iPhone SE (2022) I spent the day trying to teach seniors how to use an iPhone and it was a nightmare.

[Boeingfan]

I certainly agree with this from my own experience helping older folks with smartphones. Those of us who've been using iPhones for many years have internalised all sorts of invisible swipe gestures and implicit UI structures that are really non-obvious for someone trying to learn how to use a 202x iPhone from scratch.

"How did you know to do that?"
"...I just do"

And I bet you’ve been told so many times, “You’re really good at this, you should do this professionally.” I’ve been told this, and they tell me it’s because I’m patient with them and don’t make them feel foolish or like dunces because they don’t get it.

It takes time, it takes nurturing, it takes repetition, it takes empathy. It is no different to how kindergarten kids need to be taught. There are many ways to learn, we are not all wired the same.

 

[Boeingfan]

My great uncle is 98 and uses an iPad like a champ!

I thought there was an accessibility setting in iOS that gives large icons and a minimal OS? https://support.apple.com/en-nz/guide/assistive-access-iphone/dev683243feb/ios

I wasn’t aware of this, thank you. I shall investigate.

 

[Boeingfan]

This made me think smartphones were made intuitive when they were the new thing so adults would learn how to use them. Now, the focus is on increasing the market share among kids, who don't need much explanation and will be future clients. Unfortunately, seniors are not a very important target for manufacturers anymore. Just a thought.

It’s the same, sadly, for many aspects of western society. We push the elderly aside, fight over their bank accounts and assets, stick them in a corner and wait for them to die. It’s disgraceful.

The reality is that we will all be there one day, so I’m hoping I can find myself a loaded gun in the grass somewhere 😆

 

[Boeingfan]

My dad has a number of cognitive impairments. He had my mom's old iphone at one point, but he just couldn't handle it. We got him a Lively Jitterbug Smartphone 4. It is an awful experience. It's designed for seniors though and he was able to use it for a little while. That time has passed. He still has it and can handle making or receiving a call every once in a while (typically with help), but mostly just gets confused and annoyed by it. He always asks me for help with it when I visit, but it's never charged.

Jitterbug Smart4 | Simple Smartphone for Seniors | Lively

The Jitterbug Smart4 is our best simple Jitterbug smartphone for seniors. The Smart4 is an easy, affordable way to call, text & keep in touch with family.

www.lively.com

It's definitely frustrating, but I just try to do what I can with him while I'm available.

We need a company of 90 year olds making phones for their own market.

 

[Boeingfan]

There’s always the Ericofon ☺️

 

[RedWeasel]

Swipes, gestures, and shortcuts aren’t intuitive if they rely solely on memory, and memory function is an issue. This is a great thread with many valid points, and something I’ve felt strongly about for a long time now. I feel for my reply recipient, the OP, and everyone else navigating this facet of life.

That's a very important point in this context. And one of the reasons why I gave my father (85 y/o) a button phone. This seems to work better than anything touchscreen, maybe also because there is a tangible feedback involved.

 

[RedWeasel]

No. Seniors are not developmentally impaired; they built things like Cray computers and the internet. It is not that "These people don’t need an iPhone at all." Devices simply need to be more accessible for all kinds of users, including seniors.

Like the OP said.

Don't underestimate cognitive decline with age. My father introduced me to computers in the 1980s and he was generally very savvy with any thing technology.

But once things like dementia start to kick in, all this doesn't really matter anymore. So yes, many seniors are impaired now - this doesn't mean they were impaired when they were younger.

 

[haruhiko]

My parents and in laws who are almost 70 are handling their iPhones very well. Face ID works flawlessly to them and they send messages, make phone calls, take pictures, even game on it just fine. I don’t know which phones are you giving them since you mentioned Touch ID. All in all they use iPhones just fine. My 70 year old father in law loves the iPhone 16e, he said the battery life is superb and he never has to charge it during the day. He’s impressed.

I also gave them Apple Watches to monitor their health and they learnt how to use the health app to see their health metrics.

I am the one who set up the phones for them and therefore endured all the difficult parts. Only the easy parts are left to them. May you should try this too.

 

[Parowdy]

If all they are supposed to do is call and be called, Guided Access is the way to go it seems. The device is still password protected, but they rarely will need (someone to unlock) it. Unless the phone restarts for whatever reason, they should be good.
If they can’t locate the numpad symbol, you have to stop right there putting more blame on a modern touch first user interface.
You can also set a different phone app as the default, you didn’t mention looking into that. Maybe there is an app that is even more simple than Phone and lets you set the default view.
I don’t have any first hand experience with Assistive Access, as I don’t want to mess up something on my phone just turning it on and off, but you’re right that it should be a default option to choose from when setting up the phone. I don’t know what iOS version you were on, but I thought it was actually. Last time I reset my iPhone I thought it presented that option to me on iOS 26, but I might as well be mistaken.

 

[Parowdy]

Incredible how well y’all parents and grandparents are doing. To add something to the contrary:

My grandpa recently turned 88. He doesn’t require care, just some help in the house and garden. He’s still pretty active and ages very well, even still has color in his hair (let’s hope I get that from him).
We had to buy a new TV for him this week as his old one only displayed images in blue (a Grundig flat screen from 5-7 years ago) after the red and green pixels started failing over the years.
We went to the electronics store and got him a 2025 Philips Ambilight TV. For 1000€…
The reason? One single button.
Not that there aren’t any others, but on his new remote there is a button that works like the home button on iPad: wherever you are, whatever you do, this button brings you back to the last viewed TV channel.
It’s still a smart TV, it still has all the bells and whistles (and I only noticed once we installed it that it was OLED, unfortunately). Don’t matter, he needs a „Home Button“. He needs a TV that starts not on some Streaming Service and ad „Home“ screen. He needs it to start like any other TV did a couple years ago.
He very often went to the radio list on his TV and there was no conceivable way to restrict him only to his favorites. Luckily, those are all problems of the past.
Concerning mobile devices, he has a mobile phone that he never takes with him. He doesn’t get new technology. If it doesn’t replicate analog devices he knows from the past, he can’t handle it.

 

[fatTribble]

Apple should work on their phones to make them more accessible and less fiddly

I agree with this.

For what it’s worth, my parents used and loved their iPhones into their 70s and 80s.
They used basic functions like making calls, texting, weather, etc.

I thought my Mom would have a difficult time going to the X and FaceID.
I remember this moment because she swiped up and unlocked her iPhone before I could even finish my sentence. She had no problem with the button or with the swipe up.

After my Mom had her stroke she couldn’t text any longer. I pretty much removed most of her apps or put them on back pages. Her Home Screen was just 4 big shortcuts to call each of the kids. For the most part she did fine with that.

So I do think it’s possible to simplify the iPhone just by removing apps and using shortcuts.

It would have been very helpful to be able to turn off the long press on the Home Screen to delete and rearrange apps. My Mom used to accidentally enable that all the time.

Tip: I got my Mom a HomePod with Apple Music after her stroke. Wow did that light her up. She raved about that and listened to music a lot.

 

[Wanted797]

In my experience, some elderly people have issues with understanding what "soft" buttons do. They can be clearly seen on the ZTE phone as being identified as with "dash".

View attachment 2562484

I don't know the EasyCall 5 I remember the easy call 3 which did not have those.

But vaguely remember a way in the Easy call to make it even simpler, so I'd bet you could disable them. TBH if someone can't use an EasyCall I don't think the problem is the manufacturer, at some point people have to learn or accept they can't use that product.

 

[Powerbooky]

IMHO... the iPhone in its first few generations fixed that what made previous "smart" phones horrible; not so much buttons, paramaters to set and therefore a much simpler UI.

Through the years many new functions, options, different looks have appeared in iOS, all with good intentions but I have to agree, for those who start with an iPhone from scratch... it is a time consuming thing if one has barely any clue what all these "things" appearing on the display mean. It is even more complicated when non-Apple applications/services are involved - multiple accounts, app stores, data plans etc etc.

Apple could make it simple again by starting the setup of an iPhone with a question if the user just wants a simple phone with big icons, big text, photos and maybe FaceTime. The anti-trust agencies probably might complain again, but with this use case it best to keep it simple and keep out 3rd party crap.

 

[SpotOnT]

I agree with everyone else who says that if what these seniors want/can handle is a simple phone….well then that is what they should be using?

Why spend the money/environmental resources/time on a pocket computer when all they need is a phone?

 

[scaramoosh]

IMHO... the iPhone in its first few generations fixed that what made previous "smart" phones horrible; not so much buttons, paramaters to set and therefore a much simpler UI.

Through the years many new functions, options, different looks have appeared in iOS, all with good intentions but I have to agree, for those who start with an iPhone from scratch... it is a time consuming thing if one has barely any clue what all these "things" appearing on the display mean. It is even more complicated when non-Apple applications/services are involved - multiple accounts, app stores, data plans etc etc.

Apple could make it simple again by starting the setup of an iPhone with a question if the user just wants a simple phone with big icons, big text, photos and maybe FaceTime. The anti-trust agencies probably might complain again, but with this use case it best to keep it simple and keep out 3rd party crap.

I really think just having a "senior" mode at startup that bypasses everything, so it can be used right away, will fix the issues. Also, making the function simple, so getting them to unlock with multiple presses is no good. Even when I tried to unlock it from an angle, it didn't work, and then I picked it up and discovered it needs two presses and their finger. However, none of them could gauge it. Face unlock was better in some ways and worse in others, as for some reason, they all wanted to put the phone right next to their face to unlock. Then they swiped, and it would do that thing where it would bring the screen down for one-handed use, lol. Then they'd click on things, not expecting them to open, and get lost, lol.


Things just need to have one deliberate use. For example, trying to use the home button to unlock on the SE was a nightmare; it needed a very specific press, otherwise, it would bring up other things. Then, suddenly, they were in the multitasking window or Siri asking if we want to enable it or a hundred other things, lol. For some reason, they wanted to do a long, hard press, not this light, quick one the fake home button needs, but finding my old iPhone 4S, it works fine.


They do not want passcodes either. We'll just have to accept they might lose their phone; security isn't important to them, and they want to go to a bank to do their banking. They want a camera to take pictures. I tried showing them all how to use the camera, and they hated it. You need a proper physical button and a lens that moves like an old camera, lol. So, these phones are literally just a device to phone people; none of them could even work out how to text. Honestly, if you could never set up the phone and just phone people and have the number pad showing all the time, they'd be happy with that.


Again, the Nokia "dumb phones" have this annoying way to unlock the keypad, and none of them could deal with it. I was hoping the iPhone would be easier; I looked like a right idiot, lol. Then, if you didn't have the keypad locked, honestly, everyone's phone had dialed "999" several times. Like, we need 911, not 999, and why are the phones only dialing 9?


Anyway, I'm trying flip phones. I think if I can boil it down to "flip it open to pick up, close it to hang up," then I'm fine. As long as the phones do not do anything like requiring you to press a button to answer and hang up, I'm good.

 

[scaramoosh]

I agree with everyone else who says that if what these seniors want/can handle is a simple phone….well then that is what they should be using?

Why spend the money/environmental resources/time on a pocket computer when all they need is a phone?

The government is bringing in digital Id and soon they will all need this, it cannot work without the government robbing them blind.

 

[MrCdvr]

There's this

Set up Assistive Access on iPhone

Set up Assistive Access on iPhone for a family member or someone you care for and customize it so that it works best for them.

support.apple.com

Which is made for older people or people that have difficulties, so Apple did "dumb-down" their phones if You really need it, but if iPhone is too much, then get them Doro phone as an example, they are phones - mobile and stationary with sim card and batteries made for old people, theres more manufactures that make things for older people

 

[Ctrlos]

The 'Essential OS' idea that Nothing are working on is a step in the right direction and a good application for AI. An ideal future is the phone asking your age, doing a few cognitive tests on startup (eg how far up the screen you can reach with one thumb) and then customising the entire operating system to your own personal requirements.

 

[headlessmike]

It can be very individual. My wife's grandmother is 98 and her iPhone and iPad are the only devices she can use anymore due to poor eyesight. She cannot read from paper anymore because it is too dark. But she's on Facebook following all of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and reads books or news all of the time using her iPad. Then you have my father-in-law who calls tech support (either me of his service provider) every other day because he cannot remember how to use even basic features.

 

[woolypants]

Honestly, I think Apple really needs to simplify the iPhone for the elderly. I know there are accessibility modes, but you don’t want to have to go through all that and spend hours trying to customize the phone. Also, the whole phone setup process needs to be delayed; having to go through it for an hour puts them off from even wanting to bother. I first set the phones up to make accounts, but it turns out none of them could understand how to unlock the phone. Entering a passcode was a nightmare because they kept forgetting it, even though it was a birthday they knew, lol.

So, I tried Touch ID and Face ID, and that was even more complicated and kept erroring out. Then, the Siri thing kept popping up on the phones with Touch ID, despite turning it off, and the whole swiping from the button kept making the screen go down to the bottom half. :/ There were too many apps; all they wanted was the phone app, but it doesn’t default to the keypad, which was too much for them to find.


The phones are too fiddly now, and pressing random things as they try to hold the phone meant the phone got lost in a sea of opening stuff up. So, I tried the assistive access, but why isn’t this an option from the get-go? It asks you the age of setup; why not have a 65+ or something for a senior mode?


They don’t need passcodes, accounts, and a sea of information. It’s insane, and it’s insane how fiddly these phones are. I never noticed because I’m used to it, but for these people with hands that barely move, the fake Touch ID button and the swiping from the bottom on Face ID phones seem to be the worst! I think having a proper physical button, like iPhones used to have, would have been superior. The one complaint about the fake button was that it didn’t feel like a real button, so they couldn’t gauge it.


I left there achieving nothing because they couldn’t figure out their old Nokia phones. The unlock thing on the keypad was too difficult, and if I turned that off, they kept dialing 999 in their pockets for some reason. That’s why I was there: they were calling emergency services 100 times a day, lol.


I think what I’ve realized is that I need to go back with flip phones that answer and hang up when you open and close them. However, the two I tried before didn’t act like that, and they had too many features. I really thought I could make the iPhone simple, but NOPE!


Apple should work on their phones to make them more accessible and less fiddly, without having to go through a sea of menus.

You are spot on.

When they introduced a gesture-based interface, Apple wanted to believe that our ability to understand technology has evolved, and the fact is, that's only true of a certain age range.

The old iPhone UI (e.g around iPhone 4) was a masterpiece of UX design. I remember my own elderly mother figuring out, with my encouragement, how to send a photo. There's an arrow, and it's pointing out of a box... She realised that mean something would be leaving the phone. It brought up what we call the share sheet, but it had what she needed.

That icon is still there but now it's "evolved" and very stylised. It's the equivalent of the floppy disk icon for save. It's lost all inherent meaning.

It's all a sign that the iPhone is over-engineered today. Apple has to keep bolting on new things in the name of innovation, and it's made for a device that's a UI nightmare. Don't get me wrong. For somebody like me, it's great. It's just not great for everybody. And I believe Apple has lost touch with that. That's a huge shame, but it was always predicated on one guy who had extraordinary insight. Once he went, that was the end of that.

 

[spamabyss]

No. Seniors are not developmentally impaired; they built things like Cray computers and the internet. It is not that "These people don’t need an iPhone at all." Devices simply need to be more accessible for all kinds of users, including seniors.

Like the OP said.

Generally I would agree. And as OP said, if they didn't manage to handle a Nokia dumb phone, I don't see how any smartphone could make a difference? Observing my own late grandfather I also got the impression that it wasn't necessarily a skills issue. He did indeed build complex things throughout this life. And he too couldn't figure out how to use his Nokia dumb phone. He wasn't developmentally impaired and was sharp even in his 90s. And some part of him just rejected this new part of technology. Part of him didn't want to understand it. Otherwise I couldn't explain how he was able to handle complex machines, do fine welding work, build whole houses but then surrendered to a simple number pad on a phone.

That said, it still important put attention to the difficulties older people have when interacting with technology, whether it's the touchscreens not reacting to their skin or overall complex menu layers. And I do have to say Apple can be extra complicated in this regard with many small things (One example: Are the settings for this app in the app itself or in an extra menu that you only find when you go to the settings app and find your app there?)

 

[uacd]

I personally agree with you, though I would see why other people might disagree.

It is always a nightmare for me to tell how to use phones even to people who are 30 years older than me, not even saying 70+.

I believe Apple’s UI is too overengineered even for regular people. I often find it hard to use certain features or roam thru iOS menus. It reminds me awful Nokia Symbian touch phone interfaces from 2007 and onwards. Pinnacle of ui design was iOS 6 for me and none of my relatives had hard time using it and understanding which icon does what.

The phones are too fiddly now, and pressing random things as they try to hold the phone meant the phone got lost in a sea of opening stuff up

One way out of this is to remove unneeded apps/hide them.

They don’t need passcodes, accounts, and a sea of information.

You can actually try setting phone without passcode, touch id, face id, even without iCloud. That’s how I prefer my devices to work. I don’t store sensitive info anyway, and I bet none of seniors are gonna store stuff teenagers do on their phones…

iPhone is cluster**** nowadays: widgets, “recently deleted” folders in every corner of OS, app libraries, splash screens and random popup menus since iOS 26… Awful and very poor UX.

I think having a proper physical button, like iPhones used to have, would have been superior.

Kinda. Samsungs have virtual home button, very convenient tbh. On iPhone you gotta get used to these swipes but it also gets weird overtime. People are obsessed with “thin bezels” these days and even notch/island is a result of this. I would have much preferred function over form because elongated iPhone design (19:9) is not doing a favor to content consumption anyway, iPhones these days are like TV remotes, very long

 

[wanha]

This is a genuine issue, not just because older people's cognitive abilities have declined, but also because they (usually) become more resistant to change and struggle to adopt new ways of using - and thinking about using - a phone.

My father is now 81 and has growing memory problems, and every change is becoming more and more difficult for him to adapt to.

Ideally there would be an iOS based phone for elderly with simplified use, but alas I don't think that market is nearly big, lucrative, or sexy enough for Apple to enter.

 

[cemark]

Old people are not the target audience of Apple. All they need to call someone or send a message to their relatives/friends. Apple needs their customers to subscribe to their services, upgrade their phones every year, buy unnecessary amounts of accessories. They could have made a mode which will bump up the font like 300% and simlifiy everything like android phones "Easy Mode" but this wont bring Apple any profit whatsoever. Apple has never cared of their customers needs since Tim Cook. All they need is more sales, more profit. If it wasn't for the EU's rules we would still have lightning port. I used to replace my phone every 1-2 year but not only I dont need as much anymore also just to spite Apple. Also I will never buy brand new from Apple, always second hand. I just hate the Apple management. They ruined Jobs's legacy.

 

[ericg301]

So Samsung phones still have an “easy mode” that makes it look like a child’s toy? That swayed my grandpa 15ish years ago when he got his first phone.

He did eventually switch to an iPhone though