iOS Simple Mode
Quinn Nelson
This is not my grandpa. Merely a cute old man I found on Google Image Search.My tech-savvy grandmother finally convinced my 87-year-old grandfather to buy an iPad 2. The Apple Creative Specialist sold him a 16GB Verizon 3G model—which I'm glad—as he doesn't have Wi-Fi in his house. As the "tech genius" grandson, he recruited me to teach him how to use his device, and I couldn't have been more excited.
He has never used a computer. Barely knows how to type. This iPad stuff is completely foreign. Unfortunately, at 85, he's not very adventurous and worries about diving into applications in fear of getting lost and screwing things up. After telling him again and again that messing it up is essentially impossible, he still hesitates to do any real exploration: he wants me to teach him everything. I'm not bothered by this as what he wants to use the iPad for is fairly limited: read the local newspaper, check email, and use the moderately basic LDS Church apps.
I've talked in the past about how brilliant the singular home button is. If the user ever gets lost, **bam**, hit that button and you're back on Springboard: familiar territory; however, ever since the adoption of multitasking in iOS, this n00b-phone-home concept is becoming increasingly more skewed.
Prior to iOS 4, apps were killed upon exit. This wasn't really all that great for us power users, but for inexperienced users it was fantastic. If ever you got lost in an application, hit the home button, re-enter the app, and you're back to where you're familiar. Now, with multitasking, you exit the app, re-enter, and you're in the exact same spot. Now, yes, I know that you can double-tap the home button, hold the application until it wiggles, and then kill said app; however, this is no easy task for an intimidated old man, and he's confused enough as it is—I don't dare introduce this seemingly uninnovative concept.
I wish there was a simple mode designed for children and seniors alike; a button for the intimidated. Get rid of multi-tasking, get rid of notification center, get rid of folders even. Rid the iPad of all the great features us competent users know and love. If I could downgrade the iPad 2 to iOS 3, I would in a heartbeat. Apple, address this problem, there is a serious need for it—especially if you want to enter the education market.
As innovative and simple as it is to us, it's still too indimidating for some.
Reader Comments (1)
I agree with you. My grandparents got an iPad 2 from us too and it's hard for them to understand everything. And they have the same problem when they are "lost" in an app. They hit the homebutton and re-enter, but, there is still the same. There should be a kind of mode for kids and seniors.
Great articles !