43 ms·

Can i get an old person version of this with big type and no distractions? My gran still has issues just making calls on a mobile phone and as much as i'd like

Can i get an old person version of this with big type and no distractions? My gran still has issues just making calls on a mobile phone and as much as i'd like her to be able to send and receive text messages, all attempts have failed.

ohgodthecat 15y ago
I can see the reasoning for this but I cannot see the reasoning for giving older people (who have trouble with technology) smart phones. The best option I could possibly think of for an old person that can't grasp the concept is something like Siri for sending/receiving text messages (though I haven't used it so I have no idea what the learning curve is). Otherwise just give them a phone that acts like a phone.
- corin_ 15y ago
  My grandmother (91) is still mentally sharp (though a little forgetful now, but still surprisingly unforgetful for her age) but has difficulty using the simplest of nokia phones - things like the fact that you have to press a button to dial, or to hang up, confuse her after a lifetime of non-mobile phones. I've never seen her try a smartphone, but I imagine having a touchscreen with big buttons that say "dial now" and "end call" would be easier than dialing in a number and thinking "I know there was something else I had to do now..."
  - schiffern 15y ago
    Why not detect when they've typed enough numbers and automatically connect? libphonenumber validates numbers based on your locality: http://code.google.com/p/libphonenumber/ http://code.google.com/p/libphonenumber/
    - corin_ 15y ago
      Never come across that before - I wonder how it does in odd situations - for example my Grandmother's home number happens to be 1 digit less than the majority of the UK (as is the case for many people in London, where she lives, and I think somewhere else too like Birmingham).
      - Toucan 15y ago
        UK 020 numbers are still 11 digits. They're only a different length if you omit the dialling code, which you can't do on mobile phones anyway.
        corin_ 15y ago
        Hmm you're right, I mis-remembered and hers is correct. According to Wikipedia there are some non-11 digit numbers: "almost all geographic numbers and most non-geographic numbers have 9 or 10 national (significant) numbers after the "0" trunk code". An example being: (016977) xxxx Brampton http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_the_United_Kingdom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_the_United...
    - darklajid 15y ago
      Have to see how good that works in Germany. Prefixes/area codes are different length: +49 30 ... -> Berlin +49 221 .... -> Cologne +49 2389 ... -> Small town where I grew up If you solve that, you'll notice that the number afterwards has the same problems on a bigger scale. Some (especially small towns) have 3 or 4 digit local phone numbers. Big cities go up to 7 (Or more? No idea, but I know numbers from 3 to 7 digits in length). And length varies within the same area code. So (area) 1234 might be valid, as is (area) 12356. I fail to see how that could work reliably. Thanks for the link - now I'm trying to figure out what they know that I don't. :) Edit: Skimmed the project. They have a binary (protobuf?) file for phone number metadata which seems to be a huuuge number of regular expressions. For the reasons listed above I claim that that way you cannot find out if a number is 'done' typing using this library. Looking plausible? Yes. But you cannot replace the dial button in DE for all I can tell.
      - Drbble 15y ago
        It's obviously possible to encode all phone numberd, since, you know, your landline doesn't have a dial button, but calls connect. Timezone data is a (smaller) mess, but that has been encoded in a library.
        darklajid 15y ago
        I very well might be mistaken. But I don't buy it. My landline is constantly connected to the operator. My totally clueless understanding of this voodoo box called telephone is that each digit is passed on to 'the system', initiating a call when I hit a valid number (or resulting in an error tone). I do not believe that it is possible (outside of the telephone network) to encode this information. You could create a huuuuge snapshot (a digital phone book..?) and by the time that data is on any device you care about it's already out of date. Sorry, I don't believe you and don't think that it is obvious. Edit: Stole the idea of checking the wikipedia link for DE from the UK sibling thread. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/+49 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/+49 Note things like " (0xxxx) xxxxxxx In area codes that use four digits, newly assigned numbers (for all locations from May 2010, some cities earlier: e,g, Heidelberg already in May 2003) have a length of seven digits, also yielding a total length of eleven digits. Grandfathered numbers may be as short as three digits (seven total) in very rural areas." Reread the last sentence. Not feasible. End of story. You know if a number is valid if you try to call it. You could say 'aaah, but new numbers follow scheme X so lets just have a database (phonebook) of all current numbers first and fallback to the rule later'. No idea if that would work and how it reacts to someone canceling his contract for one of these gazillion 3 or 4 digit numbers.
- GFischer 15y ago
  I came across several articles that state that the 60 to 75 age group now desire several of the same products as younger consumers: http://www.leggettdisplaygroup.com/barcode/2011/03/01/is-the-consumer-electronics-industry-going-gray/ http://www.leggettdisplaygroup.com/barcode/2011/03/01/is-the... "The iPad is the top product for all people 50-plus," she said. "The user interface is so easy. And for anyone with vision issues, the text size can be changed quite easily." "Older consumers are finding the iPad much easier to use than a personal computer. The iPad's touch-screen display and big icons beat using a computer mouse and having to find and click or double-click PC programs. Plus, a tablet can sit on your lap." http://20plus30.com/presentations/Connecting_with_older_consumers.pdf http://20plus30.com/presentations/Connecting_with_older_cons... "Marketers need to be aware that older consumers, especially those in the highest socio-economic groups, will access more of their content (and advertising) using smart devices. The apps-powered smart device is as much a watershed in the way marketers engage with consumers as was the birth of the web. Unlike the web, this new technology will be as much used by the old as the young."
pilom 15y ago
Is there any way for a developer to make a new UI for it? That seems like it would be the perfect answer. Make a UI for kids, a UI for the elderly, a UI for people with visual disabilities (high contrast and audio announcements when you drag over each button). Can I use siri with it? i.e. can you launch siri from inside kyte and then have the call use the kyte UI?
- zevyoura 15y ago
  No Siri; this is for Android phones.
  - pilom 15y ago
    Whoops thanks!
petepete 15y ago
I believe the Big Launcher might be of interest to you. I installed it on my old phone, which I gave to my dad. Now he can gamble from the bathroom; he's very happy indeed. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=name.kunes.android.launcher.activity https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=name.kunes.and...
- nooneelse 15y ago
  Who makes this? Launchers have access to way too much for me to feel good about trying one out on a lark without knowing a little about who made it.
  - petepete 15y ago
    It's made by Cofis http://www.cofis.cz/cz/ http://www.cofis.cz/cz/
martythemaniak 15y ago
That's an interesting idea and one of our friends actually used it to give it to her grandpa, despite the kids interface. We'll definitely have to look into this.
- wittjeff 15y ago
  I (accessibility consultant) was going to suggest the same thing, along with some tweaks to the color scheme for people with vision impairments. Email me if you want some guidance.
paulsilver 15y ago
You'll probably be interested in Threedom Phone, which is about to launch their beta. It's an App / extra layer for Android. Unfortunately Ribot, the team behind it, seem to have removed the information about it from their website, but from what I've seen of very early versions, it'll be a good match for what you want. There's a few details about some of the places they've demoed it for older people on their Twitter stream: http://threedomphone.com/ http://threedomphone.com/ https://twitter.com/#!/ThreedomPhone https://twitter.com/#!/ThreedomPhone I know there aren't many details on there, but Ribot are a very interesting company who have made a lot of very good apps for a variety of mobile platforms, and it's well worth keeping an eye on this project.
GFischer 15y ago
There's still a huge untapped market for apps and hardware for the elderly. Last year I did a marketing project, and got some fairly nice insights. For example, most people between 60 and 75 in developed countries don't consider themselves "old" and are mostly self-reliant “Seniors do not think about their age in general. Unless extremely tired or depressed, older people do not think of themselves as old. Advertising that talks to the silver citizen’s active lifestyle rather than to or about his age are preferred” (www.brandchannel.com). People in that age range now desire several of the same products as younger people, like iPads or iPhones and Kindles. Our specific product failed in the customer validation stage, but there's a huge untapped market out there. Heck, I've almost talked myself into trying again :)

ohgodthecat 15y ago

I can see the reasoning for this but I cannot see the reasoning for giving older people (who have trouble with technology) smart phones. The best option I could possibly think of for an old person that can't grasp the concept is something like Siri for sending/receiving text messages (though I haven't used it so I have no idea what the learning curve is). Otherwise just give them a phone that acts like a phone.

corin_ 15y ago
My grandmother (91) is still mentally sharp (though a little forgetful now, but still surprisingly unforgetful for her age) but has difficulty using the simplest of nokia phones - things like the fact that you have to press a button to dial, or to hang up, confuse her after a lifetime of non-mobile phones. I've never seen her try a smartphone, but I imagine having a touchscreen with big buttons that say "dial now" and "end call" would be easier than dialing in a number and thinking "I know there was something else I had to do now..."
- schiffern 15y ago
  Why not detect when they've typed enough numbers and automatically connect? libphonenumber validates numbers based on your locality: http://code.google.com/p/libphonenumber/ http://code.google.com/p/libphonenumber/
  - corin_ 15y ago
    Never come across that before - I wonder how it does in odd situations - for example my Grandmother's home number happens to be 1 digit less than the majority of the UK (as is the case for many people in London, where she lives, and I think somewhere else too like Birmingham).
    - Toucan 15y ago
      UK 020 numbers are still 11 digits. They're only a different length if you omit the dialling code, which you can't do on mobile phones anyway.
      - corin_ 15y ago
        Hmm you're right, I mis-remembered and hers is correct. According to Wikipedia there are some non-11 digit numbers: "almost all geographic numbers and most non-geographic numbers have 9 or 10 national (significant) numbers after the "0" trunk code". An example being: (016977) xxxx Brampton http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_the_United_Kingdom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_the_United...
  - darklajid 15y ago
    Have to see how good that works in Germany. Prefixes/area codes are different length: +49 30 ... -> Berlin +49 221 .... -> Cologne +49 2389 ... -> Small town where I grew up If you solve that, you'll notice that the number afterwards has the same problems on a bigger scale. Some (especially small towns) have 3 or 4 digit local phone numbers. Big cities go up to 7 (Or more? No idea, but I know numbers from 3 to 7 digits in length). And length varies within the same area code. So (area) 1234 might be valid, as is (area) 12356. I fail to see how that could work reliably. Thanks for the link - now I'm trying to figure out what they know that I don't. :) Edit: Skimmed the project. They have a binary (protobuf?) file for phone number metadata which seems to be a huuuge number of regular expressions. For the reasons listed above I claim that that way you cannot find out if a number is 'done' typing using this library. Looking plausible? Yes. But you cannot replace the dial button in DE for all I can tell.
    - Drbble 15y ago
      It's obviously possible to encode all phone numberd, since, you know, your landline doesn't have a dial button, but calls connect. Timezone data is a (smaller) mess, but that has been encoded in a library.
      - darklajid 15y ago
        I very well might be mistaken. But I don't buy it. My landline is constantly connected to the operator. My totally clueless understanding of this voodoo box called telephone is that each digit is passed on to 'the system', initiating a call when I hit a valid number (or resulting in an error tone). I do not believe that it is possible (outside of the telephone network) to encode this information. You could create a huuuuge snapshot (a digital phone book..?) and by the time that data is on any device you care about it's already out of date. Sorry, I don't believe you and don't think that it is obvious. Edit: Stole the idea of checking the wikipedia link for DE from the UK sibling thread. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/+49 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/+49 Note things like " (0xxxx) xxxxxxx In area codes that use four digits, newly assigned numbers (for all locations from May 2010, some cities earlier: e,g, Heidelberg already in May 2003) have a length of seven digits, also yielding a total length of eleven digits. Grandfathered numbers may be as short as three digits (seven total) in very rural areas." Reread the last sentence. Not feasible. End of story. You know if a number is valid if you try to call it. You could say 'aaah, but new numbers follow scheme X so lets just have a database (phonebook) of all current numbers first and fallback to the rule later'. No idea if that would work and how it reacts to someone canceling his contract for one of these gazillion 3 or 4 digit numbers.
GFischer 15y ago
I came across several articles that state that the 60 to 75 age group now desire several of the same products as younger consumers: http://www.leggettdisplaygroup.com/barcode/2011/03/01/is-the-consumer-electronics-industry-going-gray/ http://www.leggettdisplaygroup.com/barcode/2011/03/01/is-the... "The iPad is the top product for all people 50-plus," she said. "The user interface is so easy. And for anyone with vision issues, the text size can be changed quite easily." "Older consumers are finding the iPad much easier to use than a personal computer. The iPad's touch-screen display and big icons beat using a computer mouse and having to find and click or double-click PC programs. Plus, a tablet can sit on your lap." http://20plus30.com/presentations/Connecting_with_older_consumers.pdf http://20plus30.com/presentations/Connecting_with_older_cons... "Marketers need to be aware that older consumers, especially those in the highest socio-economic groups, will access more of their content (and advertising) using smart devices. The apps-powered smart device is as much a watershed in the way marketers engage with consumers as was the birth of the web. Unlike the web, this new technology will be as much used by the old as the young."

pilom 15y ago

Is there any way for a developer to make a new UI for it? That seems like it would be the perfect answer. Make a UI for kids, a UI for the elderly, a UI for people with visual disabilities (high contrast and audio announcements when you drag over each button). Can I use siri with it? i.e. can you launch siri from inside kyte and then have the call use the kyte UI?

zevyoura 15y ago
No Siri; this is for Android phones.
- pilom 15y ago
  Whoops thanks!

petepete 15y ago

I believe the Big Launcher might be of interest to you. I installed it on my old phone, which I gave to my dad. Now he can gamble from the bathroom; he's very happy indeed. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=name.kunes.android.launcher.activity https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=name.kunes.and...

nooneelse 15y ago
Who makes this? Launchers have access to way too much for me to feel good about trying one out on a lark without knowing a little about who made it.
- petepete 15y ago
  It's made by Cofis http://www.cofis.cz/cz/ http://www.cofis.cz/cz/

martythemaniak 15y ago

That's an interesting idea and one of our friends actually used it to give it to her grandpa, despite the kids interface. We'll definitely have to look into this.

wittjeff 15y ago
I (accessibility consultant) was going to suggest the same thing, along with some tweaks to the color scheme for people with vision impairments. Email me if you want some guidance.

paulsilver 15y ago

You'll probably be interested in Threedom Phone, which is about to launch their beta. It's an App / extra layer for Android. Unfortunately Ribot, the team behind it, seem to have removed the information about it from their website, but from what I've seen of very early versions, it'll be a good match for what you want. There's a few details about some of the places they've demoed it for older people on their Twitter stream: http://threedomphone.com/ http://threedomphone.com/ https://twitter.com/#!/ThreedomPhone https://twitter.com/#!/ThreedomPhone I know there aren't many details on there, but Ribot are a very interesting company who have made a lot of very good apps for a variety of mobile platforms, and it's well worth keeping an eye on this project.

GFischer 15y ago

There's still a huge untapped market for apps and hardware for the elderly. Last year I did a marketing project, and got some fairly nice insights. For example, most people between 60 and 75 in developed countries don't consider themselves "old" and are mostly self-reliant “Seniors do not think about their age in general. Unless extremely tired or depressed, older people do not think of themselves as old. Advertising that talks to the silver citizen’s active lifestyle rather than to or about his age are preferred” (www.brandchannel.com). People in that age range now desire several of the same products as younger people, like iPads or iPhones and Kindles. Our specific product failed in the customer validation stage, but there's a huge untapped market out there. Heck, I've almost talked myself into trying again :)