Smart speaker for elderly parent

Heighway61

Mother is no longer able to use her mobile phone. I tried Google Assistant with her but she wasn't able for it. Then got her an Echo Dot but that's no good as all her contacts must have the Alexa app.

What could she get to allow her voice control her phone, maybe get the news, local radio, etc?

Heighway61

Would the Google Nest Mini be a good bet? Does standard mobile calls and texts.

https://www.currys.ie/ieen/smart-tech/smart-tech/smart-home/smart-home-starter-kits/google-nest-mini-2nd-gen-chalk-10200134-pdt.html

davegilly

Yes, my mother has this one. She uses it every day for radio, alarms, music, timers etc. Once setup it's simple to use.

niallb

Any of these devices can play most Irish radio stations on demand by voice.

My dad loves his Echo Show. Mostly for the radio stations and Audible, but there is a device that connects it to a landline which he used for a while.

A new hearing aid which connects directly to dad's mobile phone is a better solution for him now. It can do spoken callerid for him and dial by voice. His eyesight is a little complicated and he's down to one working ear but he enjoys being able to talk to people when he wants to.

What difficulty is most significant for your mother with her own phone?

niallb

The Google Nest Mini does not do phone calls in Ireland to the best of my knowledge. You might make it work by pairing it with bluetooth, but I don't think it's going to be straightforward.

Heighway61

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119213622#Comment_119213622

Her cognition is diminishing as is her eyesight. Finding contacts is a problem

She hasn't been able to send a text for a while now and ignores incoming texts.

Heighway61

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119213659#Comment_119213659

Ah no, phone calls is where she needs the help most. I also saw somewhere that google cast can be voice operated. Thought that might help her changing tv channels. But the phone first.

niallb

The Chromecasts can be voice controlled with a nest hub and the echos can do much the same thing with a firestick.

I think some TVs with android TV built in can do channel changes, but not sure otherwise. What kind of TV setup does she have?

My own mum passed away three years ago and I've had the experience of diminishing cognition there and trying to help her work around it. Thankfully my dad's mind is pretty sharp. He's nearly 91, but can still scribble calculations on the back of an envelope to back up a theory. I'll have a chat with him about using television and phone calls and get back to you next week. It's funny that some of the things I thought would be most straightforward aren't for somebody of a different generation.

Hopefully I'll be able to give you some better suggestions then.

Might seem strange, but I'm taking into consideration a headunit from a car to replace a radio in the house. They are designed to pair up to a phone and make handsfree calls.

Heighway61

Just thinking, she has Sky Q so if she were to buy sky's voice remote control that might work. It's difficult buying devices for her. A trivial problem for most could be a total road block for her. TV is a budget Philips something or other, non-Android, so was thinking Chromecast (but havent started to research that yet).

Thanks for the advice.

niallb

We have a Philips android TV and asking the alexa echo in the same room to switch to BBC1 changes channel on the TV which is listed as supporting Alexa.

If she's already paying for (and used to) Sky Q it's probably better to work with that if possible. Looks like a single payment of €35 to give you voice control of changing channels and more after pressing the button on a remote.