Choosing a phone or tablet for an elderly parent: what to look for

If you’re choosing a phone or tablet for a mum or dad, start with what they’ll use it for and what’s hard for them now, not with the model. Today’s iPhones, iPads and Android phones have settings for larger text, hearing aids and emergencies built in, and the makers name them on their own help pages, so this guide gives you those names to ask about in the shop. If you’d rather someone set it up at their place and showed them how it works, book a home visit that sets up the new phone or tablet with them.

What should you look for in a phone for an elderly parent?

Look for the features that answer what your parent finds hard, then check the phone works on today’s mobile network. Most families are choosing for one or more of five things: hearing, eyesight, a screen that isn’t too busy, getting help in an emergency, and seeing the family on video calls.

What does your parent find hard?

Hearing Eyesight A simple screen Falls or emergencies Video calls with family

SOS Medical ID

Tick what matters to your parent, and the drawing shows the features that help and what the makers call them.

Hearing

Pair the hearing aids with the phone. On an iPhone or iPad: Made for iPhone hearing devices, and Live Listen. On Android: Hearing devices, hearing aid compatibility (HAC) mode for a telecoil, and Live Caption.

Eyesight

Make the text bigger. On an iPhone or iPad: Text Size, and Larger Text. On Android: Font size and Display size. On a Samsung Galaxy phone, Easy mode makes the screen and the text larger.

A simple screen

Fewer things on the screen. On an iPhone or iPad: Assistive Access, set up by a trusted supporter. On a Samsung Galaxy phone: Easy mode.

Falls or emergencies

A quick call to 000, and medical details on the lock screen. On an iPhone: Emergency SOS and Medical ID. On Android: Emergency SOS and Emergency info. For falls, Apple's Fall Detection is on the Apple Watch.

Video calls with family

A screen big enough to see faces. On Apple devices: FaceTime, and the Calls app in Assistive Access. Family on Android or Windows can join from a FaceTime link.

What your parent needs, and what to look for

What matters	What to look for	What the makers call it
Hearing	A phone that pairs with their hearing aids, and captions for calls	Made for iPhone hearing devices and Live Listen (Apple); Hearing devices and Live Caption (Android)
Eyesight	Larger text and a bigger screen	Larger Text (Apple); Font size and Display size (Android); Easy mode (Samsung)
A simple screen	Fewer things on the screen, with only the apps they use	Assistive Access (iPhone and iPad); Easy mode (Samsung)
Falls or emergencies	A quick way to call 000, and medical details on the lock screen	Emergency SOS and Medical ID (Apple); Emergency SOS and Emergency info (Android)
Video calls with family	A good front camera and a screen big enough to see faces	FaceTime, and the Calls app in Assistive Access (Apple)

Write your parent’s list down before you go shopping, in their words: “I can’t hear it ring”, “the writing’s too small”, “too many things pop up”. It turns a confusing shop into three or four questions.

A simple phone, a smartphone or a tablet?

It depends on what they want to do with it. Someone who only rings and texts is often happiest with a simple phone; someone who wants photos of the grandchildren and video calls needs a smartphone or a tablet. Some parents are happiest with both: a phone for calls and a tablet at home for everything else.

A simple 4G flip phone

A simple 4G flip phone suits a parent who wants to make and answer calls and not much more. Look for large buttons, a screen that’s easy to read, and a loud ringer, and check the box or ask the seller whether it says it works with hearing aids.

The trade-off: a simple phone is made for calls and texts, so it isn’t the one for video calls or photos of the grandchildren. The network check further down matters most here, because the ACMA says 3G phones and older 4G phones are the ones the 3G switch-off caught.

A large-screen smartphone

A large-screen smartphone suits a parent who wants photos, messages and video calls, or who already has one and finds it fiddly. The bigger screen helps with larger text, and the simple modes covered below can make it feel much less busy.

If the rest of the family uses iPhones, an iPhone makes FaceTime easy; if they use Android, the family can help on the same system. Being able to help over the phone (“tap Settings, then…”) is worth a lot.

A tablet

A tablet suits video calls, photos, reading and the news at home, because the screen is so much bigger. Think of it as well as a phone, not instead of one.

A WiFi-only tablet only gets online through the home WiFi, so it won’t work at the shops or if the home internet is down. One with its own mobile service needs the same network check as a phone: Telstra lists tablets among the devices affected by its 3G closure. If the tablet keeps dropping off in the bedroom or the back room, a WiFi technician can get the signal to that room.

Will the phone work on the network now 3G is gone?

Only if it works on 4G (or 5G) with voice calls over 4G, including calls to 000. The ACMA says Vodafone has already switched off its 3G network, and gives 28 October 2024 as the date for Telstra’s and Optus’s. The ACMA says (opens in a new tab) the switch-off affected 3G and some 4G devices, that some 4G devices may be unable to make any voice calls, including calls to Triple Zero, and that older 4G devices and devices bought overseas are most at risk.

Telstra’s own 3G page puts it plainly. A phone has to support voice over 4G (Telstra calls it VoLTE) and have it turned on, including VoLTE emergency calling. Telstra also says it must stop phones that can’t call emergency services from using its network, and a blocked phone can’t make any calls or use any data. Telstra says every device it sells today is 4G and VoLTE capable.

So before you buy, and before you hand down an old phone:

1. 1

   Check an older phone

   From the phone itself, text 3 to 3498. The ACMA says it's free and your provider will send a message about the phone's status.

2. 2

   Be careful with second-hand and overseas phones

   Telstra asks anyone with a second-hand, refurbished or overseas-bought phone to text 3 to 3498 to check it. A phone set up for another country may be blocked or have less coverage.

3. 3

   Buying new, ask the question

   Ask the seller: does it support voice over 4G, including emergency calls, on my parent's network?

4. 4

   Outside the city

   If your parent lives in a regional or rural area, Telstra recommends one of its Blue Tick devices.

Don’t check a phone by ringing 000: the ACMA says not to test a device by making an emergency call. If the mobile signal inside your parent’s home is the problem rather than the phone, WiFi calling for poor mobile reception at home explains the fix.

Is there a simple mode on an iPhone, iPad or Samsung?

Yes. Apple’s is called Assistive Access, on the iPhone and the iPad, and Samsung’s is called Easy mode, on its Galaxy phones. Both can be turned off again later.

Assistive Access on an iPhone or iPad

Apple describes Assistive Access as a simplified interface, made for people with cognitive disabilities, that can show the screen as a large grid putting images and icons first, with only the apps you choose. If your parent finds the ordinary home screen too much, it’s worth a look. Apple says a trusted supporter, a family member or carer, sets it up:

1. 1

   Open Settings, tap Accessibility, then Assistive Access.

2. 2

   Tap Set Up Assistive Access, then Continue, and follow the steps to choose the apps and how they look.

3. 3

   Set an Assistive Access passcode. It's used to go in and out of Assistive Access and to change its settings.

4. 4

   To leave it, triple-click the side button (the top button on an iPad, or the Home button on models that have one), tap Exit Assistive Access and enter the passcode.

Write that passcode down somewhere safe. Apple’s Assistive Access setup page (opens in a new tab) says that if it’s forgotten and no recovery Apple Account was set up, the iPhone has to be reset. Inside Assistive Access, Apple combines the Phone and FaceTime apps into one Calls app, and you can choose who your parent can ring and who can ring them: anyone, all their contacts, or favourites only. On an iPad it’s set up the same way, under Settings, then Accessibility.

Easy mode on a Samsung Galaxy phone

Open Settings, tap Display, then tap Easy mode and switch it on. Samsung’s Easy mode page (opens in a new tab) says the screen and the text get larger once it’s on. To turn it off, go back to the same place and switch it off.

How do you make the text bigger?

Every phone and tablet has a text size setting, and it’s the first thing to change for a parent whose eyesight isn’t what it was.

• iPhone or iPad. Apple’s steps: open Settings, then Display & Brightness, then Text Size, and drag the slider. For even bigger text, go to Settings, then Accessibility, then Display & Text Size, tap Larger Text and drag the slider.
• Android phone or tablet. Google’s steps: open Settings, search for Font size and move the slider. Search for Display size to make everything on the screen bigger, not just the words.

Change it with your parent there, and let them pick the size. Too big and the screens get crowded; the right size is the one they can read comfortably.

Will it work with their hearing aids?

iPhones and Android phones can both pair with hearing aids that support them, so check the hearing aids first: the answer depends on the hearing aid as much as the phone. Their audiologist or the hearing aid’s maker can tell you which phones it pairs with.

• iPhone or iPad. Apple’s steps for Made for iPhone hearing devices: open Settings, then Accessibility, then Hearing Devices, put the hearing aids in pairing mode, tap Pair MFi Hearing Device and follow the steps on the screen. Apple says to check its list of MFi hearing devices first. Live Listen is turned on from the same settings.
• Android phone. Google says to try Settings, then Connected devices, then Pair new device first, because it works with all types of hearing devices; Settings, then Accessibility, then Hearing devices works best with ASHA-compatible ones. For hearing aids with a telecoil, Google says to set the hearing aid to T and turn on hearing aid compatibility (HAC) mode on the phone.
• Captions. Google’s Live Caption puts words on the screen for speech on the phone, including phone calls and video calls, on phones that have it.

For a simple flip phone, check what its maker says about hearing aids on the box or its own page, and ask the seller to let your parent hear it ring before you buy.

What helps in a fall or an emergency?

Set up Emergency SOS and the medical details on the lock screen, and make sure your parent can do the button presses. Both are built into iPhones, and Emergency SOS is on Android phones from Android 12.

• iPhone. Apple says to press and hold the side button and either volume button together until the sliders appear, and keep holding until the Emergency SOS countdown ends. After an emergency call ends, the iPhone texts the emergency contacts and sends them the location, if it’s available. Set the contacts and the medical details in the Health app: tap your profile picture, then Medical ID, and turn on Show When Locked.
• Android phone. Google’s Emergency SOS is in Settings, then Safety and emergency, then Emergency SOS, on Android 12 and later; press the power button five times or more to start it. Google says it doesn’t work in aeroplane mode or with Battery Saver on. Medical details and emergency contacts go in the Safety app, under Your info, on phones that have it.

The ACMA says a 000 call from a mobile is carried on any available mobile network, as long as your parent is in the coverage area of one of the mobile providers, and that 112 also works from a mobile. Apple’s fall detection is a feature of the Apple Watch. If falls are the worry, personal alarms for elderly parents compares a watch, a 4G pendant and an alarm on the home phone.

Video calls with the family

If the family has iPhones, FaceTime is the easy way, and in Assistive Access it lives in the Calls app with the favourites on the first screen. Relatives on Android or Windows can join too: Apple says anyone with an iPhone, iPad or Mac can make a FaceTime link, and the other person opens it in the latest Chrome or Edge.

A tablet on a stand makes video calls easier, because nobody has to hold it still. Put the favourites on the first screen, and practise a call together before you leave.

To see the family’s photos and calls on the TV instead, show the phone or tablet on the TV.

Setting up the new phone

Moving the contacts and the photos across is the part people worry about, and it’s much easier while the old phone still works. Backing up the photos before anything changes is the first step. When the old phone is handed on or recycled, wipe it and sign it out of the accounts first.

Scam texts arrive on new phones too, so ten minutes on how to tell whether a text is a scam together is time well spent. For learning at their own pace, Be Connected (opens in a new tab) is a free Australian government program with short online courses on iPhone and Android smartphones, and community organisations that run free classes.

When to call us, and when you don’t need to

You don’t need us to choose or buy the phone: take the list of what your parent needs to the shop or their provider, and ask the 4G question. Turning on larger text, Easy mode or Assistive Access is yours to do with the steps above, and a faulty phone under warranty goes back to the shop or the maker. We don’t repair phones or tablets.

Call us when you’d like it done at your parent’s place, with them, at their pace. Home tech support sets up phones and tablets at home, moves what’s on the old one across, and explains it before we leave. If the tablet can’t get online, or nothing in the house can, an internet technician who tests the line, the NBN box and the modem is the right visit. It helps to be there, or on the phone, at the start for the passwords and accounts.

Not sure which you need? Send us a message with what your parent has and what they find hard, or ring us on 02 9188 1577.