this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2023
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How do you support elderly relatives' use of tech? (beehaw.org)
submitted 1 year ago by middlemuddle@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org
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I'm mostly asking this question for smartphones, but I'm also just generally curious how others approach this.

My parents are both 75+ and live across the country. One has a smartphone and a chromebook and the other has a dumbphone and has a Windows laptop. They're capable, but learning new things is pretty hard, and if anything goes a bit wrong they're very unlikely to figure out how to get past it themselves.

The Windows laptop is easiest to manage because I can remote in and fix things pretty quick, and browser extensions prevent the ads which might lead to signing up for new services. I gave up on trying to figure out how to remote into the chromebook.

The smartphone is the most problematic since browser extensions are limited and don't apply to the Google News app, where my dad spends a lot of his time. He's managed to install a bunch of random apps that he doesn't remember ever using, so now I have Google FamilyLink installed which should prevent that. But he also inadvertently long-presses on the home screen and moves icons around, removes them, adds new ones, etc.

I'm just looking for any tips people might have on this general topic. We're all our family's tech support in some way, it's just getting more difficult for me as they get older.

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[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Annoyingly, unattended access isn't an option on a Chromebook for Chrome Remote Desktop. It requires the user (my dad) opening the site, selecting the option for sharing a screen, then texting me the code. It doesn't seem overly complex, but it never goes smoothly.

My mom's Windows laptop is great since I can just login at any point to fix something as long as she leaves it on.