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Ask HN: Phone for Elderly Parent

10 points by tocs3 ↗ HN
I know this subject has come up now an then here on HackerNews but I am looking to build a phone for my elderly mother. I have mostly given up on the idea of a stand alone phone but maybe a Bluetooth handset. Features I am looking for are

big buttons (but as few as possible),

contact list (easy to navigate),

read texts (She does not text but sometimes receives them for administrative info),

speaker phone with ok performance.

as few bells and whistles as possible.

Commercial solutions do not really meet these needs (AFAIK, I am open to other suggestions). Thank you for any help you might be able to provide. Please ask for any clarification that might help answer the question. I think this could be a useful thing to exist in the world.

25 comments

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eimrine
Nokia 1280 has the biggest letters in the contact list menu among any phones I have tried including for example Nokia 1110. All your requirements have been men and even one more - extreme durability not comparable with any brand new Chinese one. BL-5C is maybe the most popular battery for phones also used by some other radio devices just make sure your replaceable battery is not a crap. Monochrome display is an absolute king for those who needs simplicity.
tocs3
The Nokia 1280 (and 1110), I believe, uses the GSM network and it is closing down. If I am wrong I might give it a try.

I will be looking at batteries if I end up building something so thanks for the battery info. I wonder if I could use a nice-ish colors screen so grand-kids can send photos (feature creep already, maybe not a good idea) so I will also bo looking at screens.

eimrine
What an idiocracy to lose an experience these phones provide! I hope GSM will live forever in my lands because newer phones have laughable durability.

Color screen is not a friend if your hands works too bad to hold the device without dropping it down. Also freedom for designers to mess up with color dimension and less-pixel-size dimension tends to produce ugly interfaces not compatible with elderly people because these dimensions are almost never be used for good. Any devices with color screen is never considered as a durable item or well-made menu, and any device with monochrome one typically is robust and render abilities of display is always used fully.

shortrounddev2
For modern 5G infrastructure, GSM vs CDMA doesn't matter. However, for older phones that run on legacy networks it will only matter up to the point that they dismantle anything older than 4G I believe
shortrounddev2
Will a 1280 work on modern telecom infrastructure? Wikipedia says it's 2G and I don't think there is any 2G infrastructure left
tocs3
No, we had o get new phones a while back because the closed up the 3G network.
captn3m0
iPhone Assistive mode isn’t perfect, but worth looking at:

https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/assistive-access-iphon...

tocs3
I am looking for something with physical buttons. Watching her interact with touch screens is painful. Still, well worth a look.
qup
Watching my dad is painful as well, compared to a peer, but overall he is able to do what he needs. Might just be your own discomfort.

But, kudos to looking out for her. I'm thinking a lot about how to put a useful LLM-with-voice-commands in front of my Dad for at least a few of the things he fumbles with.

tocs3
Thank you. It can be tough looking out for others.

When I win the lottery I am going to hire some advanced "Makers" to come out and make all the things I think are missing in the world. There are, from what I see, a lot of niche areas that are woefully under served.

al_borland
Is that due to the touch screen or the interface? I’d be interested to see someone who normally has issues getting around on a touch screen trying assistive touch to see if the simplified UI with fewer controls helps.

For me, I thought the original iPhone was easier to navigate than any previous phone, or electronic device with buttons, I had ever used. While I like buttons and tactile controls, doing things in software allowed everything to be obvious. I don’t know anyone who fully used the contacts function on old phones, and speed dial required remembering which number was assigned to which person. With the iPhone the favorites had names on them, there was nothing to remember. Controls were also direct and purpose built, not abstractions assigned to unchanging buttons.

That said, over the years the OS has become more complex and harder to manage. The UI also got harder to use when skeuomorphism was dropped, imo. I’d like to think Assistive Touch addresses some, but not all, of this. I’ve actually thought about turning it on for myself just to simplify the experience, but I’m guessing I’d probably need to revert back to the full UI too often.

tocs3
I think mostly the touch screen. Most devices I have seen or used (and those my mother has tried) need a fairly bulky case so fingers do not interfere with the screen around the edge (maybe software fixes already available). Holding the phone too gingerly for fear of breaking it also leads to drops. She is someone that payed $2-$3k for a brand new car.

Fine motor control is also an issue. Her fingers skip across the screen. Buttons on a flat screen seem to be conceptually troubling.

The flip phone she uses now is ok but there are way to many options. It is to easy to select them. She does well with the contact list except she did manage to block me the other day (a nice but extra option).

I am planning on going to a store and get her to try an iPhone and assistive touch but we are in a rural area so trips to such places don't happen a lot. I will be watching for someone with an iPhone (is touch assistant a setting or an app?).

al_borland
The motor control issues make a lot of sense.

Assistive Access is a setting in the OS. It’s under Settings > Accessibility > Assistive Access (under the General heading near the bottom)

There is a setup process for it, it’s not just a simple toggle. Then there are settings for which apps to allow, and various things to enable/disable.

mikequinlan
Jitterbug https://www.lively.com/
tocs3
I will look at this some more and call to see if there is somewhere I can try one. It looks a lot like what she is using. Does it have bells and whistles? She is pushing the wrong buttons and end up in confusing screens full of options. Is this avoidable with Jittterrbug phones?
notrevealingmy
For my similiar use case I'd like something even easier. A "phone" with a simple big red button, which when pressed, dials my number.
neuralRiot
I want to make something similar but that works via bluetooth with any phone and that can dial a pre-programmed number, it could be small enough to make it a pendant or a wristband.
notrevealingmy
Interesting idea, but, for example in my case, the person who is not keen on learning to use a smartphone is even less keen on needing to carry two devices with them. Also in that case they'd also need to remember to charge two separate devices.
tocs3
Maybe a case for the phone with the button on it. It might be able to use something like a coin cell and just be turned off until the button is pressed.
neuralRiot
I got the idea because my mom (89yo) is pretty tech-savvy for her age and has no problem using her cellphone but she had a couple of incidents where she fell and the phone was out of reach as nobody normally carries it around the house (well I know a few exceptions to that) so the device could act as a wearable speed dial button of some sort. There are some devices like that but I believe they use their own network and subscriptions.

EDIT:Found one https://silentbeacon.com/product/panic-button-safety-beacon/ I might purchase one to test. About $59 USD sounds reasonable.

tocs3
I have been looking at Arduino or esp devices coupled with a little Bluetooth module for something like this.It seams like it should be pretty easy (just beyond beginner in the subject).

This might be a starting point. https://www.sparkfun.com/products/20168

colinpr
iPhone

My father was reluctant to switch from his beloved Blackberry to an iPhone.

Once he made the change, he found it so easy to use that he became much more engaged with technology and using his phone. The transition was so smooth that he developed retrograde amnesia in relation to his previous (or was that my trouble (emoji: thinking) in navigating a handy. While I'm not an Apple fanatic, this was a very positive experience with the switch to iPhone. Ease of use.

ac2u
This reminds me of a similar ask that someone had a few years ago about a video calling solution device.

I posted an explanation then as to why proposing iPads and iPhones is missing the point. I think the same sentiment applies.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23598685

OP: I have no answers for existing solutions but I have no doubt there are customers out there for such a product. Funnily enough the target market isn't so much the end user but rather their adult children that want to be able to provide them with a solution that won't cause UX problems every 6 months because some patch changed the UI for no good reason :)