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My father is 84 with cognitive degeneration. He’s used an iPhone for years but is stuck on an old one with the home button purely because we don’t think he’ll t

by hnbear 3y ago

My father is 84 with cognitive degeneration. He’s used an iPhone for years but is stuck on an old one with the home button purely because we don’t think he’ll transition to swiping up. His short term memory is shot, learning new behaviors is tough, and his fine motor skills aren’t great. Some of the adaptive settings help, but the home button is so easy. Could someone not build the case you mention (shock, spill proof, easy hold) with a big speaker in it?

nordsieck 3y ago
> He’s used an iPhone for years but is stuck on an old one with the home button purely because we don’t think he’ll transition to swiping up. Not sure if you know this, but the latest iPhone SE still uses the iPhone 8 body complete with home button. Depending on which phone he's on, it might be a good idea to upgrade; all of the rumors that I've heard are that Apple will make the next SE on a different body.
- onedognight 3y ago
  I switched my mother, who also has cognitive decline, from the iPhone 7 to the iPhone SE to keep the same shape and the home button. She was never able to master the upward swipe on her new iPad. Changing to the newer iOS was challenging for her due to the significantly smaller and pushed to the top call answering buttons. Apple does a lot for accessibility, but I really wish they had an “old persons mode”.
  - easton 3y ago
    It’s coming in iOS 17: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/05/apple-previews-live-speech-personal-voice-and-more-new-accessibility-features/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/05/apple-previews-live-s...
  - username190 3y ago
    iOS 17 is supposed to come with a new "Assistive Access" setting[0] which is intended to be an "old person's mode" with limited but pronounced functionality. In the meantime, you should be able to solve the call banner issue through a relatively hidden setting; Settings > Phone > Incoming Calls > "Full Screen" should put things back to the way they were. [0] https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/05/apple-previews-live-speech-personal-voice-and-more-new-accessibility-features/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/05/apple-previews-live-s...
  - dantastic 3y ago
    I believe that the "top call answering buttons" is the banner for incoming call?. You can change that to be a full-screen one in settings-> phone -> incoming calls. If that's what you mean? I really dislike the little banner thing and much prefer a full-screen image of whoever's calling.
- codetrotter 3y ago
  There is also an assistive mode available that you can use on all iPhones to put a software "home button" always on screen. I know because one of my previous iPod Touch devices had a broken physical home button so I used the assistive mode sofware button instead. This might also work for people who are too old to understand how to use the phone without the physical button.
bradgessler 3y ago
Hopefully we’ll see home buttons on cases. In theory big speakers and a physical button could be put on the bottom of a case to achieve higher levels of accessibility.
bemusedthrow75 3y ago
I feel for you on this. I kept a PC working for my Dad the hard way for years. Luckily when his previous email client became unworkable and confusing we managed to switch him to google mail (which I could more easily help with remotely) and he could be talked through the TeamViewer settings. He carried on using that for several years, delighted to be able to email people, until his interest in using the PC began to drift as he got to 90, mostly I think because it became more difficult for him to read (it is amazing how much the eye's transmission of/sensitivity to light changing over time makes interfaces more difficult or can even make them seem "new", and that is when the interfaces were not changing or doing unpredictable things). But we never managed to really get him to use a mobile phone. He could do that only fitfully despite some great device designs, and he would reject them quickly. He would forget to charge them, lose the chargers etc., and sometimes would confuse charge and signal strength, or assume he had to switch off the phone to save money. He would likely know how to use a mobile in an emergency, but of course the day he first wandered off and completely disappeared for hours, he didn't think that was an emergency at all! As another poster says, I would take this opportunity to upgrade to the last SE with a button while you can. There's a very good chance his muscle-memory skills will translate just fine, but I suspect you are right about swiping up. FWIW I think swipes starting "beyond the screen", as the Palm guys used to say, is a bad design. I think the number of top-down swipes in iPadOS is confusing and annoying, and I'm not that much more than half the age my dad reached. I wish you the best in continuing to support this sort of stuff for as long as your father needs it -- keeping someone able to use technology is not just a "nice to have", it's a connection to the modern world that means a lot.

by hnbear 3y ago

nordsieck 3y ago

> He’s used an iPhone for years but is stuck on an old one with the home button purely because we don’t think he’ll transition to swiping up. Not sure if you know this, but the latest iPhone SE still uses the iPhone 8 body complete with home button. Depending on which phone he's on, it might be a good idea to upgrade; all of the rumors that I've heard are that Apple will make the next SE on a different body.

onedognight 3y ago
I switched my mother, who also has cognitive decline, from the iPhone 7 to the iPhone SE to keep the same shape and the home button. She was never able to master the upward swipe on her new iPad. Changing to the newer iOS was challenging for her due to the significantly smaller and pushed to the top call answering buttons. Apple does a lot for accessibility, but I really wish they had an “old persons mode”.
- easton 3y ago
  It’s coming in iOS 17: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/05/apple-previews-live-speech-personal-voice-and-more-new-accessibility-features/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/05/apple-previews-live-s...
- username190 3y ago
  iOS 17 is supposed to come with a new "Assistive Access" setting[0] which is intended to be an "old person's mode" with limited but pronounced functionality. In the meantime, you should be able to solve the call banner issue through a relatively hidden setting; Settings > Phone > Incoming Calls > "Full Screen" should put things back to the way they were. [0] https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/05/apple-previews-live-speech-personal-voice-and-more-new-accessibility-features/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/05/apple-previews-live-s...
- dantastic 3y ago
  I believe that the "top call answering buttons" is the banner for incoming call?. You can change that to be a full-screen one in settings-> phone -> incoming calls. If that's what you mean? I really dislike the little banner thing and much prefer a full-screen image of whoever's calling.
codetrotter 3y ago
There is also an assistive mode available that you can use on all iPhones to put a software "home button" always on screen. I know because one of my previous iPod Touch devices had a broken physical home button so I used the assistive mode sofware button instead. This might also work for people who are too old to understand how to use the phone without the physical button.

bradgessler 3y ago

Hopefully we’ll see home buttons on cases. In theory big speakers and a physical button could be put on the bottom of a case to achieve higher levels of accessibility.

bemusedthrow75 3y ago

I feel for you on this. I kept a PC working for my Dad the hard way for years. Luckily when his previous email client became unworkable and confusing we managed to switch him to google mail (which I could more easily help with remotely) and he could be talked through the TeamViewer settings. He carried on using that for several years, delighted to be able to email people, until his interest in using the PC began to drift as he got to 90, mostly I think because it became more difficult for him to read (it is amazing how much the eye's transmission of/sensitivity to light changing over time makes interfaces more difficult or can even make them seem "new", and that is when the interfaces were not changing or doing unpredictable things). But we never managed to really get him to use a mobile phone. He could do that only fitfully despite some great device designs, and he would reject them quickly. He would forget to charge them, lose the chargers etc., and sometimes would confuse charge and signal strength, or assume he had to switch off the phone to save money. He would likely know how to use a mobile in an emergency, but of course the day he first wandered off and completely disappeared for hours, he didn't think that was an emergency at all! As another poster says, I would take this opportunity to upgrade to the last SE with a button while you can. There's a very good chance his muscle-memory skills will translate just fine, but I suspect you are right about swiping up. FWIW I think swipes starting "beyond the screen", as the Palm guys used to say, is a bad design. I think the number of top-down swipes in iPadOS is confusing and annoying, and I'm not that much more than half the age my dad reached. I wish you the best in continuing to support this sort of stuff for as long as your father needs it -- keeping someone able to use technology is not just a "nice to have", it's a connection to the modern world that means a lot.