Does anyone know if you can heavily customize the user interface of the PinePhone?
The reason why I'm asking is that I have yet to find a feature phone or smartphone that my father (in his 80s) can use. He basically doesn't want to learn new things, and he's more interested in learning/memorizing repeatable steps than intuiting how to do things by reading text on the screen.
All he needs is the ability to make/receive calls, and easily get the bluetooth built into his car to connect to the phone. The bluetooth is a nice-to-have though.
I haven't had much luck with feature phones because he doesn't (want to) understand rocker switches or navigation using arrow keys. I also tried the "dummy" launchers on Android, but didn't get very far with him. He's also tried iPhones, but didn't get very far.
The funny thing is that he's pretty good with the Nortel phone he uses with his land line in terms of dialing favorites, etc.
This is precisely what I need to find for a parent as well. There are feature phones available for the European market (like the HMD Nokia phones) that probably fit the bill, but nothing that works on American frequencies.
Wireless charging is also incredibly useful as an accessibility feature for older people, but manufacturers only seem to have young people working in their product teams.
I guess it depends on what you're looking for. I've seen people working on customizing SWAY to be a super simple launcher. With a little effort you could probably create a simple menu launcher for that. You can run anything* that runs linux & arm so I'm sure something could be done without much code.
I only know Doro feature phones (and am impressed by how easy to use they are, especially for those who don't see well and have trouble hitting small buttons), but it seems that they make smartphones too:
> Age should never be a reason for not being able to enjoy all that a modern smartphone has to offer. Our stylish smartphones bring you not only the full Android® experience and an elegant design, but also unique features that make them easier to use the older we become.
I have checked out Doro in the past and gotten him a similar "seniors" phone (that worked with local carriers here), and it didn't really take.
I've tried having him use a "simplified" home screen on one of my old Android phones, and that didn't work very well either.
Personally, as far as "smartphones" go, I think he needs something without a home screen, and a phone app (that can't easily exit to a home screen) with a recognizable skeuomorphic UI with minimal navigation and lots of discrete buttons for performing the few actions he needs.
Sounds like a feature phone would be a much better fit for him than a smartphone. Maybe pick out 2-3 to look at and have him choose one. Bonus is they're much cheaper.
Most feature phones available right now are pretty much the same, and they rely on rocker buttons and arrow keys for navigation, which he can't or won't pick up.
Right now he has a Nokia feature phone (which has virtually the same user experience as his older off-brand feature phone), and even that is too complicated for him to properly learn how to use.
The problem is that a feature phone has more features than he needs, and sometimes requires navigation to perform a task.
Also, some of the physical controls are rockers, which he doesn't seem to grasp.
If I could at least limit him to a phone app (with no easy way to get to the home screen) with discrete buttons for almost everything and almost no navigation, I think he'd be able to get by better than he does now.
The reason why I'm asking is that I have yet to find a feature phone or smartphone that my father (in his 80s) can use. He basically doesn't want to learn new things, and he's more interested in learning/memorizing repeatable steps than intuiting how to do things by reading text on the screen.
All he needs is the ability to make/receive calls, and easily get the bluetooth built into his car to connect to the phone. The bluetooth is a nice-to-have though.
I haven't had much luck with feature phones because he doesn't (want to) understand rocker switches or navigation using arrow keys. I also tried the "dummy" launchers on Android, but didn't get very far with him. He's also tried iPhones, but didn't get very far.
The funny thing is that he's pretty good with the Nortel phone he uses with his land line in terms of dialing favorites, etc.