jmjmMay 22, 2023

Lessons, living with parents with dementia: when an app on their phone spontaneously changes it's icon, it's a fucking disaster.

Some Google engineer launched a feature that got them a promotion and now my mom can't use her phone anymore. Silicon Valley is incapable of imagining a user who isn't a 27 year old white man.

Lynn DMay 23, 2023
Show threadjmjm

While I'm on this rant: The Google Phone app is horrible for seniors. Good alternatives (BIG Phone For Seniors) exist, but switching to them locks them out of the bunch of critical security features (spam and scam filtering) that could be decoupled from Google's phone app, but aren't.

It makes me so angry how hostile the tech world is to seniors.

May 22, 2023 at 2:31pmWeb
Show threadjmjmMay 22, 2023

If anyone is interested, here's the link to the BIG Launcher suite of apps for Android. The interfaces value simplicity over aesthetics and are designed to meet the needs of people with limited visual acuity. It's expensive as apps go but I have no regrets about giving them my money.

https://biglauncher.com/

BIG Launcher | BIG Phone | BIG SMS for seniors

A fast and simple Android home screen for seniors and people with vision problems.

Show threadjmjmMay 22, 2023

In particular, I think there should be a special place in hell for the Google engineer who decided that "swipe up" should answer a phone call and "swipe down" should hang up.

When a limited-vision person pulls their cell phone ouf of their pocket, there's only a 50/50 chance the phone is being held right-side up.

I wish I still worked at Google just so I could find that designer and slap them.

Show threadJessamynMay 22, 2023

@jmjm Thanks for the info about BIG Launcher. I work with a lot of low-vision older people, some of whom have some small memory problems. This seems like it would help some of them.

Also, yes adding to the rant: The regular non-mobile gmail "high contract" theme is NOT high contrast and no one seems to care. How hard would it be to make a "Large print gmail"? (yes I know you can just make the font big but that messes up the design and some of the functions)

Show threadjmjmMay 22, 2023

@jessamyn BIG

BIG Launcher tip: also install the "Google Assistant" app from the Play Store. This lets you add Google Assistant as one of the buttons in BIG Launcher, so users can easily use voice commands.

It also helps to install some of the extra icon packs, so that the icon for Google Assistant can be changed from the abstract "bubble with some bubbles inside" into something more familiar (ie. the microphone icon users are used to).

Show threadTheWaterShedMay 22, 2023

@jmjm @jessamyn

I'd add MACRODROID is a fantastic complement to BIG launcher.

I've set it up so it auto answers from a.white list of numbers and blocks others.

A one touch button will call designated numbers, defaulting to WhatsApp voice if in WiFi range.

It can also reply to a SMS from one of the same numbers with location information.

And ring/vibrate as when their phone disconnects from their Bluetooth hearing aid (eg they've left it behind)

Show threadJessamynMay 22, 2023
@thewatershed @jmjm Thank you for that. My own cell phone usage is mostly in the Apple world but I work with a lot of people with Android phones so I try to find what will work for them.
Show threadrobMay 22, 2023
@jessamyn @jmjm Yes! How could they make something with such an illiquid design???
Show threadFrank SkorniaMay 22, 2023
@jmjm I also hate the change to screen gestures for navigation instead of an actual navigation interface.
Swiping from the right edge of the screen to navigate back gets dicey in something like the GMail app when swiping right-to-left deletes emails.
Or swiping up from the bottom to navigate home which gets tricky if your phone is sitting on a charging stand.
Show threadBarbara KrasnoffMay 23, 2023
@fskornia @jmjm Just FYI, you can restore the navigation icons at the bottom of the screen if you want to. https://www.theverge.com/21495830/android-11-multitasking-pane-recent-apps-screenshots-google-how-to
Android 101: how to tweak your multitasking pane

Android 11 has three methods to access its multitasking pane, along with some handy new features. Here’s how you can decide which method to use.

The Verge
Show threadrobMay 22, 2023
@jmjm that's an interesting issue: I realise that I orient the phone without looking at it by the location of the side buttons; don't impaired people do the same sort of thing?
Show threadAndy JonesMay 24, 2023
@robparsons @jmjm I'm not visually impaired, and I can't see the side buttons on my Xperia without putting the phone on one side. (It doesn't help that I have a black gel case.)
Show threadrobMay 24, 2023
@andy_twosticks @jmjm the point is that I don't see them, I feel them. They're easy to feel on my phone, perhaps not so easy on others.
Show threadAndy JonesMay 24, 2023

@robparsons @jmjm If my hands naturally fell on the buttons when I picked it up it would be really annoying; I'd be forever changing the volume by accident.

My wife's new phone has a pop-up menu that appears when you touch the side. When she hands me her phone to show me something, that's all I ever see…

Show threadrobMay 24, 2023
@andy_twosticks @jmjm ah right, that's another issue - mine are not nearly so sensitive.
Show threadVolker StolzJun 4, 2023
@robparsons @jmjm Queue the horrible design of the remote for the Sony Bravia TV: almost perfectly symmetric layout -- even buggers me and I don't have any impairments (except a short fuse).
Show threadShield MaidenMay 22, 2023
@jmjm Double tap to answer, single tap to end conversation. Everyone's used to that MO.
Show threadapophisMay 27, 2023
@Judeet88 @jmjm that's gonna be hell for anyone who's got shaky hands for whatever reason...
Show threadLinebyline→mastoart.socialMay 23, 2023
@jmjm Yes! Of course, this only matters if the phone hasn't already interpreted the act of pulling it out of your pocket as swiping up or down.
Show threadThe S Kate M 💛💙May 23, 2023
@jmjm an issue my nonagenarian parents also had was difficulty with touch screens and smaller buttons. Their sense of touch was just not as acute as younger folks. I really appreciate your complaints about vision… HUGE problem for my Dad especially.
Show threadjoshbuddyMay 23, 2023
@jmjm When has a google product not been vaguely user hostile?
Show threadKrister RenaudMay 23, 2023
@jmjm I had a bout of impaired cognition a few months back and I found it really hard with actions only available by swipe since I couldn't remember if I was supposed to swipe up/down/sideways etc. I found some applications with functions only available by gestures really hard to use.
Developers should really make sure that functionality be discoverable and that swipes give indications of what will happen when you release the swipe.
Show threadEli the BeardedMay 25, 2023

@jmjm For about the last five or six weeks of her life, my mom just couldn't answer her phone. The Android UI changed sometime during her final year and the new one gave her trouble, and it was too much at the end.

So yeah, I didn't speak much with her during her last days

Show threadapophisMay 27, 2023
@jmjm going back in time to give condoms to the parents of whoever it was who decided phones shouldn't have a dedicated physical button (or other obvious tangible hardware interface like physically flipping it open and shut) for taking and ending calls
Show threadaeriqueJun 4, 2023

@jmjm Same thing with swiping up and down for snoozing vs turning off the alarm. And this is just for a normal person waking up!

Swiping should just trigger snoozing. Turning off the alarm should be an altogether different gesture.

This used to be better only a few years ago.

Show threadmav Jun 4, 2023

@jmjm i feel all of this so very much, it's the primary reason why my mom won't use a smartphone or a smart TV: the interfaces are too busy and complicated for older folks, especially older folks with manual dexterity problems.

Honestly the modern world is terrifying and opaque to most folks over 70.

Show threadZumbadorMay 22, 2023

@jmjm this is really interesting.

My father doesn't have dementia, but he's really struggling to use his smart phone, and increasingly, you can't be an adult and not have a smart phone. So frustrating.

Show threadJohn Manoogian IIIMay 23, 2023
@jmjm I don’t know the details or full context of your folks’ situation, obviously, but I would keep an eye on this: https://www.macstories.net/news/apple-marks-global-accessibility-awareness-day-with-features-coming-to-ios-ipados-and-macos-later-this-year/
Apple Marks Global Accessibility Awareness Day with Features Coming to iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Later This Year

Thursday is Global Accessibility Awareness Day, and as in years past, Apple has previewed several new accessibility features coming later this year. This year, Apple is focusing on a wide range of accessibility features covering cognitive, vision, hearing, mobility, and speech, which were designed with feedback from disability communities. The company hasn’t said when these

Show threadJyrgen NJun 4, 2023
@jmjm
My father has that on his phone, apparently. Maybe it is best for him, but *I* cannot deal with it.
Show threadAndy Warburton ❌❌❌May 22, 2023
@jmjm this is sad. I know people on Google accessibility team and I know they take this stuff seriously.
Show threadnoodlejetski May 22, 2023

@jmjm

> spam and scam filtering

Yet Another Call Blocker works with every dialer and doesn't require selling your soul to Google: https://f-droid.org/packages/dummydomain.yetanothercallblocker/

Yet Another Call Blocker | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

Block unwanted calls effortlessly

Show threadjmjmMay 23, 2023
@noodlejetski Thanks, that's worth noting. Also, t-mobile offers a similar call filtering app for their users.
Show threadRiver (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️✡️🪬🏳️‍🌈May 22, 2023
@jmjm My dad has Parkinson's so I feel every word of this rant.
Show threadRealGene ☣️Dec 3
@jmjm
Correction: The Google Phone app is horrible. Period.