Settings that make a phone easier to use
Accessibility settings aren't only for people with a disability. Bigger text and a simpler layout help many people, especially when setting up a phone for an older relative.
Bigger text and buttons
- Font size and display size: Settings → Display (Android) or Settings → Display & Brightness → Text Size (iPhone). Display size makes icons and buttons bigger too.
- Bold text and higher contrast make text easier to read in sunlight.
Seeing
- Magnifier: turns the camera into a magnifying glass for menus, labels and small print.
- Screen reader: TalkBack (Android) and VoiceOver (iPhone) read the screen aloud.
- Select to speak / Speak Screen reads a page aloud on request.
Hearing
- Live Caption adds subtitles to videos, calls and voice messages, on the phone itself.
- Hearing aid support: many hearing aids connect directly to phones over Bluetooth.
- Flash for alerts: the camera light or screen flashes for notifications.
A simpler phone
Many Android phones have an "Easy mode" or "Simple mode" with large icons and fewer options. iPhone has Assistive Access, a very simplified layout set up by a family member. A home screen with only the six apps that are really used also helps.
Emergency information
Add medical information and emergency contacts (Medical ID on iPhone, Emergency information on Android). Paramedics can see it from the lock screen. Emergency SOS, which calls emergency services after quick presses of the side button, is worth setting up and practising.