8 things to do before giving your older family member an iPhone or iPad - Digital Trends

2 years ago 148

One of the champion gifts you tin springiness someone, particularly successful today’s connected world, is simply a new iPhone oregon iPad. After all, these are devices that travel equipped with iOS oregon iPadOS, respectively, which are reasonably intuitive and casual to usage for astir people. For the astir part, getting an iPhone oregon iPad acceptable up the mode you privation it is simply a elemental affair.

However, if you’re giving an older idiosyncratic successful your household a caller iPhone oregon iPad, it whitethorn beryllium a spot much hard since they whitethorn not beryllium afloat tech-literate. You cognize the drill — questions like, “what’s my email?” oregon “what’s my password?” I’m definite a batch of america person been the tech enactment for our families, particularly astir the holidays. My ma is connected the older side, and my siblings and I person to assistance her with beauteous overmuch everything, including her iPhone and iPad. Here are a fewer things that you should bash earlier giving an iPhone oregon iPad to an older relative.

Set up an Apple ID for them

Apple ID banner successful the Settings app connected an iPhone 14 Pro

For each Apple devices, 1 needs an Apple ID. It’s fundamentally the cardinal to everything successful Apple’s walled garden. So if you’re gifting an iPhone oregon iPad to idiosyncratic older and they’ve ne'er utilized an iPhone, iPad, oregon Mac before, it’s adjuvant if you acceptable that up for them beforehand — some the associated email code and password. And if you do, marque definite to support that accusation useful successful a password manager similar 1Password oregon LastPass.

If your older comparative already has an existing Apple ID, consciousness escaped to proceed utilizing that 1 for them, arsenic each of their information and downloads should beryllium associated with it. I would besides urge keeping this accusation useful if you didn’t already, conscionable to assistance with immoderate relationship troubleshooting that whitethorn beryllium needed successful the future.

Get their Wi-Fi connections ready

A TP Link Archer AX3000 Wi-Fi 6 router connected a desk

An iPhone oregon iPad is useless without immoderate benignant of information connectivity. If you’re giving idiosyncratic an iPhone, it should already person a information connection. But unless you outpouring for the Wi-Fi+Cellular versions, the iPad solely relies connected Wi-Fi.

If the idiosyncratic you are giving an iPhone oregon iPad to is usually astatine home, effort mounting up the Wi-Fi for them up of clip there. And if they besides often spell to idiosyncratic else’s location oregon adjacent a favourite java shop, effort getting the instrumentality connected to those networks if you can. It gives them 1 little happening to interest about, and apt prevents a mates of aboriginal troubleshooting telephone calls for you!

Increase substance size and bold font

An iPhone 14 Pro displaying the Larger Text enactment successful Settings with bold substance already enabled

The older you get, the harder it is to work tiny text, particularly connected astir gadgets. Thankfully, Apple has a ton of assorted tweaks successful the Settings app, including Accessibility options that tin assistance marque the substance easier to work for older eyes.

In the Settings app, simply spell to Display & Brightness to find the Text Size and Bold Text toggles. For substance size, you tin take from a full of 7 sizes (the default enactment is close successful the middle), but much tin beryllium recovered successful the Accessibility settings. Accessibility besides has plentifulness of different features, including Button Shapes (this makes it easier to spot what are tappable buttons), On/Off Labels, and more.

These tweaks to the substance connected the show whitethorn look small, but for older users, they tin marque each the quality successful the world.

Clean up the location surface and adhd apps

Someone holding an iPhone 14 with the show on, showing the Home Screen.

When you get a caller iPhone oregon iPad, Apple includes its ain slate of autochthonal apps by default. These apps see Music, Stocks, Calendar, Mail, Weather, the full iWork suite of apps, and more. Your comparative whitethorn not request each of these apps, truthful you tin trim immoderate clutter connected the location surface by deleting unnecessary apps — a diagnostic that was added successful iOS 10 successful 2016.

But what if they privation 1 of those autochthonal apps you deleted? So agelong arsenic they person an Apple ID, which I mentioned earlier, they tin download the autochthonal app they privation close from the App Store.

Speaking of the App Store, if you cognize immoderate peculiar apps oregon games that your comparative likes utilizing — specified arsenic Amazon oregon Candy Crush — it would beryllium champion to download those onto the instrumentality earlier giving it to them.

Enable the Magnifier

Did you cognize that the iPhone and iPad tin beryllium utilized arsenic a magnifying glass? Yep, it’s true! This is benignant of a hidden feature, but it’s imaginable acknowledgment to Apple’s Accessibility settings.

With the Magnifier, you tin utilize the camera connected the iPhone oregon iPad to zoom successful connected immoderate you constituent your instrumentality at. The Magnifier fundamentally makes tiny substance easier to work by zooming in, but determination are different chill things you tin bash to summation legibility further — similar adjusting contrast, boosting the brightness, oregon applying a filter to invert colors.

The Magnifier is simply a standalone app successful iOS and iPadOS, but you tin besides acceptable it up arsenic an Accessibility Shortcut (triple-click the broadside button) oregon besides propulsion it up from the Control Center.

Increase show contrast

iPhone 14 Pro show with Accessibility settings for text

Earlier, I mentioned however you tin summation substance size and bold the substance to marque everything much legible for older eyes. Another proposal is to summation the contrast, which is done done the Accessibility settings.

It’s self-explanatory, but enabling this volition summation the colour opposition betwixt foreground and inheritance colors system-wide successful each apps, making it easier for the eyes. For those older relatives that whitethorn person trouble speechmaking if things are excessively light, past this should help, successful summation to expanding the font size and bolding text.

Even better, expanding the show opposition is precise easy. Open the Settings app, prime Accessibility, take Display & Text Size, and prosecute the toggle adjacent to Increase Contrast.

Shareplay enactment successful iOS 15 FaceTime

Whether you’re giving an iPhone oregon an iPad, some are devices that volition assistance idiosyncratic link with others done voice, text, and video. With that successful mind, adding important contacts to the code publication connected the iPhone oregon iPad volition prevention a batch of clip for your older household member.

With an Apple ID, you tin acceptable up iCloud for syncing data, including contacts. Once you adhd those important contacts, they’ll beryllium synced instantly with iCloud and saved crossed assorted Apple devices. In different words, if your older comparative gets different Apple instrumentality later, each of those contacts volition spell with them erstwhile they usage that aforesaid Apple ID.

Plus, if they get an iPhone oregon iPad that already has interaction accusation for different relatives and friends, past they tin get close to chatting with them done regular calls, FaceTime, and iMessage.

Turn connected Find My iPhone/iPad and alteration determination sharing

how to crook disconnected Find My iPhone

Apple has a useful small work called Find My that helps you find your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and adjacent a Mac. When you acceptable up a caller device, enabling Find My should beryllium 1 of the steps successful the process, but you tin besides manually crook it connected oregon off.

To bash this, unfastened the Settings app, pat connected the Apple ID banner, and past prime Find My. When Find My is on, you tin utilize the Find My web to find a mislaid oregon stolen (or misplaced) device, and adjacent ping it to play a dependable and assistance you find retired that it fell down the couch.

Lastly, for older relatives, it would beryllium a bully thought to support way of wherever they are — conscionable successful lawsuit thing happens. If you travel the steps supra to crook connected Find My, determination is besides different mounting successful there, allowing the Apple ID to stock the existent determination with others done Messages and Find My (if you person Family Sharing enabled). When this is enabled, you’ll beryllium capable to spot wherever that idiosyncratic is based connected the GPS determination of the iPhone oregon iPad. If they telephone oregon connection you needing assistance extracurricular of the home, you tin rapidly spot wherever they are alternatively of wasting precious time.

Apple’s devices are simple, but possibly that’s not enough

In the tech community, radical accidental Apple’s operating systems are beauteous elemental — whether that’s bully oregon atrocious is wholly up to the user. I similar the simplicity due to the fact that I tin conscionable commencement utilizing my instrumentality alternatively of tinkering astir with a batch of assorted settings. However, for aged relatives and those who are not ace tech-literate, adjacent Apple’s iOS and iPadOS (Android adjacent much so) tin get a small confusing — particularly with each of the hidden settings.

Gifting an iPhone oregon iPad to an older household subordinate is inactive a precise fashionable happening to do, contempt the information that you’ll go escaped tech support. If you bash springiness an older household subordinate 1 of Apple’s champion devices, mounting it up archetypal with these steps volition marque everyone’s lives a batch simpler.