My Grandad is in his 70s and up until now, has been pretty anti technology. This will be his first smartphone, and has never really used a “dumb” mobile either.

My Grandma is in and out of hospital at the moment and they’re constantly being reminded the world has become digital. He’s finally bit the bullet and asked for a smartphone. By the sounds of it, he’s actually quite excited, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he won’t just shove it in the drawer when frustrated.

I’ve chosen an iPhone XS for him, as I thought it’s something that will last a few years but not too fancy. It’s got a new battery/screen, I will set up his email, Apple ID and will program in family members numbers. Also, warn him about scams, to not trust anyone who randomly contacts him and to contact me with any concerns.

That being said, I’m hoping to get some advice on:

TLDR:

What might be useful on iOS for an elderly person with no real technology experience?

Any similar experiences you’ve had that have transferable advice?

Thanks!

  • pezdalBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    The key thing is to practice practice practice.

    Take the pressure off by saying the first three months are just fun times, meant to experiment and play around and he shouldn’t worry about losing data or anything else. Tell him you can’t break the phone by changing settings, but he has to use it X minutes a day.

    Discuss with him that we learn best by trying and failing. Toddlers don’t learn to walk with a manual. The key is to fail a lot. Challenge him to fail 100 times and laugh about it.

    Start with the simplest video game or texting with you while you are in the room to get him comfortable with the device.

    It is much better to teach him one thing that he repeats daily than to try to teach him a dozen new things in one day that he will forget in three days and lose confidence. He might find it useful to make a list of things to practice every day until the muscle memory clicks in. It will be satisfying for him to cross them off when the realization that “I’ll never forget that” sets in.

    Show him youtube and google on his computer (if he has one) and then on his phone and explain how he can find answers to his questions there without bugging anyone.

    Let him watch you do simple things on your phone slowly while you narrate what you are doing. He needs to hear the language of what things are called or he won’t even be able to ask for help.

    Don’t feel too bad if he does “bin it”. Your odds here aren’t great, tbh. Unlike toddlers most adults don’t like to fail and get back up. If he’s been anti-technology he has convinced himself that he is bad at it and it has become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Most don’t find it easy to overcome those psychological barriers.

    Best of Luck. You are a good grandchild!