I bought this book for my Mom: https://www.amazon.com/iPad-Seniors-Dummies-Nancy-Muir/dp/1119137799/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470522078&sr=8-1&keywords=ipad+for+seniors+for+dummies I have to say that my Mom does not use it as much as she should have, but I know it’s well written. My father and her both had iPads and between the two of them, they could figure things out. After my Dad passed it was harder for my Mom to figure things out on her own.
I see a few patients Iran assisted living facility. One woman was so upset that her iPhone wasn’t working right, cuz she couldn’t get messages. The phone was fine, and her listen to all the messages and delete them. She joked that she hopes she’ll remember by the next week.
@walkinghome – I do not think Team Viewer can be used on the iPad. Interestingly enough, my mother has not had issues with her iPad the way she has with her Windows desktop. I think the problems arise when the younger grandchildren use the computer. She has ended up with viruses and things moved all around on the home page. I have strongly suggested that she not allow the grandchildren on her computer as they all have their own handheld devices these days.
We are about to make a 1040-ES payment to Uncle Sam. We were not only instructed to write a paper check, we have to put our SSNs on it.
When you go to the free help room at MicroCenter, it is always full of older people either asking question about really old computers (i.e. my mother taking in her ‘portable’ desk top that doesn’t even have wifi) or old people with something they bought that they have no idea how to turn on. The MicroCenter guys are so helpful. And patient.
There was a news story on this year with a troop of girl scouts who go to the nursing home several times a year to help the residents learn technology. They’ve set up Skype to connect them with their children and grandchildren, taught them about phone apps, helped them research a topic.
To the OP…any chance there is a technology clas for seniors happening while you are visiting your parent? You could go together.
I used to use the free version of LogMeIn to fix my uncle’s and parents’ computers, but when they started charging, I looked for an alternative. The great thing about LogMeIn was that, once I set it up on their computers, they didn’t have to do anything except turn on the computer. From there, I could just put in the password I set up and take over. Not sure about TeamViewer specifically, but I remember that all the alternatives I researched at the time required them to log into the application with a password to give me access.
Then I discovered Chrome Remote Desktop that worked just like LogMeIn where they didn’t have to do anything except turn on the computer. Chrome does not need to be running on their computers for it to work, performance seemed better than LogMeIn which often had significant lag, and it’s FREE.
I know they now have an app for iOS so you can use it on an iPhone or iPad to access a PC or MAC, but I don’t think it works in reverse (you can’t access an iPad remotely).
*One caveat to keep in mind – Chrome does need to be installed on their computers (although they don’t need to use it for anything or even open it) and YOU need a google account to log into Chrome Remote Desktop, so when I used it logging in from MY google account, it added all of my chrome bookmarks to the chrome browser on their computers. Oops! There may be a setting to avoid this, but I just set up another google account and use that one to log in.
When setting up an iPad or smart phone with elders, consider turning sites they enjoy into a home screen icon. On the computer, they could be desktop icons. Too many of them can become visually confusing for some, yet a few can make for easy access. In-laws have a collection of family photos archived on line by one of our kids. We added the link to the home screen and all is well (for now…).
I am tech support for MIL and FIL, and one of the things I do to make it easier for me is to make sure MIL has the exact same kind of smartphone I do, so when I need to walk her through something, it’s a lot easier because I know how to direct her exactly.
I also organized their Windows 10 tiles for their favorite apps. She like Mah Jonng and Bridge, and there are various competitive bridge apps that she likes to use.
Most of the time their desktop computer’s issues are related to wifi and connectivity issues, so it would do me no good to dial in and fix it (like using a pc anywhere type program). Plus, I don’t want the in-laws to feel like I have that kind of access to their computer, I don’t think they’d be comfortable with that, and I don’t want that responsibility. When it breaks I drive up there and sit with them and fix it.
They have all their passwords up on sticky notes on the wall-the next time their computer is acting wonky I’m going to install a password app vault for them so they don’t need to keep doing that.
Here is a link to popular password vault programs:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407168,00.asp
IIRC both of my D’s use Dashlane, so that’s the one I’ll probably use.