How to configure an Android mobile phone for the elderly and simplify its use? step by step guide

Using a mobile phone is a very difficult task for those seniors and elderlyMainly because android phones They are quite advanced mobile devices that have somewhat complex and difficult tools to perform if you don’t have experience in the area.

Despite this, there are many older people who acquire a android device and which begin a learning process in it. For this, there are different tools that we can use in order to make learning easier for them.

That is why in this article we are going to teach how to configure the Smartphone so that it can be used by the elderly in a simpler way.

Steps to configure an Android mobile for the elderly

There are some basic tools that are essential to configure when the mobile device is going to be used by an older personeither the size of lyrics for those who no longer have good visibility, sound volume, date and time, among many others. Because of this, here we show you how set up a mobile phone for an elderly or elderly person.

Use a launcher

The launcher or launchers have become one of the most important and useful tools in Android devices. They allow modify and personalize all visible aspects of the mobile screen, this will allow you adjust the size of icons and widgets.

As we mentioned before, The launchers give you the possibility to modify almost all the visible aspects of the Smartphone and the operation of the home screen. This will allow you to fit the most important applications on the main screen and adjust their size so that they can be used more easily.

Thus, there is a large number of android launcher app available which you can start use on device in the case that it is going to be used by an elderly person, which will facilitate its use considerably.

Turn up the volume and activate vibration

One of the most important aspects of the mobile when it is used by a elderly or elderly person is he sound volume and vibration, This is a fundamental part when configure the equipment. In this case it does not matter to choose the sound that is more beautiful but the one that sounds harder.

To do this you will need to perform the following steps:

• The first thing will be to enter the “Settings” of your Android device.
• There you enter the section of “Sounds and vibrations”.

• Now click on the option “Volume”.

• There you will find the four types of volume that you can modify on your mobile. It is important that everyone stays selected to the maximumthis will make the device ringing loudly and can be easily heard by the older person.

• Finally, in the menu “Sounds and vibrations” It is important to activate the switch “Vibrate while ringing”, this will make the terminal ring and vibrate simultaneously each time you receive a message, a call or some notification.

Increase font size

Arguably, this is the most important tool to configure when it comes to giving you a Smartphone to an elderly or elderly personand it is not a secret to anyone that older people tend to have vision problems.

Keep in mind that mobile devices They come predetermined with a text size a little reduced, which would make it very difficult for the person to read it.

Because of this, here we explain how you can increase the font size of your Android:

• The first thing will be to enter the menu of “Settings” of your mobile.
• Then we select the section “Screen”.

• There we must click on the option “Font and Screen Zoom”.

• Now we will find two options which we can increase or decrease. In this case we find a section of “Screen zoom”, there we can adjust both the screen zoom As the “Font size”.

• When you get to this point, it is recommended that you do it in the company of the older person so that you know what font size feels comfortablethis will make you select a suitable size according to the needs of the person.
• In section “Font style” you can change the font style if you want. Once you have made the necessary modifications, you must click on “Done” located in the upper right.

Set the time and date automatically

Another important aspect to take into account when configuring the mobile phone to an older person is the configuration of team time, In this case, it must be placed in the time format used in your country, either in 24 hour or 12 hour format.

This is a very important point to configure since on many occasions they need to be taking medication every few hours.

In this way, here we teach you how to program the time and date on the mobile:

• To do this, it will be necessary to enter the “Settings” Of the device.
• There you must scroll the screen up until you get to the section of “General Administration” either “Time and date” depending on the model of the equipment.

• Within this section you will get the option to “Date and Time” we click on it.

• There you will find two options, the first one will serve to set the time and date, in this case we pass the switch so that both the time and date are activated automatically, the same will change automatically every time you go to a place with a different time zone.
• And in the second option we can select the time format that you want to have either 24 hours or 12 hours.

List of the best 5 apps to simplify the use of mobile phones for older people and retirees

In addition to configuring the Smartphone with the options of the team system, We can also start using some applications that we can download from playstore.

Which will provide us with some very important tools that will help old people can make use of the Android devices in a simpler way.

That is why here we leave you the 5 best applications to simplify the use of the mobile:

ZEDGE

To start we present the zedge appa tool specialized in the personalization of the mobile devicewhere you can start set ringtones, notification sounds, alarms and screen saver, all this will make the use of your mobile device much simpler and easier.

Therefore, if you have already set the sound of the Smartphone to the maximumit only remains for you to start selecting the best sound for each of your notifications, messages and calls, this will help you differentiate each one of them just by listening to said melody. A tool that has more than 200 million downloads.

Big Buttons

An ideal app for people older or elderly what are they presenting vision difficulties and it gets complicated write via smartphone. Big Buttons is characterized by being a large keyboard which will give you the possibility of writing in large size and without many problems when marking each of the keys.

With Big Buttons you can start avoiding those small buttons that complicate so much writing via smartphone. In addition, it has an excellent keyboard distribution which will greatly facilitate you to be able to write on it. An application currently considered one of the most advanced in the world.

GOODEV volume booster

When configuring a terminal for an elderly person, it is important to be able to set a sound that it is strong and that it can differentiate it from the rest, this will make the person automatically know that it is your mobile team. In this way, we present the GOODEV appan app that is used to amplify the volume of the speaker and headphones, ideal for those with Hearing problems.

Thanks to GOODEV you can start turn up the volume to each of your notifications, messages, calls, videos, audio books and music. It should be noted that with this app you will get audio playback at a high volumeTherefore, a little caution should be exercised especially when using it for a long time.

Big Launcher

This application has been designed with a single objective, which is to being able to help the elderly to use a smartphone more easily. That is why it offers us a very useful and interesting interface where we can find large icons, large fonts and a very easy to use menu. In a few words, everything that we will find inside the app will be large, this in order that older users with vision problems can more easily see the mobile menu.

Between his main advantages we find that lets fix contacts or apps on the home screen to facilitate the use of the terminal. It also has an easy configuration, it has lock functions to prevent the elderly from setting the home screen, support to keep track of temperature and weatherand a very simple interface to handle.

Giant Icons

One of the most common problems people older or elderly when using smartphones the size of application icons, since these are usually very small in size and it is very difficult for them to know which one is each. Therefore, Giant Icons It is characterized by converting the icons of your applications in large icons that can be seen very easily.

This application has become an ideal tool for the elderly and children with vision problems. Also, presenting large icons helps recognition of each of them is much simpler, which will make the handling of the terminal easier to achieve.