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iPhone tips for seniors provides better user experience when using their iPhones. Our daily lives need the usage of phones and other mobile gadgets. These gadgets can be used by users to chat with friends, listen to the radio, play games, browse the internet, and carry out a variety of other tasks. Therefore, it would be useful to introduce our elderly loved ones to the technology that enables them to communicate remotely with friends and family using a mobile device, such as an iPhone.
Because of its simple product portfolio, the iPhone is the ideal smartphone for older people. Nevertheless, despite its seeming simplicity, certain mobile interfaces can be quite difficult to use technically. Our staff at Seasons Retirement Villages is always available to assist residents with their needs. They are knowledgeable enough about technology to aid with basic inquiries about smartphones like the iPhone. We mentioned below are the iPhone Tips for Seniors.
iPhone Tips for Seniors
Increase the font size for better readability
Elderly people frequently have visual problems, but fortunately we can increase the typically little language that appears in iPhone menus and messages. This is how you can make the text on your iPhone larger:
- Find and tap the “Settings” icon on the iPhone’s home screen
- Tap “Accessibility”
- Tap “Display & Text Size”
- Tap “Larger Text”
- At the bottom of the screen, move the slider to the right to increase the text size
If even then the text isn’t large enough to be seen clearly, you can tap on “Larger Accessibility Sizes”, which will allow you to further enlarge the text on the iPhone.
Teach them to use Siri
Natural speech is conceivably the simplest way for elderly people to communicate with technology. The elderly person may simply make calls, get their daily news read aloud, and obtain answers to any inquiries by being taught how to use Siri. In order to make Siri respond to commands at anytime, follow these steps:
- Find and tap the “Settings” icon on the iPhone’s home screen
- Tap “Siri & Search”
- Tap “Listen for “Hey Siri”
This will launch the Siri setup page, which will ask the user to utter a few commands so that Siri can get to know them and understand their voice. It’s better if the elderly person does this under your supervision so they can learn which orders Siri can interpret.
Enable the “Spoken Content” option
For people who are visually challenged, the ability to read the screen’s content aloud on iPhones can be useful. This is especially desired if the user wants to easily browse the internet and enjoy textual content, such as Wikipedia articles, without having to read those materials independently. To enable “Spoken Content,” follow these steps:
You can choose to slow down the speech pace by sliding a slider located at the bottom of the same screen. When the user swipes down with two fingers from the top of the screen, the iPhone can now read everything on the screen aloud. Make sure to explain how to use that motion to the user and, if necessary, have them write it down.
Make the ringing louder on the iPhone
If you’re giving the iPhone to someone with impaired hearing, boosting the ringer of the iPhone can help. In order to make the ringer louder, follow these steps:
- Find and tap the “Settings” icon on the iPhone’s home screen
- Tap “Sounds & Haptics”
- Move the slider under “Ringer and Alerts” to the right
The more you move the slider to the right, the louder the phone will ring. From here you can also change the iPhone’s ringtone to something different, if needed, under the “Ringtone” option.
Set up “Emergency SOS” and teach them how it works
When activated, the “Emergency SOS” feature will immediately contact emergency services and alert the user’s emergency contacts. The user must be aware of how to quickly press the power button five times on an older iPhone or how to press and hold the power button and one of the volume buttons on an iPhone 8 or later in order to activate it. Take the following actions to add yourself as an emergency contact and for further information:
- Find and tap the “Settings” icon on the iPhone’s home screen
- Tap “Emergency SOS”
- Tap “Auto Call”, then tap “Set up Emergency Contacts in Health”
- Tap “Edit”
Here you can write the name of the senior user, their age, medical conditions, location and anything else that the emergency services may need to know if “Emergency SOS” is triggered. At the bottom of the page, also tap “add emergency contact” to add your own phone number, so you can get a message if the person has triggered “Emergency SOS”.
Set up “Find my iPhone”
If the iPhone is misplaced or you need to monitor the user’s whereabouts, turning on “Find my iPhone” is extremely useful. Follow these procedures to make the feature active:
- Find and tap the “Settings” icon on the iPhone’s home screen
- Tap on the user’s name as shown in the image above
- Tap on “Find My”
- Tap on “Find my iPhone”
- Enable all three options
With this enabled, you can use the “Find My” app on your own iPhone to track this one’s location, so long as you and the senior person are in the same Family Sharing group or using the same Apple ID.
Final Words
So here we conclude our article on iPhone Tips for Seniors. The iPhone is a fantastic option for senior citizens looking for a smartphone due to its simplicity of use. There are several methods to modify the iPhone to make it simpler for elderly users to use if you aren’t satisfied with how it works out of the box.
