They were born in another era and technology has come into their lives much later than it does for us. Our grandparents know how to handle a mobile perfectly, but that does not mean that we cannot give them a hand and make it easier for them. The industry offers us special mobiles for the elderly, but in reality, we can use any smartphone and adapt it to your needs.
These recommendations are intended for savings, since if we have a smartphone, even if it is a few years old, we can turn it into an excellent terminal for the elderly . For this we will have to carry out a series of adjustments and customizations.
Increase the font size
In order to make the content easier to see, one of the fundamental steps is to increase the font size. When doing so, all the letters in the system will grow to the size we indicate, since it is something that has an effect on all applications including WhatsApp, SMS or navigation. We can find the option “Font size” within the Accessibility options. In some terminals, the same option is also found within the screen settings.
Easy mode activated
The so-called Simple Mode or Simple Mode, makes the smartphone simplify its interfaces. It makes the icons and the font bigger and easier to access everything. Most of the layers of the main manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Huawei or Samsung, have the activation of this mode. It is the best way for our elders to navigate through a simple and clean screen, where they will find the most relevant settings. If your mobile does not have this option, just write “Easy Mode” in Google Play, to find dozens of free applications that do the function efficiently.
Set the numbers to start
The best way for our senior to have the main numbers at hand is to add them to the home screen. This way you can call these contacts with a single touch. To do this, we enter the settings of a contact and click on Add to the home screen. Then we can drag it around the screen and put them in the best location.
Rugged protective case
This is an almost obligatory step. Mobile phones for the elderly have a design resistant to falls , so we can do the same if we put a rugged casing on our mobile for the elderly. If we are using a terminal that has been on the market for a while, we will have no problem finding several on portals such as Amazon.
“Google, call 112”
Mobile phones for the elderly have a dedicated button for calls to the Emergency Services . However, we can have the same function in our smartphone “tuned” for the elderly. It is enough that we have the Google Assistant installed and voice recognition always active. When our oldest needs help, he will only have to say “Google, call 112” and he will be able to communicate without touching his mobile with the help he may need.
