Whether you have a tech loving grandmother like me, or a family member that's a little frightened of their new smartphone, these tips are for you. While my grandmother is at the more savvy end of the tech spectrum, there were certain tips that really helped her to get acquainted with this new technology, and in service to all those who offer tech help to loved ones everywhere, I'm happy to share those tips today.
1. Find the Perfect Case: When it came time to scout out cases, my grandparents naturally went to their local big box store. Sadly, the case that was best suited for their needs was not to be found there, but, thankfully, options that worked perfectly existed online. Don't let your loved one get frustrated over something as simple as a case. Every person is different, but for my grandparents a case that felt and was sturdy and let them have a good grip, like the one shown above, was the right fit.
2. Turn on VoiceOver & Android Eyes-Free: If your loved ones have vision issues, then you should take a look at the vision impaired options offered by their smartphone. For my late grandmother features like VoiceOver were a godsend as without it she'd be unable to use a smartphone since she was legally blind. For others, these features might just make it easier to use the phone without having to reach for their glasses. For more information on vision accessibility for the iPhone, Windows Phone 7, and Android click on the associated links.
3. Start with Good Apps: What do your grandparents like to do? Start them off with great, well designed apps that will help them do this. Regardless of the platform, there are so many app options out there and for a new smartphone user of any age these can be overwhelming. Add in the fact that not all apps are created equal, and someone not familiar with this new technology can make poor app choices and quickly become frustrated. In addition to loading good apps on their phone, show them how you find apps. While your grandmother might not be the tech blog reader that mine is, it's great to share resources to enable them to more easily find new apps independently.
4. Gesture Intro & Help: Gestures really help many, myself included, get more out of their smartphones. While they can be tricky to learn even for the tech savvy, it is worthwhile to teach a few that will be the most helpful. If your loved one is having trouble performing the gestures, take a look at the accessibility options on the smartphone, as they might have something like AssistiveTouch, which helps iPhone users perform gestures using one finger or a stylus.
5. Voice Commands: Although my grandparents can maneuver quite dextrously around a smartphone, they think voice commands are the cat's pajamas. All of the smartphone operating systems have some level of voice command integration and all of them work just a little differently. Take a look at which commands work best and explain how to talk to the phone. When I first told my grandmother she could speak to the phone she started with a very long sentence of commands, and learning the "Phone Language" to a certain extent was quite valuable. Knowing which commands work and which ones don't is not something restricted to the elderly — my partner and I can attest to learning to get in the habit of beginning commands with "Xbox" when speaking to the Xbox
What are some ways that you make your smartphone smarter for yourself or loved ones?
(Image: Flickr member HarryetN licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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Growl. I know that you mean well but ...
Most of these grandparents were figuring how to work things a long time before you were born. In their lifetimes, they've had to figure out how to program video recorders, microwaves, fax machines, how to use home freezers, how to operate computers, how to drive stick-shift ... an iPhone is pretty basic. I'll bet their attitude was "let the poor dear think she (or he) is helping".
I keep commenting on articles like this on Mashable. Why do people think that we get dumber as we get older? Actually, we get smarter. I had to show my son and granddaughter how to use their iPhones. My dad, who is eighty seven didn't need anyone to show him. Do you really think that a bloke who was fixing cars in the 1930s, in the war in the 1940s, building up a business in the 1950s, driving a car round the world in the 1960s, rally driving and stunt driving for Hollywood in the 1970s ... etc ... knows how to be advised how to use an iPhone?
Growl.
Furthermore (sorry) "certain tips that really helped her to get acquainted with this new technology."
New?
Consider moving most apps off the home screen while getting acquainted with the phone. As they get more comfortable, offer to move apps back onto the 1st screen. My mom doesn't listen to music on her iphone at all, mostly checks other means to find out about the weather and only recently started with the photos. OTOH, she considers Words with Friends indispensible. Her home screen looks a lot different from mine, and she gets braver about using her phone every week. Her gentleman friend has a dozen icons on his home screen, and hardly uses any of them, and seldom is inspired to try them. Clutter is bad.
@Amaranta Both my grandmother and my mother, very intelligent women, asked for help. Some of these things like making multi-touch gestures more accessible and turning on the low vision assist are also not the most easy to find or common sense to enable and take a bit of digging depending on the smartphone.
Yes, I know this technology is not new, but it was new to them as they both recently got new smartphones. For many people moving to their first smartphone can be intimidating and they don't know where to start. Seeking to get a jumpstart on their new toy they usually turn to someone they trust to help them and often that's a child or grandchild (at least in my experience).
@Hernandz That's a great tip! You're totally right about the clutter, it's one of the reasons why my mom was drawn to a Windows Phone over the iPhone.
Very fair point and I admit to feeling guilty about my comments :)
It's just that I read these things all the time and they make me mad. As the partner of a grandfather who is acknowledged as one of the top ten iPhoneographers worldwide, I just see 'stereotyping' and then see red :)
While I agree with some of what Amaranta is saying (my grandfather would have LOVED having an iphone and probably could/would have reprogrammed it to work his coffee maker or some other crazy thing), I don't think all "older" people are equal. My mom, who is in her 60's and not at all what I would consider "old", just got her first iphone and is really struggling. I think her problem is mainly that she THINKS it is harder to use than it actually is. The technology she has learned to use in her lifetime is much less intuitive than a smart phone, so I think many times she thinks that there MUST be 40 steps in between taking a photo and emailing it to someone, when in fact it's really quite easy. She feels a bit stupid about it all, and it doesn't help that "everyone else" doesn't seem to have a problem using their phones at all.
to @AMARANTA I don't thing we get dumber. Its just when something new comes along its completely different from way we have. The longer you use a system the more entrenched you become. In case of older folks they have been using a mouse interface forever. Most probably picked it up in their late 50's (in the 1990's).
Even for a tech savvy smart person like me switching from a Mac to PC is tough.
@KERI PAYNE & @TANGO_R Sorry but the iPhone is completely intuitive. And I know and appreciate that I have a real bee in my bonnet (a problem in MY head, I know) but I still don't understand why a twenty year old can understand an iPhone better than a sixty year old.
Until she passed away last year, I regularly used to converse with a woman on Twitter who was 104 years old. My dad (87) uses Twitter and Facebook. An iPhone or any smartphone is just another phone - older people have been accustomed to cellphones since the 1980s and iPhones are easier to operate than the old ones were.
And really TANGO_R, switching from a PC to a Mac is tough? Not for this grandmother :)