iPad Set up iPad for Mom (ideally without computer)

sampdoria said:

Hi all

I just purchased an iPad (4th Gen/Wifi/16GB) and Adonit keyboard case as a Xmas gift for mom in her 60's who lives in Germany (near Frankfurt). She currently has an aging windows laptop but really just uses it for email, internet browsing (facebook), and skype. Ideally I would like to set it up for her in advance from here in the US, install mentioned apps, and would like for her not to bother with iTunes/syncing with her laptop. I suppose I need to create an apple id for her, but not sure what to do beyond that. I don't mind managing her apple id for her remotely (e.g. email address, credit card info, etc). We skype a lot with her and look forward to Facetime with her too. Any suggestions?

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Get the Facebook app, sign her in. Have her use the mail app, and definitely have sign into that for her, as it's a somewhat complicated process. You could also use an iCloud.com email, but that's a different story. Basically, get her signed into anything she uses, so she can just tap it and go.

sampdoria said:

I will definitely do all that. Thanks!
What about iOS updates, one can do over the air, yes?

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Yes

sampdoria said:

Hi all

I just purchased an iPad (4th Gen/Wifi/16GB) and Adonit keyboard case as a Xmas gift for mom in her 60's who lives in Germany (near Frankfurt). She currently has an aging windows laptop but really just uses it for email, internet browsing (facebook), and skype. Ideally I would like to set it up for her in advance from here in the US, install mentioned apps, and would like for her not to bother with iTunes/syncing with her laptop. I suppose I need to create an apple id for her, but not sure what to do beyond that. I don't mind managing her apple id for her remotely (e.g. email address, credit card info, etc). We skype a lot with her and look forward to Facetime with her too. Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

I am in the same situation. I bought my mother an iPad Mini for Christmas and although she has used mine a lot when I visited in the past, she is not so savvy with gadgets. To avoid opening it before giving it to her (and only because I will be away this Christmas) I created an iCloud account for her on one of my iOS devices, then topped up the account with a iTunes gift voucher. My sister can help her enter the Wifi key and then she can sign in the details I sent her in a text. I have no need to ever log into her account, so the mother/son trust thing works, but if she ever feels like changing the password she can with a little guidance. I entered all the immediate family contacts into her iCloud contacts and I am hoping it all goes smoothly enough so she can easily FaceTime me on Christmas when I am on a sun lounger!

I know with my iPad 4, I didn't even plug it into the computer until I wanted to put music on it. I have an iPad 1 but didn't want to do a restore or anything.

Effectively you can now buy one and if you are not using music on it, not have to use a PC/Mac.