Alexa for call the midwife! That works quite well when she remembers.

Basically she needs the TV to work the same way it did 15 years ago when she learned how to record things.

I took a photo of my aunt's remote so I could describe to her which buttons to use. Another way of doing it would be to tape over all the other buttons. So just the ones you need are accessible.

Cello electronics it's called

Actually it was called

Sliced bread

Dough

TV sets

On BBC sounds

We have a Panasonic TV and can just press the number buttons on the remote for the desired channel

It's nice and easy

The there is a British company that makes simple TVs

I was listening to BBC sounds

The programme is called Sliced Toast and the episode was about TVs and they interviewed the man who owns the company's in the UK so you'll get the name from there

Not just for elderly!

I switched to a smart tv and I also just want to press a number for a channel. Instead of having to find live channel then searching. Plus it asking me to update all the time!

Too complicated.

Agree a gap in the market for "dumb" TVs.

Someone needs to set these up, but once done they are very easy to use.

https://www.visionaid.co.uk/tv-accessibility/easy-tv5-universal-remote-control

https://www.visionaid.co.uk/easy-tv10-universal-remote-control

Such a great question. I need some help with this too. My Mum’s old TV is too small - she has severely deteriorating eyesight. But that also means she can’t manage fiddly remotes, and they all seem to be a hassle to set up.

There is definitely a gap in the market for a simple and accessible TV. I will be following with interest!

I went looking a few years ago and it was obvious there is a gap in the market for simple TVs for the elderly.
Mum is severely sight impaired and doesn’t understand or do gadgets/internet/iplayer etc. All the TVs were so complicated with so many functions and the remotes were tiny and full of buttons. There is no way she could have turned the tv on and selected what she wanted. Her fingers are not so nimble and she could easily have pressed a wrong button and she would not be able to get back to where she wanted to be.
She really needs a new tv now as hers is old and the sound is getting distorted at the volume she uses. I need to have another look in the next few weeks.
If you find one before me, please recommend it here.