I just joined your community... I need to upgrade older iPhone and iPad for sister with MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment). She's constantly misplacing (hiding) her devices... part of me wants to be rid of all smart devices... she's in a nice senior residence; independent living for now... but ideally I'd like her to Zoom with family on her iPad and use her iPhone outside her room (landline supplied by residence)... Thinking new HomePod with Siri AI might be the answer for a base station to locate her devices and play her music like Alexa... any advice welcome...
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So so... she's a retired teacher so she used to be fairly proficient... but now her memory is declining.. I understand with Assistive Access I can "lock down" her iPhone to just the basics of email and text and the apps that won't get her into trouble... also, I'm hoping I can use voice activated Siri on a HomePad so she can play her music... and find her iPhone when she hides it...
Huntn
macrumors Penryn
My Dad lived to 96, had been using a computer for easy tasks like surfing, shopping, and the stock market, but by the time he was 94, technical stuff reached a point where it befuddled him. My wife’s Mom is in her 90s and everyone thinks the iPhone she has and does not know how to work, should be replaced with a much simpler device if such a thing exist today? 🤔
lostPod
macrumors 6502a
I'm very sorry that hear that. My mother has very bad dimentia so I understand your situation.
Have you used an amazon Echo / Alexa device recentlty in comparison to the Homepod? I have both in my house and as much as I hate to admit it -- I find Alexa to function better and seems a bit more polished with its secondary features and voice communication. I'm not sure how the HomePod will be running with the new Siri, but I would check out Alexa devices as well if you're up to it.
Also, you'll need an active Apple Music sub in order to yell at Siri to play music natively with deep integration, no otehr 3rd party music services work that way. BUT -- You can still say, "Hey Siri, play [whatever] on Spotify" and it’ll stream from your iPhone to your HomePod via AirPlay, but there’s a delay. -- Unless this has changed.
I tried to get Homepod and Siri to take care of the whole house but there were holes in the output -- So I added Alexa to help with the parts Siri was lacking. Not as private as I had wanted my smart home, but it works. I am hoping the new Siri will help.
Alexa can have your phone ring similar to Siri, but it's not using apple find my devices. If I recall correctly it uses the Alexa app and the phone physically recieves a phone call. SO if the phone is on silent you will not hear it ring. Rats!
Have you used an amazon Echo / Alexa device recentlty in comparison to the Homepod? I have both in my house and as much as I hate to admit it -- I find Alexa to function better and seems a bit more polished with its secondary features and voice communication. I'm not sure how the HomePod will be running with the new Siri, but I would check out Alexa devices as well if you're up to it.
Also, you'll need an active Apple Music sub in order to yell at Siri to play music natively with deep integration, no otehr 3rd party music services work that way. BUT -- You can still say, "Hey Siri, play [whatever] on Spotify" and it’ll stream from your iPhone to your HomePod via AirPlay, but there’s a delay. -- Unless this has changed.
I tried to get Homepod and Siri to take care of the whole house but there were holes in the output -- So I added Alexa to help with the parts Siri was lacking. Not as private as I had wanted my smart home, but it works. I am hoping the new Siri will help.
Alexa can have your phone ring similar to Siri, but it's not using apple find my devices. If I recall correctly it uses the Alexa app and the phone physically recieves a phone call. SO if the phone is on silent you will not hear it ring. Rats!
BSDnostalgia
macrumors 6502a
Along the same lines, how is her hearing? Over the years, I've noticed that hearing has been the biggest issue for many older people with devices. People with MCI often have hearing loss as well, and also have trouble dealing with making various types of aids work. Audio is always a problem with multiway conferencing. And, staff are usually too busy to manage audio setup problems for clients. IOW, include the audio aspect in your inquiries/plans regarding devices.
Thanks to all...
Yes, she has diminished hearing as well... I'm hoping with the right Family Sharing setup, I can control things so she doesn't have to... and she did have Alexa at one time but quit using it... I'll try to find it in her belongings and set it up... I really want the HomePad idea to function as Find My since she's constantly hiding her devices, and the HomePad can stay next to her landline, and she can ask it where her device is... we have recently moved her into senior residence (Brookdale) so she's in a secure environment, but it is new and she's paranoid people are stealing her stuff 😔
Yes, she has diminished hearing as well... I'm hoping with the right Family Sharing setup, I can control things so she doesn't have to... and she did have Alexa at one time but quit using it... I'll try to find it in her belongings and set it up... I really want the HomePad idea to function as Find My since she's constantly hiding her devices, and the HomePad can stay next to her landline, and she can ask it where her device is... we have recently moved her into senior residence (Brookdale) so she's in a secure environment, but it is new and she's paranoid people are stealing her stuff 😔
Bodhitree
macrumors 68030
My stepfather had advanced Alzheimer’s for a number of years prior to his death in 2024, we bought an iPad for him (the base model) to see if he could get on with it after years of being a Mac user (he was an author, illustrator and graphic designer). Unfortunately he never really got the hang of it.
This is different enough from your situation that it may not be helpful, but just in case there are ideas of use:
My 90-something MIL is in pretty good shape but suffering from MCI, and we've set her up with an iPad to use exclusively for incoming FaceTime calls. She is not technically capable, so is not the same boat as your sister, although she has learned to answer an incoming call which is all that's necessary for this case. That it works pretty much like a phone has helped--the concept of answering the thing that is ringing was easy enough to grasp and hold on to. It's sync'd to her hearing aids, so she can hear when we're calling if she's wearing them, and if not the ringer is at max volume so she can generally hear it ringing. No lock code at all since that's beyond her capability, and everything else is locked down to prevent mis-taps.
With one of the magnetic covers it auto-sleeps when closed and auto-wakes when opened, so that mostly takes care of accidental app opening and such (no need to understand the power button), and combined with one of those magnetic USB-C cable adapters, even with arthritis she can connect and disconnect it from the charger without much difficulty.
This setup has worked surprisingly well for the past several years. Having a regularly scheduled call time has helped a lot in this case, since she gets herself prepared when she's expecting a call.
I have remote access turned on, and while it's something of a chore to get her to tap the "accept" button twice, I have managed to do long-distance troubleshooting a couple of times that way.
I'll note that it depends a lot on ear condition, but getting that thing connected to her hearing aids was a game-changer--it's functionally impossible to communicate with her otherwise, but she can generally hear pretty well on a call with them in and connected to the iPad.
If the goal was purely FaceTime, that setup might work for you, but since you're trying to give your sister more capability, it's oversimplified. It also doesn't address the hiding stuff issue you're dealing with, which has not been an issue with my MIL since she has learned to just keep it in its home beside the landline and plugged in when not in use.
Again, if you were purely after FaceTime, and there aren't hearing aids involved, maybe just the ringer sound would lead her to a hidden/misplaced iPad, if she were nearby. Better still if you have a scheduled call time that she remembers, so she'd either look for it or be ready to answer when called.
I feel like a fundamental issue with whatever you come up with is going to be charging, though; if she's hiding things and losing track of them, then it doesn't matter what means you provide to find them, once the battery dies none of those will help.
My 90-something MIL is in pretty good shape but suffering from MCI, and we've set her up with an iPad to use exclusively for incoming FaceTime calls. She is not technically capable, so is not the same boat as your sister, although she has learned to answer an incoming call which is all that's necessary for this case. That it works pretty much like a phone has helped--the concept of answering the thing that is ringing was easy enough to grasp and hold on to. It's sync'd to her hearing aids, so she can hear when we're calling if she's wearing them, and if not the ringer is at max volume so she can generally hear it ringing. No lock code at all since that's beyond her capability, and everything else is locked down to prevent mis-taps.
With one of the magnetic covers it auto-sleeps when closed and auto-wakes when opened, so that mostly takes care of accidental app opening and such (no need to understand the power button), and combined with one of those magnetic USB-C cable adapters, even with arthritis she can connect and disconnect it from the charger without much difficulty.
This setup has worked surprisingly well for the past several years. Having a regularly scheduled call time has helped a lot in this case, since she gets herself prepared when she's expecting a call.
I have remote access turned on, and while it's something of a chore to get her to tap the "accept" button twice, I have managed to do long-distance troubleshooting a couple of times that way.
I'll note that it depends a lot on ear condition, but getting that thing connected to her hearing aids was a game-changer--it's functionally impossible to communicate with her otherwise, but she can generally hear pretty well on a call with them in and connected to the iPad.
If the goal was purely FaceTime, that setup might work for you, but since you're trying to give your sister more capability, it's oversimplified. It also doesn't address the hiding stuff issue you're dealing with, which has not been an issue with my MIL since she has learned to just keep it in its home beside the landline and plugged in when not in use.
Again, if you were purely after FaceTime, and there aren't hearing aids involved, maybe just the ringer sound would lead her to a hidden/misplaced iPad, if she were nearby. Better still if you have a scheduled call time that she remembers, so she'd either look for it or be ready to answer when called.
I feel like a fundamental issue with whatever you come up with is going to be charging, though; if she's hiding things and losing track of them, then it doesn't matter what means you provide to find them, once the battery dies none of those will help.
Thank you for that! I didn't consider FaceTime since we do a weekly Zoom with our surviving brother-in-law... but she hasn't joined us in months... I have a Genius Bar appointment today so I'll know shortly what is and isn't possible... thanks to all and prayers for you and yours...
