Mobile Phones

[AnneKipankitoo]

My mother has hearing difficulties. I bought her a Doro but she keeps turning the volume down with her finger when she answers it.
I also do not think she knows how to work it properly.
She has never been able to text.

Can anyone recommend a foolproof mobile ?

Which Doro? My Dad has the 6030, and I see that the “volume down” is next to the “accept call”, so I see the problem (not one my father had).

My phone has the volume buttons on the side, but that can easily be pressed by mistake by holding the phone.

Volume is on the side.

Ok, have a look at the Doro 6030, see if you think it might be better. It’s the centre two up/down buttons that do the volume. It’s a good phone.

Thank you @MereDintofPandiculation
That is exactly what she does. She presses the volume down as she holds it.

May I pick your brains? My DM took herself off to the Apple shop a few years ago and signed an expensive contract for an iPhone (sigh…my SIL offered to go and look at phones with her but she chose to do it this way instead)

She’s hated the phone ever since and says she can’t get her head round it. Cognitively she is wobbling a bit and says she’s now struggling to learn new things. She constantly gets bemused by her phone; managed to turn the brightness right down last week then couldn’t work out how to alter it back. Doesn’t have carers as yet and none of us kids are close by.

Her contract is now reaching its end, and she says she wants to ditch the iPhone and get a simple phone for seniors.

Is there such a thing, or would it simply be a case of having to get to know yet another device? Is the Doro simpler to use than an iPhone?

All she needs to do is make calls, book an Uber occasionally, and text. Oh, I guess she’s probably sometimes requested to photograph a lesion or something and text it to GP, but tbh that’s probably way beyond her.

She has arthritis in her hands so dexterity is an issue.

I get that @Keepingongoing . My Mum can’t text.
It is so difficult. I honestly do not know what to recommend.
Sometimes when you update an iPhone it changes the position of things too ( annoying )

https://www.ageco.co.uk/useful-articles/money/the-best-mobile-phones-for-the-elderly/

Although most of these are out of stock

@Keepingongoing
I had ordered a Doro ( can’t recall the number ) from Amazon. I could not get it to sit in its charger so that had to go back.
I then ordered a geemarc from Connevans. My mum can’t hear well.
Their customer service is superb.
It really is ridiculous you can’t find out stuff on the internet or look at it properly in a shop.

MIL loathed her DORO and loves her iPhone, and her iPad mini (although I think she would love a proper sized ipad even more).

I have deleted everything she doesn’t need, her home screen only has what she uses (whatsapp, phone calls, emails) and everything is turned up to the maximum size/volume/brightness. As an iPhone user I can generally fix any problems. Works very well for us.

I would have thought deleting unnecessary apps might be the way to go. IPhones are easy to use, and have security updates for a long time, which means it’ll be a long time before she needs to get used to a new phone.

Not answering your question but possibly useful to others using smartphones - I found working through the accessibility settings very useful - speed of clicking, size of font etc etc. really useful. Also hiding any irrelevant apps that I didn't necessarily want to delete four swipes deep with a blank screen between.

Thanks so much for all your suggestions, I really appreciate them. Will follow them up.

I asked my brother to delete all unnecessary apps, but our definition of unnecessary is probably different! Unfortunately I’m not nearby so can’t easily pop in and sort it out.

Apple Community has some good information. You can set it up so they can’t change passcodes … family sharing etc
Perhaps put the date of birth in as a child ?

I put in Setting Up IPhone for elderly parent, that should take you to it @Keepingongoing

Thank you @AnneKipankitoo - hadn’t occurred to me you could do any of this. Will look into it.

DM is furious that her tech keeps on getting updated and changed, but am I right this would happen even with the simplest phone? Does Apple update more frequently?

Apple is a nightmare for that. Even for me. However if just using it for calls would it really matter. There is an accessibility section too where you can put in things . I’ll see if I can find it.

If you go into settings there are lots of options for bigger fonts, hearing aids etc There are loads.

I can’t recall which model
of Doro I got for my mum. The ring is loud however the calls are dreadfully quiet even on the loudest setting. She can’t use a smart phone as, confusion aside, she can’t scroll.

Well, I have tried with an old iPhone but Mum could not manage it.
It really is a nightmare.

I feel your pain!

Thank you @Chrisaldridge

@AnneKipankitoo you probably won’t be surprised to hear I’m still working on the phone project.

@Chrisaldridge
the volume problem on your Mum’s Doro - was this when it was on speaker? Or when she uses it against her ear?

I’ve just watched a video about the Doro 8100 and in other respects it looks like it would be a lot more accessible to my mum than an iPhone. Part of her problem is, I think, that she cannot understand or remember what the icons mean. She refers to the text icon as ‘the thing that looks like a table tennis bat’. She’s hazy on the difference between texts and emails. She told me yesterday she’d tried to send me a text, but that her phone ‘wouldn’t let her’ (her text showed up later as an email)

I suspect she just can’t lay down new memories of the ‘how to do it’ kind, and as she is pre- digital, she is now very disadvantaged.

It is very frustrating @Keepingongoing .
My Mum’s hands were everywhere when I was trying to show her how to accept a call. She would just end it immediately by touching the
red circle.

@AnneKipankitoo that must be frustrating….