Thanks so much. I’m an 80-year-old and love my phone, especially the camera, but can only scratch the surface of its capabilities. With AA, I can go deep when I want to using the normal settings and still conduct 75% of my routine business using the incredibly easy AA. You have made my day 🎉!
I have been taking care of my mom for a while now and always looking for things to make it easier and her still feel like she can do things. I just found your channel browsing reviews on senior stuff. Just wanted to thank you so much for the information you give.
My dad is having problems using his phone and I thought about get him an iPhone and this video can be really helpful to set it up a way that it makes easy for him to use it. thanks
Thanks for the great tutorial! I have been hoping Apple would put something like this together. In prep for setting up my father's iPhone, all worked as demonstrated, except messaging. It looks like you can only send/respond to people that you've set up access buttons for. Having to set up buttons for all contacts is a daunting effort and forcing the use of the contacts list is defeating the point. Texting is the way most medical offices confirm appointments, as well as Uber and delivery services. It would be impossible to find out all these numbers in advance. Please tell me I'm missing the option to turn on messaging for everyone!
Thank you for the compliments! And yes, we agree, texting is very important for a variety of needs, beyond messaging your contacts. Luckily, if you go into the Assistive Access settings, you can allow a user to receive messages from everyone. This will be the first option under the Messages settings. (There are options to receive messages from Selected Contacts, All Contacts, and Everyone). Unfortunately, as of now, a person can only send messages to designated contacts. While this is not ideal, we think the best workaround would be to allow your father to receive messages from everyone. Then, your father will be able to reply to them in the message thread. Hopefully, Apple will develop a fix for this issue in the next iOS. Hope that helps! -Ryan M
Thank you for this video! I'm in the process for setting it up for a family member and I can't seem to find a way to check voicemail. Can you help with this? Thanks!
After some problem solving, I found a work around! This is for checking voicemail in assistive access mode... add your phone number as a favorite contact, label as "call voicemail". You will need a numeric passcode to access your voicemail- set up in Settings. To check voicemail in assistive access you will call your phone number/ "call voicemail" and enter your numeric passcode to check messages. I hope this is helpful to people!
Excellent video. I was just discussing this issue with my mother-in-law, who is 92. I would like to make a small suggestion: You should remove the distracting, repetitive background music.
Thank you for a great tutorial! Only problem:We dont get the keyboard possiblity in the messages. We only get emojis. We have enabled keyboard and not emojis in the back end. Does anyone get this problem? It aab Iphone x
When I test it, there's no main screen notification that a text has been received. My mom will not know to look for a text. Also, setting up who can be messaged it clunky, and you cannot remove a person if they have been added in error. There are great ideas here, but it is not fully set up yet. I hope issues will be addressed soon by Apple.
Thank you so much for this video! You’ve saved me tons of time switching to it and trying out each app to see that it’s really not what I want or need. I can see how it would be really, really useful for some, though, so maybe I’ll set it up that way if I ever gift or sell my phone to a total Luddite/newb. 😏
I have checked all the settings in "Calls" - "All Contacts" is checked however several of the contacts go straight to voicemail every time they call the senior. I have also updated the software and rebooted the iphone 13. any thoughts?
When taking Facetime calls when the phone is idle (not unlocked with screen on), the video call is constantly interrupted by the screen turning itself off. Anyone had this bug or found a fix?
Having the same exact issue. I called apple customer support and they had me video record the issue so they can apparently send up to the engineers. They got back to me saying that they could not recreate the issue. I think that is BS since I see online that others are having the same problem.
We cannot get the iPhone 13 that's been updated to an iOS 17 will not accept Ability to send messages in the accessibility mode. I have to enter each individual contact separately, now it will only accept one contact in the send mode. Any idea on how to get selected contacts to allow sending messages.
I have the same situation did you ever get a response on how to fix this issue. Wasted an hour this morning just trying to figure out the problem and don't have a solution. Any ideas will be welcome
Wow - great thanks! My mother has a medical condition which has affected her ability to point without shaking - this looks great! Going now to set it up on her phone!
Excellent review but I've found the IPhone Senior mode too restrictive. While you can set it up to receive calls and text from unknown callers, you cannot call or text back to an unknown caller. You cannot delete old text messages. No web browser. In Senior mode you cannot add to your contacts. I think the Senior mode is good for those who you are trying to protect from the outside world. Might also be good for children who need to call home or call their pre-approved friends.
My 88 year old mother, who can't see well, just got an iPhone. She's having all kinds of trouble learning it. We've taught her how to just let Siri make calls and answer them, and the same with text messages. This AA screen will be great for her, but there's no mention on whether Siri will still work in the AA mode. Please say it will!
If face id will work, this will be great. Passwords and triple-clicking will not work for many elderly. Especially the ones that really need this. Otherwise, it is great.
SOS! I’m struggling to set up Messaging. There are 2 contacts, with messages sent in regular mode. There’s no way to send another message - no keyboard, emoji, anything! Just a text message the no way to do anything with it. Can anyone help?? Thanks!
I got a jitterbug for for my senior sister, who is not technology savvy. These android phones still get a lot of pop-ups and can have apps on them. They can still be justice confusing.
You really had me interested until you said triple click. I struggle to even click once on the side button. I help a number of elderly neighbours with their iPhones, and that side button is a nightmare for those with limited use of their hands and fingers. Otherwise, it would be a really good system. This would also be good if a person could tell Siri to enter access mode and leave access mode. After all, it’s their voice, which is the identifier for them.
I set this up for my 94 year ol father. It works great! However, when you are making a call, it just says “calling” at the top of the screen, you do not hear a dial tone. Anybody else have this issue?
Sorry that's just bad from Apple. My father needs a simplified layout, but he should still be control to be able to add new apps without leaving this mode. It seems you have to explicitly allow apps, so my father cannot install new apps.
@@Theseniorlist Thanks for the confirmation. So I might look into Android launchers, because I want to give my father something with long software support (7 years minimum), so it gotta be a Pixel or Samsung. I'm just not quite sure which Launcher would be the best choice. He needs complete control, but it should be as simple as possible. Is there even a favorite pick?
@@_modiX We've just gone through the same process for my father. After much research we settled on a Doro 8080. It’s as fast as my iPhone 11, well built, and runs Android but with a bespoke skin. It makes using the phone very simple. It also comes with a button on the back that can be held for 3 seconds so that the user can get help from selected family members in an emergency. I was very impressed with the phone when I set it up and would happily use one myself if I weren’t so invested in Apple Apps built up over the years. Good luck!
The fact that seniors can’t install new apps is a feature for a lot of people, not a bug. If you have a parent with memory issues, they get taken advantage of so easily when they can install their own apps.
@@kddavila399 I acknowledge that it can be useful to reject access to the App Store, especially when you are always around to help. In my case, my father lives 500km away from me. He has no memory loss, but he is old and things are too tiny and complicated on modern phones. He is not good with tech, but he could surely be capable in adding a new app from the Apple App Store. He is careful and resisted a few scammer attempts on his current phone and always asks me via phone call if he is unsure. He is not a child, he doesn't need parental controls. You do realize the App Store is pretty save due to Apple's review process? The ability to white-list the App Store itself could be an option that could also be disabled, so it's not an either/or question to begin with. Apple has just done a terrible job and you try to justify it nonetheless. Your response is a typical Apple cult response "It's a feature. Think different." bla bla. Use-cases are not always the same. He will get an Android with a proper senior launcher, instead.
Unfortunately, Silent Mode (as we know it on iPhones) is not available in Assistive Access. All you can do is adjust the volume with the rocker or the ring/silent switch on the side of the phone.
I was looking at this for my very with-it 96yo uncle, who has advanced macular degeneration. No way would I set this up for him if he can't add apps, which he does.
I agree, Jane SSN (선생님). Being 🎙 impatient with older people and technology is sad and I think misplaced, especially since many probably helped developed this technology with NASA🤨
Kinda ageist to call this senior mode. Basically it’s converting the phone into a dumb phone… a basic phone. You could have just called the video assistive access, or something else instead of adding to age discrimination. Please consider for future videos 😊
Totally get where you’re coming from! The reason we often label things with “for seniors” and similar descriptors is because a large number of people search Google and TH-cam with these terms. Using them allows these people to find our content.
I’m not on TikTok; it’s a waste of time. What I do for my mom, even though it might not matter, is add notes to her phone with videos. I hope she’ll start figuring things out. I want to explore the video content and settings to see if it’s a good fit for her. She watches too much TV, especially ‘Family Feud,’ and I’d prefer she spend time on more productive activities.” 😊
I got a jitterbug for for my senior sister, who is not technology savvy. These android phones still get a lot of pop-ups and can have apps on them. They can still be justice confusing.
![Best Smartphone for Seniors in 2023 [Top 5 Picks For Any Budget] #BestPhoneForsSeniors](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gEGUOa8Aeu0/mqdefault.jpg)
This was JUST what I was searching for, for my elderly mother. Thank you for posting such a detailed tutorial!!
I love it! Thank you so much! This is the perfect set up for my 88 year old mom.
Thanks so much. I’m an 80-year-old and love my phone, especially the camera, but can only scratch the surface of its capabilities. With AA, I can go deep when I want to using the normal settings and still conduct 75% of my routine business using the incredibly easy AA. You have made my day 🎉!
I have been taking care of my mom for a while now and always looking for things to make it easier and her still feel like she can do things. I just found your channel browsing reviews on senior stuff. Just wanted to thank you so much for the information you give.
For our loved ones with dementia this is a Godsend.
I agree. 💛 I’ve just been researching for my loved one with dementia, and coming across this feels like a miracle. 🙏
How can you check voice messages in senior mode. I have my mom all set up on her phone but I can't figure that out!
Incredibly helpful! Just what we’re looking for for my mother in law. Thanks!
My 71 year old grandpa has an iPhone he doesn’t use and I pay the bills. This is helpful, thank you so much
OMG thank you so much for this video. I truly appreciate it.
My dad is having problems using his phone and I thought about get him an iPhone and this video can be really helpful to set it up a way that it makes easy for him to use it. thanks
Thanks for the great tutorial! I have been hoping Apple would put something like this together.
In prep for setting up my father's iPhone, all worked as demonstrated, except messaging. It looks like you can only send/respond to people that you've set up access buttons for. Having to set up buttons for all contacts is a daunting effort and forcing the use of the contacts list is defeating the point. Texting is the way most medical offices confirm appointments, as well as Uber and delivery services. It would be impossible to find out all these numbers in advance. Please tell me I'm missing the option to turn on messaging for everyone!
Thank you for the compliments! And yes, we agree, texting is very important for a variety of needs, beyond messaging your contacts.
Luckily, if you go into the Assistive Access settings, you can allow a user to receive messages from everyone. This will be the first option under the Messages settings. (There are options to receive messages from Selected Contacts, All Contacts, and Everyone).
Unfortunately, as of now, a person can only send messages to designated contacts. While this is not ideal, we think the best workaround would be to allow your father to receive messages from everyone. Then, your father will be able to reply to them in the message thread.
Hopefully, Apple will develop a fix for this issue in the next iOS. Hope that helps!
-Ryan M
How do you turn the phone off when it is in Assistive Mode?
Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are so knowledgeable and helpful. I think this will be very empowering for many people.
Great job. Thank you for this rundown. Hopefully Apple keeps and improves it, it's needed.
Thank you for this video! I'm in the process for setting it up for a family member and I can't seem to find a way to check voicemail. Can you help with this? Thanks!
After some problem solving, I found a work around! This is for checking voicemail in assistive access mode... add your phone number as a favorite contact, label as "call voicemail". You will need a numeric passcode to access your voicemail- set up in Settings. To check voicemail in assistive access you will call your phone number/ "call voicemail" and enter your numeric passcode to check messages. I hope this is helpful to people!
Appreciated your detailed tutorial. Thanks for sharing.
What a great feature , will suggest this to my mom , thank you for sharing this.
great information but where's the date on the lock screen and how does one check voicemail in AA?
can this stay on forever?
You did a really great demonstration, thank you for taking time to create this. 😊
Excellent video. I was just discussing this issue with my mother-in-law, who is 92. I would like to make a small suggestion: You should remove the distracting, repetitive background music.
Thank you for this video, I had no idea and it will be very helpful for my mom ❤
Thank you for a great tutorial! Only problem:We dont get the keyboard possiblity in the messages. We only get emojis. We have enabled keyboard and not emojis in the back end. Does anyone get this problem? It aab Iphone x
Thank you! I think my hubs may be able to use his phone easily again with this!
When I test it, there's no main screen notification that a text has been received. My mom will not know to look for a text. Also, setting up who can be messaged it clunky, and you cannot remove a person if they have been added in error. There are great ideas here, but it is not fully set up yet. I hope issues will be addressed soon by Apple.
Thank you so much for this video! You’ve saved me tons of time switching to it and trying out each app to see that it’s really not what I want or need. I can see how it would be really, really useful for some, though, so maybe I’ll set it up that way if I ever gift or sell my phone to a total Luddite/newb. 😏
Can the messaging keyboard be enlarged? Those letters are tiny.
I have checked all the settings in "Calls" - "All Contacts" is checked however several of the contacts go straight to voicemail every time they call the senior. I have also updated the software and rebooted the iphone 13. any thoughts?
This assistant access mode is great. I think I might set my sister up a phone like this.
When taking Facetime calls when the phone is idle (not unlocked with screen on), the video call is constantly interrupted by the screen turning itself off. Anyone had this bug or found a fix?
Having the same exact issue. I called apple customer support and they had me video record the issue so they can apparently send up to the engineers. They got back to me saying that they could not recreate the issue. I think that is BS since I see online that others are having the same problem.
Is there a way to create „senior mode” on iphone se (1st generation?)
Perfect tiing for this!! I just switched my mother over to an iphone.
We cannot get the iPhone 13 that's been updated to an iOS 17 will not accept Ability to send messages in the accessibility mode. I have to enter each individual contact separately, now it will only accept one contact in the send mode. Any idea on how to get selected contacts to allow sending messages.
I have the same situation did you ever get a response on how to fix this issue. Wasted an hour this morning just trying to figure out the problem and don't have a solution. Any ideas will be welcome
How do you POWER OFF the phone in assistive access mode? You didn't show that.
Have you worked out how to turn the phone off. Nothing I do lets me turn the phone off!!!!!
You have so much great info i really appreciate it
So glad to hear it! 🥰
Wow - great thanks! My mother has a medical condition which has affected her ability to point without shaking - this looks great! Going now to set it up on her phone!
Excellent review but I've found the IPhone Senior mode too restrictive. While you can set it up to receive calls and text from unknown callers, you cannot call or text back to an unknown caller. You cannot delete old text messages. No web browser. In Senior mode you cannot add to your contacts.
I think the Senior mode is good for those who you are trying to protect from the outside world. Might also be good for children who need to call home or call their pre-approved friends.
My 88 year old mother, who can't see well, just got an iPhone. She's having all kinds of trouble learning it. We've taught her how to just let Siri make calls and answer them, and the same with text messages. This AA screen will be great for her, but there's no mention on whether Siri will still work in the AA mode. Please say it will!
man, you are handsome af. i'm not a senior, but i am a subscriber from now on
If face id will work, this will be great. Passwords and triple-clicking will not work for many elderly. Especially the ones that really need this. Otherwise, it is great.
I might have missed it . I saw you can send emojis and video selfie in text.. can you send an image .. like from your photos
SOS! I’m struggling to set up Messaging.
There are 2 contacts, with messages sent in regular mode. There’s no way to send another message - no keyboard, emoji, anything! Just a text message the no way to do anything with it.
Can anyone help?? Thanks!
Very extensive review and presentation style,
Thanks! On other phone videos, we get so many comments requesting we demonstrate additional features, so we thought we’d throw them all in!
Amazing! Thank you! :)
I got a jitterbug for for my senior sister, who is not technology savvy. These android phones still get a lot of pop-ups and can have apps on them. They can still be justice confusing.
You really had me interested until you said triple click. I struggle to even click once on the side button. I help a number of elderly neighbours with their iPhones, and that side button is a nightmare for those with limited use of their hands and fingers. Otherwise, it would be a really good system. This would also be good if a person could tell Siri to enter access mode and leave access mode. After all, it’s their voice, which is the identifier for them.
Well they don't really want them to touch it
Is there no voicemail?
unfortunately no
I set this up for my 94 year ol father. It works great! However, when you are making a call, it just says “calling” at the top of the screen, you do not hear a dial tone. Anybody else have this issue?
MBTA M ticket app? Nice. A fellow Bostonian. Nice videos by the way.
Yes I am!
Sorry that's just bad from Apple. My father needs a simplified layout, but he should still be control to be able to add new apps without leaving this mode. It seems you have to explicitly allow apps, so my father cannot install new apps.
Yes, that is true. While any app can be enabled in Assistive Access, a user has to exit Assistive Access mode to download or add new apps.
@@Theseniorlist Thanks for the confirmation. So I might look into Android launchers, because I want to give my father something with long software support (7 years minimum), so it gotta be a Pixel or Samsung. I'm just not quite sure which Launcher would be the best choice. He needs complete control, but it should be as simple as possible. Is there even a favorite pick?
@@_modiX We've just gone through the same process for my father. After much research we settled on a Doro 8080. It’s as fast as my iPhone 11, well built, and runs Android but with a bespoke skin. It makes using the phone very simple. It also comes with a button on the back that can be held for 3 seconds so that the user can get help from selected family members in an emergency. I was very impressed with the phone when I set it up and would happily use one myself if I weren’t so invested in Apple Apps built up over the years. Good luck!
The fact that seniors can’t install new apps is a feature for a lot of people, not a bug. If you have a parent with memory issues, they get taken advantage of so easily when they can install their own apps.
@@kddavila399 I acknowledge that it can be useful to reject access to the App Store, especially when you are always around to help. In my case, my father lives 500km away from me. He has no memory loss, but he is old and things are too tiny and complicated on modern phones. He is not good with tech, but he could surely be capable in adding a new app from the Apple App Store. He is careful and resisted a few scammer attempts on his current phone and always asks me via phone call if he is unsure. He is not a child, he doesn't need parental controls. You do realize the App Store is pretty save due to Apple's review process? The ability to white-list the App Store itself could be an option that could also be disabled, so it's not an either/or question to begin with. Apple has just done a terrible job and you try to justify it nonetheless. Your response is a typical Apple cult response "It's a feature. Think different." bla bla. Use-cases are not always the same. He will get an Android with a proper senior launcher, instead.
Thanks for sharing.
It's too restricted. Cannot add or delete contacts, or delete photos.
HOW I GO BACK TO SETTING ????
Its pretty awesome!
how can i turn silent mode off/on when i using assitive access. i cant find
Unfortunately, Silent Mode (as we know it on iPhones) is not available in Assistive Access. All you can do is adjust the volume with the rocker or the ring/silent switch on the side of the phone.
I was looking at this for my very with-it 96yo uncle, who has advanced macular degeneration. No way would I set this up for him if he can't add apps, which he does.
Hopefully this can be changed in future versions of the feature.
I agree, Jane SSN (선생님). Being 🎙 impatient with older people and technology is sad and I think misplaced, especially since many probably helped developed this technology with NASA🤨
You can’t “click” without a mouse. On a touch interface, you “touch” instead of “click.”
This is a good point!
Kinda ageist to call this senior mode. Basically it’s converting the phone into a dumb phone… a basic phone.
You could have just called the video assistive access, or something else instead of adding to age discrimination. Please consider for future videos 😊
Totally get where you’re coming from! The reason we often label things with “for seniors” and similar descriptors is because a large number of people search Google and TH-cam with these terms. Using them allows these people to find our content.
I’m not on TikTok; it’s a waste of time. What I do for my mom, even though it might not matter, is add notes to her phone with videos. I hope she’ll start figuring things out. I want to explore the video content and settings to see if it’s a good fit for her. She watches too much TV, especially ‘Family Feud,’ and I’d prefer she spend time on more productive activities.” 😊
Want landline only
Great!
Imagine not being able to delete a photo. Big fail.
i fw this but i know i will be ridiculed for using it
Did bro just say for kids? most gen A’s know how to use a fucking iPhone
Do you think all us oldies are stupid!!!!!
I am glad that this video exists, helpful to me for setting up my device for my mother to access in a more simpler format.
Of course not! But many (though certainly not all) older adults would prefer a simplified phone interface.
there's no need to be rude. maybe this video it's not for you, but the guy is helping a lot of people
you might have leaked your sister's phone number
@theseniorlist is there voicemail?
I got a jitterbug for for my senior sister, who is not technology savvy. These android phones still get a lot of pop-ups and can have apps on them. They can still be justice confusing.
Jitterbug is terrible. iPhone senior mode is slightly better but lots of weird bugs