Sorry for the long-ish post. Okay, I have an interesting situation with my elders that has brought up a couple concerns on my part. My questions, in a nutshell are these:
So, here's a little background:
My mom (a widow) met her beau (a widower) in their 70s while she was visiting Germany (her home country) from Canada (the country she calls home). Because he lives there, the last decade they have been spending half the year here in Canada, and half the year there in Germany so that they can be together. It's all very romantic and stuff.
Sadly, they are both now in their mid 80s, and they can't continue this traveling due to health issues, so they will have to spend at least a half of each year apart now. It's all very tragic and stuff. However, they desperately want to be able to at least speak to each other while they are apart.
They have had a 1st generation iPad the past couple years, and so are familiar with iOS (thank goodness Apple made a device and OS that even my technophobic mother can use), and know about Facetime, although they haven't ever used it aside from watching me on my iPhone. This being the case, the suggestion was made that they might use Facetime to stay in touch while they are apart. To this end, they would like to buy each other iPad Minis for Christmas this year, and then use them to Facetime while apart. It's all very tragically romantically sweet.
So, while they are here in Canada over the holidays, they have asked me to buy them both iPads and set them up. I need to know that when my mom's beau gets back to Germany early next year, all will work so they can chat. My mom already has an Apple ID and all that good stuff, so I assume setting her up will be fairly painless.
Her boyfriend causes me concern. If we get him an Apple ID here in Canada, will it work when he gets home, or is it better to have him set that up from Germany? Is it possible to set up a German account from Canada?
Anyone have any advice to make the separation of these poor souls a little less painful?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts...
- Will an iPad Mini bought in Canada function in Germany? My expectation is there are no issues at all when using WiFi. Cellular will likely not ever be used, so I don't foresee an issue.
- How well does Facetime work iPad to iPad between Canada and Germany? I have heard good things, but never tried it myself.
- Can an Apple ID created in Canada be used in the German Apple ecosystem to Facetime? This is where it gets fuzzy for me.
So, here's a little background:
My mom (a widow) met her beau (a widower) in their 70s while she was visiting Germany (her home country) from Canada (the country she calls home). Because he lives there, the last decade they have been spending half the year here in Canada, and half the year there in Germany so that they can be together. It's all very romantic and stuff.
Sadly, they are both now in their mid 80s, and they can't continue this traveling due to health issues, so they will have to spend at least a half of each year apart now. It's all very tragic and stuff.
However, they desperately want to be able to at least speak to each other while they are apart.They have had a 1st generation iPad the past couple years, and so are familiar with iOS (thank goodness Apple made a device and OS that even my technophobic mother can use), and know about Facetime, although they haven't ever used it aside from watching me on my iPhone. This being the case, the suggestion was made that they might use Facetime to stay in touch while they are apart. To this end, they would like to buy each other iPad Minis for Christmas this year, and then use them to Facetime while apart. It's all very tragically romantically sweet.
So, while they are here in Canada over the holidays, they have asked me to buy them both iPads and set them up. I need to know that when my mom's beau gets back to Germany early next year, all will work so they can chat. My mom already has an Apple ID and all that good stuff, so I assume setting her up will be fairly painless.
Her boyfriend causes me concern. If we get him an Apple ID here in Canada, will it work when he gets home, or is it better to have him set that up from Germany? Is it possible to set up a German account from Canada?
Anyone have any advice to make the separation of these poor souls a little less painful?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts...