How to Make a Smartphone Easier to Read and Use for Older Adults

As we get older, our vision naturally weakens. This condition is called Presbyopia, which makes elderly people suffer from reading text that is close to their eyes. Now that smartphones have become an essential part of our daily lives, their small screens often make the problem worse. Glasses can help, but there are other simple smartphone settings and features that can make text much easier to read for elderly people. In this guide, you will learn about different methods.

12 Simple Smartphone Settings to Make Smartphone Easier To Use

Increase the Font Size or Change the Font to Make Text Easier to Read

Increasing the font size is the basic setting that you should help your elders with to enable. Although it is a basic setting on a smartphone, many elderly people are unaware of this solution and continue using the smartphone with the small text, which not only makes reading difficult but can also lead to accidental taps and a frustrating experience.

I have seen my grandfather struggling with that exact reason, and I quickly changed the text on his smartphone to fix his issue.

Changing the font size is available on both Android and iPhone. For Android, depending on your Android smartphone, you can find this under general or display settings. On iPhone, you can find this under General Settings. While you are setting up the smartphone, ask your older people which font is comfortable for them. Keep in mind that setting too large a font has its downsides, as it can take up extra screen space, which can result in more scrolling and even break some layouts of apps or websites.

Another change is to adjust the font size. Some fonts are easier to read for elders, and here are the most common fonts that are proven to be easier to read for older adults. Both Android and iOS devices allow you to change the font style. On Android, depending on your device, changing text is a bit complicated. I have a detailed guide on setting up custom fonts on iPhone.

How to change font settings on Android:

• Open Settings on your Android smartphone.
• Go to display settings. If you don’t find these settings, you can use the search bar and search for Font Settings.
• From there, you can adjust your font style, Size, and Weight.

How to change font settings on iPhone:

• Open Settings on your iPhone.
• Go to Display and Brightness Settings.
• Tap on the text size and here adjust the slider to increase or decrease the font size.

Unlike Android, you cannot change the font style on an iPhone; however, there are still some workarounds you can use. Such as using font style on a certain app. However, if the iPhone is running on iOS 16 or later, you can use the method I have written in a separate guide.

If the mobile runs on the latest version of Android or iOS, you can also enable high contrast text. This feature adds a Black border to the text on the screen, which increases its contrast, making it stand out and easier to read.

Remember, making these changes may look less appealing to younger users, but they make a big difference for elderly users.

Zoom and Read Specific Parts on the Screen

Another handy feature on Android is the screen magnifier, which lets you zoom a specific part of the screen, no matter which app you are using. It works globally.

In addition to these, Android offers different ways to access this feature. You can completely magnify the screen entirely or zoom in on specific parts of the screen, and it also gives you different options to access magnification, including triple-tapping in a specific area to zoom, using a shortcut that sits on your screen, and toggling it using the volume up and down keys, depending on your preference.

You can find similar functionality on iPhone, but it is currently limited to gestures; you can fully magnify the screen or zoom in on a specific window.

How to Zoom on Android 

• Open Settings on your Android smartphone.
• Scroll down and go to accessibility settings. If you don’t find these settings, you can use the search bar and find the Magnification setting on your Android smartphone.
• Now enable the shortcut to access it easily from any screen or adjust the Magnification type depending on your choice.

How to Zoom on iPhone 

• Open settings on your iPhone.
• Scroll down and tap on the accessibility settings.
• Tap on the Zoom option and turn it on. You can double-tap using the three-finger to zoom. For the best experience, select window zoom in the zoom region settings.

Not only smartphone screens, but elderly people also find it very hard to read text in other areas like newspapers, books or even product labels; in these cases, a smartphone comes very handy and it can be used as a digital magnifier.

Not all phones support this feature by default, so you should keep notes, and Google Pixel and iPhones are two known and popular brands that support this feature by default. To use these

On a Google Pixel smartphone, open the magnifier app and start zooming using the camera, and it offers clear zoom. On an iPhone, you can open the camera app and start zooming the object. Detailed guide on how to use it on an iPhone. 

Brings back Assistive Touch

My uncle recently upgraded from his old iPhone 6s to an iPhone 13. After spending some time with him, I noticed that he often struggled with gestures. When I asked, he explained that he used to use Assistive Touch for years. After switching phones, he is finding it hard to use gestures on the iPhone.

He also mentioned that the most common actions are ways to access the older iPhone 6s, and this isn’t possible on the latest iPhones. Fortunately, Apple still allows you to use Assistive Touch from the settings.

You can go to settings and accessibility settings, enable this, and customize by adding most frequently used shortcuts to the Assistive Touch and make it easy for them to access quick actions quickly.

Change These Settings in Latest iOS 26

Apple has recently introduced a new Liquid Glass design in iOS 26, making the interface more transparent. This decision has received mixed feelings, and some even regular users find the design harder to read.

While Apple is definitely refining to make it better, it is still not the best. Apple will start rolling out a stable version of iOS 26 to users (if you are reading this post, after September 9, the update is already rolled out). Here are a few settings you can adjust to make it easier for elderly users.

Switch to regular icons:

One setting that you need to change is the default icons from transparent to regular icons. Transparent icons are harder to read for older people. Fortunately, you can get back the older icons. Open your iPhone and long-press anywhere on the screen, tap on Customize, and then select default icons.

Next, reduce transparency settings

Another useful setting is to enable reduced transparency settings to make it easier to read on an iPhone by reducing the transparency of the elements on the screen.

Resize the control center

While this feature wasn’t new, Apple lets you resize tiles in the control center. Now you can increase the size of the most used icons for the elderly, making them easier to access.

Enable Reading Mode

Like Younger generations, most older people are now using smartphones for reading news and articles. While there are Kindles and small mini tablets, they can be a perfect choice for many older generation people who often read books. They are not affordable for everyone and also require you to carry an extra device.

As a result, many people depend on their smartphones for reading. Since smartphones display smaller fonts and every website has a unique font size and style, it is not only hard for readers’ eyes but also stresses their eyes.

Considering this, both Google and Apple have introduced a reading mode that strips out all the unwanted content on a webpage and creates a dedicated reading experience.

On Android, Google is offering a dedicated reading mode app and also on Google Chrome, which makes it accessible on any app, but despite its association with Google, it is having struggles to read the content on some apps. It generally works flawlessly, especially when reading in browsers, PDFs, or ebooks.

How to use Google Reading mode 

• Download and install reading mode on your smartphone. It is free to download.
• Open the app, follow the on-screen instructions, and enable it from the accessibility settings.
• You can turn on reading mode using different settings; here, I have added an icon. To enter the reading mode, you can simply tap on the icon
• Reading mode works best for text apps, such as for reading articles, Twitter threads, and does not work best for other formats.

How to use Reader mode on iPhone:

Unlike Android, on iPhone, reading mode is currently available only in the Safari browser. To open any webpage, in the address bar, click on the font symbols and select Reader mode.

Text-to-speech

Elderly people with blurry vision often struggle to navigate through the smartphone; fortunately, voice feedback can make smartphones easier to use. It helps with what they are clicking. This is a hand in the future to let all people know exactly what they have clicked. Fortunately, both Android smartphones offer the TalkBack feature and here is how to enable it from the settings.

How to enable to text-to-speech feature on Android 

• Open Settings on your Android smartphone.
• Scroll down and go to accessibility settings. If you don’t find these settings, you can use the search bar and find the Text to Speech setting on your Android smartphone and turn it on.

How to enable text-to-speech settings on iPhone: 

• Go to settings on your iPhone and tap on the accessibility settings
• Here, tap on the voice over and turn on the voice option.
• Remember, VoiceOver needs a different navigation gesture to navigate to select. You can press the tap to activate the specific function. You need to double-tap on it to scroll down. You can use the three fingers to disable it. Whenever you need it, you can simply ask Siri to turn it off.

Voice Assistants

Most of the smartphone Assistants can now do tasks for you without requiring you to interact with the smartphone. You can simply say the command, and it automatically does the task for you. For Android, you can use Gemini, and for iPhone, you can use Siri.

For instance, you can ask this assistant to do tasks, whether it is for opening apps, making a call, or sending a specific text to a specific contact. It does these actions with just your voice. A few best cases include using these assistants for calling a specific contact without needing to enter the number, and also searching for your contact. On Android, Google Assistant is no longer available; it has now been replaced by the Google Gemini app, which is better at doing tasks and is better at understanding your contacts. Currently, these apps are only available in a limited number of languages, so this is something that you should keep in mind.

Make It Easy to Use the Phone

Smartphones can get cluttered quickly, and the latest smartphones often come with plenty of pre-built apps. This not only makes the interface overwhelming but also harder to use for elders.

Most smartphones now come with a dedicated easy mode that simplifies the home screen by removing unnecessary apps and displaying only the essentials. However, this feature is only available on a few smartphones, such as Samsung, but you can get this feature on any device using a simple launcher app. Here are the two best launchers you can use.

Best launchers for Android: 

• Elder launcher: For large and simple icons for easy navigation
• Nova launcher: You can customize and make it elder-friendly.

iPhone doesn’t have an easy mode feature or a dedicated launcher support; however, you can still make the experience clutter-free by hiding a few home screens and a few unnecessary apps. Here is how.

Hide Home screen and apps on iPhone. 

• To hide the lock screen, long-press the app and then deselect the home screens you don’t want to use.
• To hide an app on iPhone, long-press on the app and press the hide button, which will hide the app on your iPhone.

Enable Flash Notifications

Alongside vision issues, hearing problems are also most common in elderly people. Because of this, there are missed calls and notifications despite the phone being in silent mode. A simple solution is to enable flash notifications.

Since the flash on smartphones visually blinks whenever a call or notification comes in, it makes it much easier for elderly people to notice it. Here is how you can enable flash notifications on Android and iPhone.

How to enable Flash Notifications on Android 

• Download and install this flash notification app on our smartphone.
• Now open the app and turn on the status.
• Incoming call option and turn on the status.
• You can also enable flash notifications for SMS and for other notifications.

How to enable Flash notifications on iPhone

• Open settings on your smartphone and tap on the accessibility settings
• Scroll down and tap on the audio and visual
• Scroll to the bottom and select LED Flash for alerts, and you can enable a flash for all alerts or only enable it for alerts when the iPhone is in silent mode.

Perform Quick Actions Using Widgets and Action Blocks

Both Google and Apple have been focusing heavily on widgets. While Android supported widgets for years, Apple has recently brought widget support to the iPhone. Widgets give you key information at a glance and allow you to perform quick actions easily, and most importantly, these widgets can be customized, making them easy to use for older people.

Currently, almost all popular apps support widgets, including support for tasks. And also to further simplify, Google has also launched a dedicated Google action block that does a specific action. On iPhone, Google blocks are not available, but you can use the shortcuts app to set specific actions and use a specific icon.

Google action blocks are not as advanced as the iOS shortcuts, but they are very good at basic tasks. For example, you can set an action block to call a specific person and also do some automation tasks with the Google assistant, like automatically switching off the lights when the user leaves the home and also automatically play a video on the TV, and also directly make a video call with your specific contact, and more.

iOS lets you perform more complex automations than action blocks. You can create multiple automations with the shortcuts, and if you are using the latest iPhone, it also comes with Apple intelligence features, which can further enhance its automation features. Similar to the Android action blocks, you can also send a specific message to a specific contact, automatically make a call to a specific contact, remind the user to take a pill, and more. Here is the video on how to set shortcut automation on iPhone and the five best useful shortcuts. If you’re using the latest iPhone, you can also trigger these shortcuts using the Action button. 

Useful iOS Shortcuts for old people

• Turn on Flashlight with a shortcut: Flashlight 
• Send message to anyone using Voice Shortcut: Send Message 
• Make a quick call to your favorite contacts: Contact Shortcuts
• Get medical reminders: Medication reminders
• Find your missing parents: Missing Parental Unit

Bring Back Google Old Dialer Back

Google recently updated its dialer app with a new design. While the new design is totally impressive, it received a backlash over the new design and its functionality.

The biggest reason is that the Dialer app is used by millions of people around the world, and overnight, a single update changes how plenty of people use a dialer, and the call action button is now replaced with a slider, which also made many people frustrated with this new function.

Fortunately, if your grandparents are also facing this issue, there is an easy way to get the old Google dialer back. I have made a dedicated video on this already but however if you want a simple steps on your Android smartphone go to the Play Store and search for the Google dialer and tap on the uninstall updates this will bring the old dialer back on your smartphone to prevent it updating to the latest version from the top menu select the three dot menu and from here select and disable auto update option.  Here is a detailed video of similar steps to help you get the old back on your Android smartphone.

Bonus: Add Emergency Information to Keep Them Safe

Both Android and iPhone let you add emergency information to your smartphone, and this can be extremely useful in unforeseen situations. Despite how important this feature is, many people still leave this feature unused. By storing important medical information, in case of an emergency, responders can quickly know about the person’s medical history and can quickly reach out to the right people.

How to add emergency information on Android 

• Open the Settings app on your smartphone and go to Safety and emergency
• Select Medical information and add all necessary Medical information.
• While you are there, also add an emergency contact and more.

How to add emergency information on iPhone

• Open the Health app on your iPhone, tap on the Health details, and tap on Update Details.
• Here, add all the necessary health information.

Simple Settings That Make Life Easier

Those are the list of 12 features and settings that you can change or add to make the phone easier to use and read for older people. While all these features originate from different places on your smartphone, putting them together can create a safer, simpler, and more accessible experience.

Most older people aren’t aware of these settings, so if you have elderly parents or relatives, you can help them change these settings. Making small changes like larger text, Magnifiers, and even flash notifications can make the smartphone experience better for them.

I hope you find this guide helpful. If you have any solutions or if you have any issues while enabling this feature, feel free to leave a comment below, and I will be happy to help. If you have any additional tips, you can also share them so that we can include them for others.

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