Apps for older people

Without being specific about age, what follows is a few apps recommended from the web for older people.  None are specifically endorsed here, but others have put the effort into researching them:

SENIORS PHONE

download Seniors Phone for Android

Are you an Android user? Do you find that there’s just too much happening on the screen to make much sense of it? Seniors Phone is a great replacement for your phone’s Launcher. The Launcher is what you see when you’re browsing through your phone’s home screen or apps lists (amongst other things). We’ve found Seniors Phone to be a superb visual replacement with large, clear buttons and a great help feature. If you’re unsure what a particular button or feature does, simply hold your finger down on it for two seconds and the Help screen will describe the app or button and how you can use it. Large buttons for calling and texting are found on your home screen, as well as buttons for finding your location and sending emergency SOS messages to friends and family.

YOUR MAGNIFIER

download Your Magnifier for Android

This is a very similar app to Magnifying Glass with Light (listed above), but is available on Android phones instead of iPhones. Your Magnifier uses the zoom on your camera phone to make things bigger, in the same way a magnifying glass does! Use your phone’s camera flash to light up poorly-lit areas. Keep an eye on your battery life though, as the flash has a tendency to use quite a lot of charge if left on for long periods of time.

WORDS WITH FRIENDS

download Words With Friends for Android

Fans of Scrabble will be pleased to know that the popular tile-based game is available on smartphones and tablets around the world, under the name of Words With Friends. Play against your friends using a Facebook account or pit your vocabulary against a randomly selected opponent if you feel up to the challenge!

DRAGON DICTATION

download Dragon Dictation for iOS

Dragon Dictation is an excellent speech-to-text application which lets you read out your SMS, email or status update and writes it out in plain text for you, saving you from having to battle with a tiny touchscreen keyboard to get your message across. Dragon Dictation is developed by Nuance who have devoloped similar software for PCs and laptops, and recently absorbed Swype, the ever-popular replacement keyboard for Android devices.

WHICH? YOUR RIGHTS

download Which? Your Rights for iOS

Which? Your Rights is an app for people who are unsure of their rights as a consumer. If you’ve purchased something you’re not happy with, download the app to your iPhone or iPad today and find out what you can do about it! All the information in the app is explained clearly and concisely to tell you exactly what you need to know about returning a product, warranty information, pricing disputes and much, much more.

FIXMYSTREET

download FixMyStreet for Android

If your street suffers from potholes or broken street lights, FixMyStreet is the app for you! You can easily report issues to your local council using a map and optional photographs taken from your smartphone, and let the rest take care of itself. Much easier than having to write letters or deal with the council’s automated phone lines!

TUNEIN RADIO

download TuneIn Radio for Android / download TuneIn Radio for iOS

Choose from over 100,000 live radio stations and 2 million podcasts, concerts or shows to stream from the internet to your phone or tablet. Tune in to your favourite shows without being tied to your radio! The pro version of TuneIn Radio unlocks the ability to record what you’re listening to, but if you just want to enjoy listening to the radio, then this free version will be exactly what you’re looking for.

FLOW

download Flow for Android / download Flow for iOS

One of my favourite casual puzzle games, Flow is a game for any age group. Draw lines between dots of the same colour, filling up the game board as you go. If you can fill the board with unbroken lines of colour you win the level! Hundreds of levels are available to play through as well as many other game types like Bridge mode for players looking to really flex their mental muscles.

Have you found a few of these apps useful? Do you have any other recommendations you’d like to share? You can get in touch with us by posting a comment below.

Medwatcher

MedWatcher was created in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiologic Health (CDRH). Use MedWatcher to get news and official safety alerts for medical devices, as well as drugs and vaccines. MedWatcher is the only app that allows you to report bad side effects or adverse events directly to the FDA to make medical products safer for everyone.

Phonotto, an easy phone! 
Tired of all the bells and whistles that come complete in today’s phones? Hi-res cameras, speedy processors and cool apps just aren’t your thing? 
Whatever the case may be for you (or perhaps parents or grandparents), Phonotto is a wonderful breath of fresh air.

There are all manner of helpful, free medical reference apps available on Android . For example,  WebMD for Android or iTriage for general health reference, or the more complex Epocrates which features a massive drug reference database including drug interaction warnings, dosages and more.

Circle of 6

A safety app for older people. It allows you to connect with your family or friends( group of 6 people) within a single tap it calls or messages to selected persons when you are in danger or in need of someone. It’s an GPS based app that notifies about you to the specific persons.

Mind Games

Mind Games is a great collection of games based in part on principles of cognitive psychology to help you practice different mental skills. The perfect game to help you fight the effects of aging on your brain, or try to improve brain functioning at any age. This app includes all 26 of Mindware’s brain training games (some of which allow you to play 3 times and require upgrading to play more). All games include your score history, a global top scores list, and graph of your progress. The main app shows a summary of your best games and today’s scores on all games. Using some principles of standardized testing, your scores are also converted to a standardized scale so that you can see where you need work and excel.