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Elderly parents

Smart Phone for a 91 year old

20 replies

BunnyRuddington · 09/04/2025 09:27

Have given my Aunty an old iPhone and she’s having a good go with it but she’s asked for a simpler smart phone with a good battery.

Does anyone have any suggestions please?

OP posts:
MattSaracenQB1 · 09/04/2025 10:07

If the iPhone is new enough try assistive access before looking at other options x

BobbleHatsRule · 09/04/2025 10:09

Doro is popular with elderly and has a fantastic alarm function

BatchCookBabe · 09/04/2025 10:12

BunnyRuddington · 09/04/2025 09:27

Have given my Aunty an old iPhone and she’s having a good go with it but she’s asked for a simpler smart phone with a good battery.

Does anyone have any suggestions please?

Just any old Android phone will do.

I can't stand apple phones/iphones and don't blame your aunty for not wanting one.

BunnyRuddington · 09/04/2025 10:18

MattSaracenQB1 · 09/04/2025 10:07

If the iPhone is new enough try assistive access before looking at other options x

She doesn’t really need the assistive options. She has great sight and cognition but the fact that the iPhone does things like throw up a photo memory she finds a bit difficult to navigate. The iPhone is her first smart phone and she’s asking for something more simple, which I sort of understand.

I cleaned the Home Screen as much as I could before we face it to her so she only has FaceTime, messages, email, phone, weather and photos on there but she’s still finding the ransoms things it does a bit hard.

OP posts:
ByQuaintAzureWasp · 09/04/2025 10:29

Refer to Age UK for information

ThisIsMyYearToFindMyself · 09/04/2025 10:32

the iPhone does things like throw up a photo memory she finds a bit difficult to navigate

Is this the only issue? What about taking it into an Apple shop and having them disable these kind of things (if possible)?

REP22 · 09/04/2025 12:59

A while ago I got a Xiaomi RedMi Note 10 5G via Vodafone for an elderly friend. He was happily using it right up until he went into a hospice and passed away aged almost 102.

Fushia123 · 09/04/2025 13:09

We got a Doro for my elderly and not tech minded mum. It suited her very well.

unsync · 09/04/2025 13:26

Doro are designed with older users in mind.

Pabbel · 09/04/2025 13:59

Dorothy phones are awful, if she can get away with a simple smart phone I would go for that.

petalpower · 09/04/2025 17:48

90 year old MIL has a Doro phone - her first smartphone. It’s pretty simple to use and she’s getting on ok with it. My dad also had the same before his advanced Alzheimer’s meant he couldn’t have a phone any more.

3teens2cats · 09/04/2025 17:50

Doro

Sparsely · 09/04/2025 17:57

The problem with a lot of the smartphones is that old people's fingers are often not warm enough to register on the screen. I think is a problem on all the smartphones.

Could she try voice control (IOS 13 or later)? Here's a tutorial for her

IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 09/04/2025 18:10

I'm really surprised at people recommending Doro. I bought one for my DM who was quite confident with her tablet at the time but she never mastered the Doro. And the updates filled the memory and rendered it useless.

BunnyRuddington · 09/04/2025 18:54

IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 09/04/2025 18:10

I'm really surprised at people recommending Doro. I bought one for my DM who was quite confident with her tablet at the time but she never mastered the Doro. And the updates filled the memory and rendered it useless.

That’s helpful, thank you.

OP posts:
RedRosie · 09/04/2025 19:57

My mum has a Doro phone, and is also having issues with phone memory. I've just got her a Samsung A05s 64GB recommended elsewhere as good for "seniors" and available from Argos etc. I'm going to set it up as cleanly as possible, and maybe not download WhatsApp as that seems to cause her issues.

EmotionalBlackmail · 10/04/2025 08:04

You can turn the featured memories function off.
Settings > Apps > Photos > Show featured content (has an on/off toggle).

BunnyRuddington · 10/04/2025 08:19

EmotionalBlackmail · 10/04/2025 08:04

You can turn the featured memories function off.
Settings > Apps > Photos > Show featured content (has an on/off toggle).

Thank you. I’ll do this when I visit her later.

OP posts:
MattSaracenQB1 · 10/04/2025 10:09

BunnyRuddington · 09/04/2025 10:18

She doesn’t really need the assistive options. She has great sight and cognition but the fact that the iPhone does things like throw up a photo memory she finds a bit difficult to navigate. The iPhone is her first smart phone and she’s asking for something more simple, which I sort of understand.

I cleaned the Home Screen as much as I could before we face it to her so she only has FaceTime, messages, email, phone, weather and photos on there but she’s still finding the ransoms things it does a bit hard.

assistive access isn’t really about eye sight and cognition, it just locks it down and stops it doing random things like showing memories. I would give it a go as it’s easy to toggle on and off so if it’s not what you’re after you can just change it back.

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