Using a mobile phone is a very difficult task for those elderly and seniors , mainly because Android phones are quite advanced mobile devices that have tools Uncomplicated and difficult to carry out unless you have experience in the area.
Despite this, there are many older people who acquire an Android device and who begin a learning process on it. For this, there are different tools that we can use with the aim of to facilitate learning.
That is why, in this article we are going to show you how to configure the Smartphone so that it can be used by senior citizens in a simpler way.
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Steps to set up an Android mobile for seniors
There are some basic tools that are essential to configure when the mobile device is going to be used by an older person , be it 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 to set up a mobile phone for an elderly or elderly person.
Use a Laucher
Launchers or launchers have become one of the most important and useful tools in Android devices. They allow to modify and customize all visible aspects of the mobile screen, this will allow you to adjust the size of the icons and Widgets.
As we mentioned earlier, 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 adjust the most important applications on the screen main and adjust its size so that they can be used more easily.
This is how there is a large number of Android launchers app available which you can start using on the device in case it is going to be used by a older person, which will facilitate the use of it considerably.
Increase the volume and activate the vibration
One of the most important aspects of the mobile when used by a elderly or elderly person is the volume of sound and vibration, this is a fundamental part at the time of setting up 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 “Sounds and vibrations” section.
- Now you press on the option of accounVolumen†.
- There you will find the four types of volume that you can modify on your mobile. It is important that everyone is selected to the maximum , this will make the device sounding loudly and can be easily heard by the older person.
- Finally, in the “Sounds and vibrations” menu it is important to activate the “ Vibrate while playing ” switch, this will make the terminal ring and vibrate simultaneously each time you receive a message, call or notification.
Increase the font size
You can say that this is the most important tool to configure when giving a Smartphone to an elderly or elderly person , and it is not a secret to anyone that people older people usually have vision problems.
Keep in mind that mobile devices are predetermined with a text size a little reduced, which would make it very difficult for it to be read by the person.
Due to this, here we explain how you can increase the font size of your Android:
- The first thing will be to enter the “Settings” menu of your mobile.
- Then we select the “Screen” section.
- There we must click on the option of “Source 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 and the “Font size”.
- When you reach this point, it is recommended that you do it in the company of the elderly person to know that font size feels comfortable , this will make you select an appropriate size according to be the needs of the person.
- In the “Font style” section you can change the font style if you wish. Once you have made the necessary modifications you must click on “Done” located in the upper right.
Set the time and date to automatic
Another important aspect to take into account when configuring the mobile phone to an older person is the configuration of the time of the equipment, in this case the It should 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 set up since many times they need to be taking medications every so often.
So, here we show you how to set the time and date on your mobile:
- To carry out this it will be necessary to enter the “Settings” of the device.
- There you must move the screen up until you get the section of “General administration” or “Time and date” depending on the team model.
- Within this section you will get the option of “Date and time” click on it.
- There you will find two options, the first one will help you set the time and date, in this case we pass the switch so that both the time and the date is activated automatically, the will automatically change each 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 top 5 apps to simplify the use of mobile to older people and retirees
In addition to configuring the Smartphone with the own options of the equipment system, we can also start using some applications that can be downloaded from Play Store.
Which will give us some very important tools that will help older people to make use of the Android devices in a more simple.
That is why here we leave you the 5 best applications to simplify the use of mobile:
ZEDGE
To begin, we introduce you the ZEDGE application , a tool specialized in what is the personalization of the mobile device , where you can start configure the ringtones , notification sounds, alarms and screensaver, all this will make using your mobile device much easier and easier.
Therefore, if you have set the Smartphone sound to the maximum , you only have 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 that melody. A tool that has more than 200 million downloads.
Big Buttons
An ideal application for seniors or seniors who have vision difficulties and find it difficult to write via Smartphone . Big Buttons is characterized by being a large keyboard which will give you the possibility of typing 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 writing through your smartphone . In addition, it has an excellent keyboard layout that will make it very easy for you to type on it. An application currently considered one of the most advanced in the world.
Volume amplifier GOODEV
When configuring a terminal for an older person it is important to be able to configure a sound that is strong and that can differentiate it from the rest, this will make the person automatically know that it is your mobile device . In this way, we present the GOODEV application , an app that serves 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, books of audio and music . It should be noted that with this app you will get high-volume audio reproductions , therefore, a little caution should be taken especially when using it for a long time.
Big Launcher
This application has been designed with only one objective, which is about being able to help older people 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 letters and a very simple menu to use . In short, everything we will find inside the app will be large, this in order that older users with sight problems can more easily see the mobile menu.
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Among its main advantages we find that it lets you set specific contacts or applications on the home screen to facilitate the use of the terminal. It also has an easy configuration, it has blocking functions to prevent older people from configuring the home screen, support to track temperature and climate , and an interface very easy to handle.
Gigant Icons
One of the most frequent problems of the elderly or the elderly when using the Smartphone is the size of the application icons, since These are usually very small in size and it is very difficult for them to know what each one is. Therefore, Gigant Icons is characterized by converting the icons of your applications into large icons that can be seen with great ease.
This application has become an ideal tool for the elderly and children with vision problems . In addition, presenting large icons helps make the recognition of each of them much easier, which will make terminal management easier to achieve.