I got a task to buy a smart phone for my grandparents, they are not techsavy but they know how to use basic functions. Iam looking for an andoid because it has language pack i need. I dont need it to have lots of functions, onley a good camera and a big screen. Bonus points if it can be flashed with some kind of simplefied version of android.
Pixel 7 Pro with grapheneos and foss apps
probably the worst thing for elderly considering how many very minor for us but very difficult for older folks issues you will come across
The foss apps I dont agree with but a stock grapheneos setup is as basic as it gets so even a non tech person can use it. OP can even set it up for them to auto update whatever apps they use through the playstore so the grandparents dont really have to do anything
The problem is that other people will be unfamiliar with it. Unless OP can be the support person all the time, the grandparents may want to get help from someone else.
Keeping things stock is helpful for that, and I feel like Google Pixel is already simple enough. Just disable things like assistant during setup or in settings.
I agree to disagree it’s really not that different from vanilla especially if he does go the playstore route, so a person familiar with android can naviagate grapheneos. The only problem would be if they break their device and the thumbprint scanner would have to be recalibrated. Personally I would just keep it as the stock grapheneos setup with accessibility features turned to max. That way its a dumb smartphone
Edit: forgot to mention regardless of os add some kind of network firewall or DNS solution to block malicious/phishing domains. The elderly are often victims of scams
That’s a great point, uBlock Origin helps a lot with scams on desktop.
I should also point out that I haven’t tried GrapheneOS and can’t judge what the differences might be, so I’ll go with your experience on this :)
it is basic but you rum into compatibility issues every once in a while which they will not be able to figure out. And also, if you don’t agree with the Foss apps, it means you will just install the regular familiar google apps, which if you do that, does not make much of a difference if you are on GOS or stock Android
i run my Pixel + GrapheneOS as daily and it’s very simple to set up, it does not take even 30 minutes to install the OS if you read the instructions from the official webpage. Does not have any bloat or unnecesary apps at all, no telemetry or tracking. No distractions of the main point of a phone. You can install normal apps from the Aurora Store and FOSS (clean, simple and useful) apps from F-Droid. The battery charge lasts all day and the phone it’s fast and secure.
the same aurora store that wouldnt work for half the times and you would have to go to the google play website for an application and click on “open in app” on ur browser?
doesn’t seem very intuitive for an 80 year old