Setting Up a Smartphone for Senior Family Members

Not everyone finds technology easy to use. For many elderly users, small text, complex interfaces, or frequent changes with OS updates can make smartphones particularly challenging.

Thankfully, smartphone makers do consider older users when designing their products. With some simple adjustments, you can make an iPhone or Android phone more senior-friendly. Here are tips to help.

How to Set Up a Smartphone for Elderly?

1. Work With Text Fonts

A report by the American Foundation for the Blind found that 12 percent of adults aged 45 to 64 experienced vision loss. This percentage rose with age, with 12 percent of those aged 65 to 74 and 15 percent of those aged 75 and older reporting vision loss.

As we get older, reading small texts becomes more difficult. Fortunately, both iPhones and Android phones allow you to adjust the screen text size.

For iPhones:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility.
3. Select Display & Text Size.

From there, you can adjust the text size through the Larger Text option, make text bold, increase contrast, and access other readability settings.

2. Tidy Up the Home Screen

Keep your home screen clutter-free by limiting the number of icons. Remove or uninstall apps that aren’t used regularly. Customize your iPhone or Android to better suit your needs.

For Android Users:

1. Tap and hold the app icon.
2. Drag it to ‘Uninstall’ or ‘Remove’ at the top of the screen.

For iPhone Users:

1. Tap and hold the home screen until the icons start to wiggle.
2. Rearrange by dragging icons around or tap the ‘X’ to uninstall.

3. Learn to Recognize Fraud

Very often it is expressed in fake iPhone messages. Probably all of us have received similar fake SMS messages: “You have won…”, “Send the code…”, “You have been approved for a loan…” or something else. In order for an elderly person to be able to use a smartphone safely, they need to be taught to identify fake messages, preferably with examples. If they are blocked by a fake message or most of them, you and the elderly will be calmer when using electronics.

These exercises should be explained when you explain smartphone basics to seniors.

4. Increase the Size of the On-Screen Keyboard

If you need a bigger keyboard for better readability, here’s how to adjust it:

For iPhone:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to Display & Brightness.
3. Tap View and select Zoomed.

This not only enlarges the keyboard but also makes most other UI elements like buttons and controls larger.

For Android:

1. Open any app that uses the keyboard so you can see it on the screen.
2. Tap the Settings icon (shaped like a gear) on top of the keyboard.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Tap Keyboard height.
5. Choose an option such as Mid-tall, Tall or Extra-tall.

5. Increase Notification Volume for Better Accessibility

Our hearing, like our eyesight, can diminish with age. Increasing the volume of notifications can help prevent missed important calls or messages. Enabling vibration can also be useful.

iPhone:

1. Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics.
2. Use the slider to increase ringer volume.
3. Enable ‘Vibrate on Ring’ and ‘Vibrate on Silent’.

Android:

1. Go to Settings > Sounds and Vibration.
2. Select ‘Sound’ in Sound Mode.
3. Enable ‘Vibrate while ringing’.
4. Adjust volume for calls, notifications and media.
5. Set Vibration intensity for different alerts.

These adjustments ensure you never miss an important alert.

6. Add Shortcuts for Useful Tasks

Of course, it is difficult for an elderly person to use applications and functions of a smartphone, especially if they are not located on the home screen. Shortcuts can help.

You can set it up so that with one touch your relative can launch a VPN application, similar to Chrome VPN, which runs in the background. This also applies to many other functions or applications.

On Android:

1. Tap and hold the home screen.
2. Select Widgets > Contacts > Direct dial.
3. Choose a contact and place the shortcut on your home screen. Tap it to call them instantly. Add Direct message shortcuts similarly.

On iPhone:

1. Open the Shortcuts app.
2. Tap the plus (+) icon > Add Action > Phone or Facetime.
3. Select a contact, name the shortcut, and choose an icon and color. Tap Done.
4. Tap and hold the home screen until icons wiggle, tap the plus icon, find your Shortcuts widget, and tap Add Widget.

7. Set Up Favorites

For many elderly users, spending less time navigating their phone is crucial. Here’s how you can pin voice call and texting favorites on an iPhone:

Pin Important Contacts in Messages

1. Open the Messages app.
2. Tap the three-dot icon at the top of the screen.
3. Select Edit Pins.
4. Tap the yellow Pin icon next to the contact you want to pin to the top.

Pin Contacts in the Phone App

1. Open the Phone app and go to the Favorites tab.
2. Tap the Plus (+) at the top of the screen.
3. Find and select the contact you want to add to Favorites from your contact list.

This will ensure that their most important contacts are always easy to find.

8. Add Emergency Information

Knowing your blood type and medications can be crucial during emergencies. Here’s how to add this info to your loved one’s phone and set up emergency contacts:

On Android:

1. Go to Settings > About phone > Emergency information.
2. Enter medical info and emergency contacts.

On iPhone:

1. Open the Health app.
2. Tap the profile picture and select Medical ID to add essential details and emergency contacts.

Setting Up Emergency Triggers:

On Android:

1. For Pixels, go to Settings > Safety & Emergency > Emergency SOS and press the power button five times.
2. On Samsung, go to Settings > Advanced Features > Send SOS Messages.

On iPhone:

1. Go to Settings > Emergency SOS, toggle Auto call on, and enter necessary info.
2. Press and hold the Power and Volume buttons (iPhone 8 or later) or press the Power button five times (older iPhones).

These setups ensure that emergency services and contacts are notified during a crisis.

Conclusion

Ensure your loved one knows how to use their new smartphone confidently. Start with a hands-on tutorial — show them what each button does, how to answer calls, and how to send messages. Instead of just explaining, demonstrate these steps and then have them practice under your guidance.

Remember, what seems obvious to you might not be clear to someone new to smartphones. By following up with a practical test, you can make sure they truly understand how to use their device.