Using a smartphone can be sometimes challenging for senior citizens, especially those who have shifted from feature phones. To make it easier for users to adapt to smartphones, brands offer various tools and settings options to make the transition less confusing.
Apple iPhones also come with several settings that you can change to make the device more friendly for senior citizens. To help you out, here are 5 settings that you can change in an iPhone to make it more compatible for senior citizens.
Increase the font size on your Apple iPhone
The Aging eyes of senior citizens may find it strenuous to use a smartphone with a small font size. Hence, the first thing that one can do to make an iPhone friendly for senior citizens is to increase the font size. By increasing the size of the font, you can make the content on the screen clear and easy to read. To increase the size of the font on an Apple iPhone, you can go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Text Size > From the bar, you can select the desired font size. You can also make the text on the screen bold by going to Settings > Display & Brightness > toggle on the Bold Text option.
Enable zoomed view for larger controls
Just like the font size, larger controls also make it easier for senior citizens to access features offered by any smartphone. To make the controls on the screen appear larger, Apple offers a zoomed view feature. Once enabled, everything on the screen, including in-app content will be displayed enlarged. To enable Display Zoom, you can go to Settings > Display & Brightness > View > Zoomed > Set.
Turn on the Sound Recognition feature
With iOS 14, Apple introduced several new accessibility features and one such feature is called Sound Recognition. The feature is mainly designed for users with hearing impairment but it is useful for everyone. As the name suggests, the Sound Recognition feature uses the phone’s microphone to detect certain sounds around you. The feature can continuously listen for certain sounds—such as a crying baby, doorbell, or siren—and notify you when it recognizes these sounds. To enable this feature, you can go to Settings > Accessibility > Sound Recognition > Toggle on the button.
Enable the Voice Control feature
A few years ago, Apple added the Voice Control accessibility feature for iPhone users. As the name suggests, the feature allows you to control your iPhone with just your voice. Once enabled, you can speak commands to perform gestures, interact with screen elements, dictate and edit text, and more. You can enable the accessibility feature by going to Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control > Turn on Voice Control toggle. Before you turn on Voice Control for the first time, make sure the iPhone is connected to the internet over a Wi-Fi network. After the iPhone completes a one-time file download from Apple, you don’t need an internet connection to use Voice Control.
Turn on the Spoken Content features
Even if VoiceOver is turned off, you can make your iPhone speak selected text or the entire screen through the Spoken Content section. The section under the Accessibility tab offers several features including Speak Selection and Speak Screen. Once you enable the Speak Selection option, a Speak button will appear when you select text. With the Speak Screen option, you can swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen to hear the content on the screen.
