Staying connected with your grandchildren through FaceTime is a wonderful way to share moments and strengthen bonds. However, spending extended time on screens can sometimes cause eye strain and fatigue, especially for elders. To help you enjoy your FaceTime calls comfortably and keep your eyes healthy, we’ve compiled these seven simple tips. Implementing these can make your screen time more pleasant and ensure you stay connected with your loved ones without discomfort.
What It Is: Every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break to look at something 20 feet away.
Why It Helps: This simple practice helps relax the eye muscles, reducing the risk of digital eye strain. By frequently shifting focus, you prevent your eyes from becoming overly tired, which can lead to discomfort, headaches, and blurred vision. This break also encourages you to stand up and move around, promoting overall physical health.
2. Ensure Proper Lighting
Tip: Use soft, indirect lighting in the room where you FaceTime.
Why It Helps: Proper lighting reduces glare and harsh reflections on your screen, which can cause your eyes to strain as they adjust. Consistent, soft lighting helps maintain a stable visual environment, reducing the effort your eyes need to put in to see clearly. Additionally, well-lit environments prevent your pupils from dilating excessively, reducing eye fatigue and maintaining a more comfortable viewing experience.
3. Adjust Screen Position
Tip: Keep your device at eye level and about 20-30 inches away from your face.
Why It Helps: Proper screen positioning ensures that you maintain a natural posture, reducing the need to tilt your head or strain your neck. This alignment helps prevent musculoskeletal discomfort and reduces the strain on your eyes caused by looking up or down for extended periods. Maintaining an appropriate distance from the screen also helps in reducing the intensity of light entering your eyes, minimizing fatigue and potential eye damage.
4. Use Blue Light Filters
Tip: Enable the blue light filter on your device or use blue light blocking glasses.
Why It Helps: Blue light emitted from screens can penetrate deep into the eye, leading to digital eye strain and potentially disturbing sleep patterns by suppressing melatonin production. Blue light filters and blocking glasses reduce the amount of blue light exposure, making screen time more comfortable for your eyes. This helps in reducing eye fatigue, improving visual comfort, and protecting long-term eye health.
5. Blink More Often
Tip: Make a conscious effort to blink frequently during calls.
Why It Helps: Blinking naturally lubricates your eyes by spreading tears over the surface, which helps keep them moist and comfortable. Prolonged screen use can reduce blink rates, leading to dry, irritated eyes. By reminding yourself to blink more often, you maintain eye moisture, reduce the risk of dry eye syndrome, and enhance overall eye comfort during extended FaceTime sessions.
6. Take Regular Breaks
Tip: Schedule short breaks during long FaceTime sessions.
Why It Helps: Regular breaks give your eyes a chance to rest and recover from continuous screen exposure. These breaks reduce the cumulative strain on your eye muscles and help prevent symptoms of digital eye strain such as headaches, blurred vision, and neck or shoulder pain. Stepping away from the screen also promotes physical activity, which is beneficial for your overall health and well-being.
7. Adjust Screen Brightness
Tip: Match your device’s screen brightness to the surrounding lighting conditions.
Why It Helps: Properly adjusting your screen brightness helps your eyes avoid working too hard to adapt to different light levels. If the screen is too bright or too dim compared to the surrounding light, your eyes have to constantly adjust, which can lead to fatigue and discomfort. By aligning screen brightness with ambient lighting, you create a more comfortable viewing experience, reducing strain and enhancing visual clarity.
Conclusion
Following these simple tips can help you maintain eye health and reduce screen fatigue during FaceTime calls, ensuring a more comfortable and enjoyable experience.
Here is the difference between the default settings and settings that will increase the font size on your iPhone.
iPhone font size
Side by side, these two screenshots of a text message conversation make it clear the difference between the default font size settings and adjusted font size.
Default font size allows for more content to show on the screen.
Increased font size allows you to more easily read what is on the screen even without glasses.
Increase Font Size On iPhone
There are a couple of things to adjust to increase the font size on the iPhone: Text Size and Display Zoom.
Text Size
Go to you iPhone settings, scroll down till you find Display & Brightness. Tap Display & Brightness. Scroll down to Text Size and tap that.
iPhone Text Size
At the bottom of the screen, slide your finger along the bar. There are 11 different choices – smallest on the left, largest on the right. My suggestion is to move the marker on the slider to the 7th position from the left. This will result in a larger font size. Go ahead and slide it all the way to the right and tell me that is not too big 😁.
The image on the left is with the text size at the fourth position (smaller) and the image on the right is the text size at the seventh position (larger).
iPhone text size adjustment
Display Zoom
Go back to Settings > Display & Brightness. Scroll down to the bottom and tap the Display Zoom option.
iPhone Display Zoom
The image below on the left shows the text message conversation with increased text size and default Display Zoom. The image on the right is with increased text size and larger text Display Zoom.
iPhone Display Zoom Comparison
In my observation, the larger text size combined with the display zoom setting to larger text makes it that much easier to read your iPhone – especially if you forget your glasses!
Siri, the virtual assistant on iPhones, is your personal helper at your beck and call. With just a simple “Hey Siri,” you can unlock a world of possibilities. From making calls and sending texts to setting alarms and even telling jokes, Siri makes your iPhone experience more convenient and fun.
In this guide, we’ll explore eighteen incredible things you can do with Hey Siri, showcasing its versatility and convenience. Let’s dive in and discover how Siri can simplify your life.
Move the camera up and down until the text you want to scan is highlighted.
Click insert.
Notes insert
What Else?
The scanning capability built into the Notes app on the iPhone and iPad allows you to scan in:
Addresses
URLs
Phone numbers
Notes is smart enough to link to the information you scan in, ex – a url gets hyperlinked so you can click the link and visit the website. Phone numbers are linked so when you click the phone number a call is made.
Navigating pet care can be challenging, especially for elderly pet owners who may not be as comfortable with technology. Fortunately, several user-friendly apps are designed to simplify pet management, making it easy to ensure pets are healthy and happy.
These apps stand out for their intuitive interfaces, comprehensive features, and reliable support, making them ideal for older adults.
Puppr offers a straightforward and engaging way to train your dog. With over 100 video tutorials led by professional trainers, it breaks down complex tricks into simple steps. The app also includes a built-in clicker, progress tracking, and live chat support with trainers, ensuring that even those new to dog training can feel confident. Whether it’s teaching basic commands or advanced tricks, Puppr makes the process enjoyable and stress-free.
AirVet is a lifeline for pet health concerns, offering 24/7 access to veterinary professionals via live chat and video calls. This app is perfect for immediate, reliable advice on any health issue, from minor queries to urgent concerns. Its user-friendly design ensures that even those less familiar with smartphones can easily navigate and use the service, providing peace of mind without the need for a physical vet visit.
PetDesk streamlines pet care management by consolidating all veterinary appointments, medication reminders, and pet care tasks into one easy-to-use app. It connects users with local pet care providers, ensuring all health records and care schedules are accessible and organized. This comprehensive approach simplifies managing your pet’s health, making it easier for elderly users to keep everything in one place.
TrustedHousesitters provides a secure and reliable way to find pet sitters, offering peace of mind when traveling. With verified sitters and 24/7 support, this app ensures that pets are well cared for in their owner’s absence. The app’s detailed profiles and reviews help users find the perfect match, making it easy and safe to leave pets in trusted hands.
BringFido is an essential tool for pet owners who love to travel. It helps find pet-friendly accommodations, parks, and restaurants, ensuring that pets are always welcome. The app’s simple design and extensive database make it easy to plan trips that accommodate furry companions, enhancing the travel experience for both pets and owners.
These apps collectively enhance the pet care experience by providing accessible, reliable, and comprehensive tools tailored to the needs of elderly pet owners.
You can block Spam Messages to your IPhone by selecting tapping the sender’s information at the top of the screen, tap the info button, scroll to the bottom and click Block Caller.
Instead, at the top of the screen, tap the sender’s profile picture (if there is one) or the phone number.
This effectively takes you to a screen where you can ‘edit’ (or block) the sender.
Tap the info button.
Block caller edit
Block caller
Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and there in red will be the option to Block Caller.
Block caller
For whatever reason, the wording changes from Block Caller to Block Contact. You will need to click the Block Contact option to confirm your request.
Once that is cone you will not receive phone calls, messages, or FaceTime from people on the block list.
Unblock caller
Oops. What do you do if you want to unblock a caller?
Just the opposite. Find the message, tap the phone number, tap info, scroll to the bottom and click Unblock Caller.
If you no longer have the message, instead go to Settings > Messages > Blocked Contacts > Find the phone number or contact you want to unblock > swipe right on that contact’s information and tap Unblock.
Gardening can be a rewarding hobby, but it often requires a lot of knowledge and attention to detail. For elders who may not be familiar with technology, using a gardening app can make the process much easier.
We’ve reviewed four top-rated gardening apps—Planta, Plantum, Fryd, and Greg—that are not only user-friendly but also packed with features to help keep your garden thriving.
Planta is a straightforward app designed to help you care for your plants. It provides reminders for watering, fertilizing, and misting based on the local weather. This app also has a community feature where you can share your plant care experiences and ask for advice. Additionally, Planta offers plant identification and expert consultations from professional botanists. Its easy-to-use interface and comprehensive features make it ideal for those who want to ensure their plants thrive without any guesswork.
Key Features:
Watering, fertilizing, and misting reminders
Plant identification
Expert consultations
Community for sharing and advice
Why It’s Great for Elders:
Planta’s simple design and practical reminders make it easy for elders to keep their plants healthy without having to remember every detail themselves.
Planta is a straightforward app designed to help you care for your plants. It provides reminders for watering, fertilizing, and misting based on the local weather. This app also has a community feature where you can share your plant care experiences and ask for advice. Additionally, Planta offers plant identification and expert consultations from professional botanists. Its easy-to-use interface and comprehensive features make it ideal for those who want to ensure their plants thrive without any guesswork.
Key Features:
Identifies over 33,000 plant species
Diagnoses plant issues
Care reminders (watering, misting, rotating, repotting)
Light meter tool
Why It’s Great for Elders:
Plantum’s comprehensive identification and care tools help elders understand their plants better and take the guesswork out of plant care.
Fryd is perfect for planning and managing vegetable gardens. It provides tools for creating planting plans and tailored to-do lists. The app also features a community where you can ask questions and share experiences. Fryd is designed to make vegetable gardening accessible and enjoyable, even for those with little gardening experience.
Key Features:
Garden planning tools
Tailored to-do lists
Community for questions and sharing
Suitable for vegetable gardens
Why It’s Great for Elders:
Fryd’s focus on vegetable gardening with easy-to-follow planning tools and a supportive community makes it an excellent choice for elders looking to grow their own food.
Greg uses AI technology to create personalized care plans for your plants, including watering schedules and humidity requirements. The app also features a community where you can share photos and get advice from other plant enthusiasts. Greg’s straightforward interface and intelligent recommendations make it a handy tool for both novice and experienced gardeners.
Key Features:
AI-powered care plans
Personalized watering schedules
Humidity requirement tips
Active community for advice and sharing
Why It’s Great for Elders:
Greg’s personalized care plans and simple interface make it easy for elders to keep their plants healthy with minimal effort. The active community also provides additional support and advice.
These gardening apps offer a range of features to make gardening easier and more enjoyable for elders. Whether you’re looking for detailed care plans, plant identification, or community support, these apps provide user-friendly solutions to help your garden flourish. Download one today and take the guesswork out of gardening.
This is a useful feature if you want to share a photo with someone via text messaging, but the photo is not zoomed in enough to show the detail you want.
In this photo below to the left there is a rabbit that is difficult to spot. But after cropping this photo, the rabbit is much easier to see in the photo to the right.
iPhone cropped photo – before and after
Select Photo
Find the photo you want to resize and double tap the photo.
iPhone double tap photo
Crop Photo
You will see the work “Crop” in the upper right corner. Tap on the word “Crop”.
Typically, the photo will zoom in on the right side.
Use your finger to drag the photo to show the part of the picture you want to zoom in on.
As you drag the photo, a grid will display to help you with centering the photo how you want.
iPhone cropped photo
Zoom In
At this point, if you are satisfied with the results, simply click Done and you will have a cropped photo of the original in your photos.
You have the option of dragging the photo or zooming in or out.
My suggestion is to start with the menu at the top.
Three options are highlighted.
iPhone crop menu
Flip the image – basically folds the image over.
Rotate the image – each time you tap the rotate button it turns the image 90°. First tap is 90°, second tap is 180°, third tap is 270°, and fourth tap is back to 0°.
Resize – in my opinion, the most useful option. You can select Freeform which allows you to adjust, square, wallpaper, 9:16, 4:5, 5:7, 3:4, 3:5, 2:3 when you have the image in vertical mode. If you are in landscape mode, your options are square, wallpaper, 16:9, 5:4, 7:5, 4:3, 5:3, 3:2.
You can also tap-hold-drag the edge of the photo to resize. Additionally, you can pinch the photo with your finger tips and stretch the fingers out to further zoom in.
iPhone photo square
Once you are done, then click “Done” and you will have a modified version of your original photo in your iPhone photos.
Siri will randomly choose between heads and tails. This is a great way to “flip a coin” without having a coin.
Hey Siri, flip a coin
Hey Siri, remind me to…
Hey Siri, remind me to [do something] on [date / time].
For example, “Hey Siri, remind me to go to the doctor on Monday, September 29, 2025 at 10AM”.
Or, “Hey Siri, remind me go to the doctor next Monday at 10AM”.
Both requests will give you the same result. The second example is easier to say 😁
If you have never used the reminder capability, consider testing that this works by saying “Hey Siri, remind me to go to the doctor in one minute from now“.
You should get a reminder on your IPhone that reminds you within one minute.
If you do, great – the notifications work as expected.
If you don’t, then you probably need to configure your reminder notifications.
Hey Siri, reminder me to…
Hey Siri, show me my reminders
Even better is to ask Siri for your reminders in a certain time frame.
For example, “Hey Siri, show me my reminders for Monday, September 29, 2025.
Hey Siri, show me my reminders for Monday
A word to the wise. When Siri shows you the reminders you have, if you touch the circle next to the reminder it will delete that reminder. If you mistakenly touch the circle, you do have a little bit of time to touch the circle again and it will not be deleted.
Delete reminder by touching the circle
If you touch the text area, in this case where it says “Go to the doctor”, it will open up the reminders and allow you to (1) delete the reminder or (2) update / edit the reminder.
If you want to update / edit, then touch the “Go to the doctor” reminder and you can update / edit immediately.
Edit reminder
At this point, there a number of options to choose from.
Edit the reminder – touch the message and start typing.
Calendar – the calendar icon allows you to change the date or date and time. There are some default date settings: Today, Tomorrow and This Weekend. You also have the option to select a specific Date & Time.
Remind me at a location – allows you to select where you are when you get notified. (see getting in car)
Tag – allows you to tag the appointment which makes it easier to find using the search capabilities.
Photo – you are able to take a photo, choose from your photo library, scan a document or scan text and attach to you notice
If you tap the “i” symbol (that purple letter i with a circle around it), you will be given additional options.
Edit the reminder – touch the message and start typing.
Notes – add a note to the reminder.
URL – add a link to the reminder.
Date & Time – be careful with this. If you turn it off then turn it back on it will default to the current date and time.
Early Reminder – this is a great*** feature. Highly recommended that you enable this for a reminder that requires you to be somewhere (else) at a particular time. Take into account how much time you need to get there, is there any preparation that needs to be completed ahead of time. The default early reminders are None, 5 minutes before, 15 minutes before, 30 minutes before, 1 hour before, 2 hours before, 1 day before, 2 days before, 1 week before, 1 month before. You have the ability to set a custom reminder from 1-200 minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months. In case you are wondering, 200 months is about 16 2⁄3 years.
Repeat – Default is Never. Options include Hourly, Daily, Weekdays, Weekends, Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly, Every 3 Months, Every 6 Months, Yearly or Custom. Custom option include Frequency of Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly. Based on your Frequency choice, you can set the number of occurrences from 1 to 999. Let me just state the obvious, you are not going to be alive in 999 years. Or are you… If your frequency choice is weekly, you get the option to select what day of the week you want to be reminded on. If your frequency choice is monthly, you get the option to select what day of the month the reminder occurs on. Be careful about choosing the 29-31 as those days of the month don’t always occur. If your frequency choice is yearly, you get to choose which month and another option is days of the week.
Hey Siri, what is the current price of…
Ask for the current price of a stock and Siri delivers.
Ex – What is the current price of Tesla stock?
Hey Siri, what is the price of Tesla stock?
Hey Siri, translate the phrase
Ask Siri to translate a phrase from the current language to another language.
Ex – Hey Siri, translate the phrase, what did you do for vacation to German.
Or, Ex – Hey Siri, how do you say what did you do for vacation in German.
And Siri returns “Was hast du im Urlaub gemacht?”
Importantly, Siri will also speak the result and not just show you the translation. You have the ability to listen to the translation over and over again by clicking the play button next to the translation.
Hey Siri, translate…
Hey Siri, do some math
Siri knows how to do math.
Ex – Hey Siri, what is 85% of 4,500?
And the answer is 3,825.
I dare you to ask Siri what the square root of negative one is?
From this result you can do a few different things.
Hey Siri, where am I?
You can click on the Directions button. Unfortunately, the next message you will see says “Cannot Provide Directions Cannot get directions to and from the same location”. Don’t do this – it is a waste of time.
The other option is to click on circle with the square and up arrow near the upper right of the screen. This is much more useful.
From here you can share your location with someone as a new iMessage. That person will receive a map showing your location. That person can then click on the map and get directions to your location.
Siri text message with map
Hey Siri, what’s the time
Asking Siri will give you the current time at your location.
Ex – Hey Siri, what’s the time?
You can ask what the time is in a specific location.
Ex – Hey Siri, what’s the time in London.
You can’t ask for the time for an entire continent.
If you ask for the time in a country, Siri will return the time for the capital city of the country.
Ex – Hey Siri, what’s the time in the United States.
One very useful feature is that Siri also lets you know how many hours that time is ahead or behind you.
Hey Siri, what time is it in the United States?
Hey Siri, turn the flashlight on
Other basic and day-to-day commands.
Hey Siri, send a message to [contact]
– This lets you send a text message to any saved contact. You can dictate the message, and Siri will send it without needing to type.
Hey Siri, call [contact]
– Siri will place a phone call to the contact you mention. Useful for hands-free calling while driving or multitasking.
Hey Siri, take a selfie
– This opens the front-facing camera, ready for you to snap a selfie. You’ll still need to press the shutter button yourself.
Hey Siri, play my favorite playlist
– Siri will start playing the playlist you’ve marked as a favorite on Apple Music, making it easy to listen to your go-to songs.
Hey Siri, what’s on my calendar today?
– Siri will read out your scheduled events and appointments for the day, helping you stay organized.
Hey Siri, add milk to my shopping list
– This adds an item to a pre-existing list in the Reminders app. Perfect for quickly noting things you need to buy.
Hey Siri, find my iPhone
– If you’ve lost your iPhone or another Apple device, Siri can trigger the “Find My” feature, causing the device to play a sound.
Hey Siri, read my last message
– Siri will read aloud the most recent text message you received, allowing you to stay updated without checking your phone.
Hey Siri, what’s the weather tomorrow?
– Siri will provide a weather forecast for the following day, including temperature, rain chances, and other details.
Hey Siri, open [app]
– This quickly launches any app installed on your device. Just mention the app name, and Siri opens it for you.
Hey Siri, how do you say ‘thank you’ in French?
– Siri will translate the phrase into the specified language and read it aloud, which is handy for quick translations.
Hey Siri, shuffle my workout playlist
– Siri will play your workout playlist in a random order, ideal for keeping your exercise routine fresh.
Hey Siri, define [word]
– Siri provides the definition of a word from the built-in dictionary, helping you quickly understand unfamiliar terms.
Hey Siri, block this caller
– If you receive an unwanted call, you can tell Siri to block the caller, preventing future calls and messages from them.
Hey Siri, what song is this?
– Siri listens to any music playing nearby and identifies the song title and artist. Perfect for discovering new music.
Hey Siri, start a workout
– Siri can begin a fitness session via the Fitness app, tracking your exercise type (e.g., running, cycling) and metrics.
Hey Siri, dim the lights
– If you have smart lights connected via HomeKit, Siri can adjust the brightness to your desired level.
Hey Siri, email [contact]
– Siri helps you compose and send an email to a specified contact, making it easy to send messages hands-free.
Hey Siri, find coffee shops nearby
– Siri searches for local coffee shops using Maps and provides a list of nearby options with directions.
Hey Siri, take a note
– Siri creates a new note in the Notes app with whatever you dictate, perfect for capturing quick thoughts or reminders.
