Getting Elderly Mom an iPad what to put on it, what to show her about it

[jacksmomtobe]

So my dB and I are going to get our 80yr old mom an iPad. We are going to have my 13dd go to her place and set it up. It will be with cellular service (I will put the service on my plan). She used computers back in the day when she worked but does not have a cell phone. I would appreciate any suggestions on apps to put on it and what things we should show her about it. We intend to put contact info for all the grandkids on it. I will likely try to find some websites to bookmark or apps related to the country she was born in (Latvia), some news and sports sites. I would appreciate any other suggestions or tips to share with her.

[JBaxter]

:D Facebook. I have several older family & friends who are on facebook they love all the pictures. Wordscapes, candy crush and trivia crack if she likes games. Amazon and kindle app possibly audible if she does audible books. Does she have amazon prime or share yours then amazon music & movies Jigsaw maybe The weather channel Messenger or a texting app. Does she cook? Allrecipes or a cookbook app The local senior center here has classes on how to use facebook & twitter LOL I almost went to the twitter class.

[gamma]

My DF did great on the iPad in his 90s! He never got “stuck” like on the computer, since he just had to press the home button to get back to the home screen. What he loved the most was, we set up a short cut on the home screen for photo sharing. We invited all family members to join. We would post photos through out the day of our activities. When there wasn’t much happening, I would post old photos that he loved seeing again. He would constantly check for new photos! The iPad was a really big hit!

[Kindra178]

Weather (various apps)
Get the Kindle app

[nfceagles]

Obviously FaceTime will already be installed, but worth showing her where to find it and how to use it.


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[connor_mommy]

Having her not power it down when she's done with it. My in-laws power down their phone every single time...then you can't contact them. And they wonder why their son doesn't call.

[urquie]

Solitaire type games

[TwinFoxes]

My MIL loves Words with Friends. If you'll play, set that up for her.

[NCGrandma]

Having her not power it down when she's done with it. My in-laws power down their phone every single time...then you can't contact them. And they wonder why their son doesn't call.

And the related point: make it easy and convenient to recharge it! Keep the charger plugged in, in an easily accessible location where the iPad can sit securely on a flat surface without being in the way. (Sounds obvious, right?.... but I’ve seen too many folks of all ages balancing their iDevices precariously while charging)

Oh, a couple other practical ideas: get a good screen protector installed, give her one of those double-sided screen cleaning cloths AND instructions about how and how not to clean the screen! (This is an example of what I’m talking about, but they’re pretty ubiquitous: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KD4VR2I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Not sure what model you’re planning to get, but get an easy to use case — I personally prefer the kind that cover the back and front, like a book cover, and turn on when you open the cover. Kind of like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Yippee-Trifold-Lightweight-Microfiber-Generation/dp/B06X6LSBZ6/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=iPad+case&qid=1570568664&s=electronics&sr=1-3
No experience with that specific case — I have the Apple brand smart cases — but it was the quickest example I found.


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[Snow mom]

DH's grandma seems to be pretty good with tech like iPads but the thing she doesn't understand at all is security settings. I locked down all her apps (especially Facebook!) when we were together this summer. So that's my advice--get the security settings in place before you give it to her.

[dogmom]

Make sure you show her how to close apps and windows in browsers. Can’t tell you how many times my MIL computer/iPad was broken, but it was because she would have 25 things open and it was slow. Also, show her how to swipe the panel up and what airplane mode looks like. Got several calls that the wi-if wasn’t working and it was accidentally in airplane mode.

Apps like Netflix or for channels she likes it watch. I would not encourage FB, but that’s me. Show her YouTube. There are so many DIY and cute animal videos.