my parents have done and it is already difficult for them to assimilate certain technological advances. And it is a fact that, probably because of my age, I often see repeated in my environment. Today they know how to use perfectly the applications that interest them on their smartphones, but when something is ‘not working’start the arduous task of finding the solution if you don’t have your phone in front of you.
My parents have always been open to technology. They recorded videos with their cameraman back in the late 70s, at the beginning of the 80s there was already a TEMCO console at home, at the end of the 80s our first computer arrived, and in the 90s, my father had his first mobile with Moviline. So they have been used to all kinds of gadgets, but the transition from mobile phone to smartphone has not been so natural for them.
They were used to phones that were handled differently and more complicated, but it is what they learned and what they have internalized the most. Menu, arrow, ok, arrow, ok,… and so on until you found what you were looking for.
Today, instead of arrow and ok, we click with our finger, which is easier. But the functions of phones have multiplied and now navigation is done more by shortcuts and notification barsthrough touch gestures for certain functions, or through direct access via icons that you have to know how to interpret. It is a change that they do not finish assimilating, and a stumbling block when trying to solve the problem remotely.
‘I haven’t touched anything’
How is it possible! But if I haven’t touched anything and now XXX doesn’t work for me! And where I say XXX, I mean that it does not work (the app you just looked at), the sound of the mobile, Internetwaves callsto give some examples of the most repeated, although I recognize that someone has surprised me with a “they don’t stop calling me” (when in fact it was the alarm clock…).
And it is true that they have not touched anything. At least in the traditional way. They haven’t gone anywhere to turn WiFi off, put it on airplane mode, or put it on silent. But they also acknowledge that lock the phone, they don’t usually do it either… The result is that they continue to touch the mobile with the screen on even if they have stopped looking at it. And what happens happens… that later, “the mobile doesn’t work”.
At this point, touch decipher what “my mobile doesn’t work” means this time. If the mobile is not heard, what is it that is not heard? The voice during calls, the ringtone, the videos or music? vibrates but no sound? And if an app or internet doesn’t work, where does it happen? out of home? Can you make calls? Do you have coverage? So I was getting an idea of where the problem could be.
The next step was to refresh the memory of what my parents hadn’t used since the last time the phone stopped working. explain how to access to the notification bar, try to clarify with what interpret see the icons and know if they are activated, to end up sending photos from another mobile or making video calls. A little odyssey that takes time and needs a lot of patience on both sides.
In the end, the usual thing is that the phone would work again, but the time invested in “fixing” it was never proportional to the “seriousness” of the problem, so I looked for alternatives and finally we have found the solution that seems to be working the best: create the “Fix” routine.
Now my parents fix their mobile by themselves
The mobile assistant is my parents’ new ally to help them fix their mobile. This time they just had to learn where the wizard is activated, tell it “fix” and wait for the process to finish.
For this to work, I only had to previously create the routine, which in the case of my parents, has been in the following order:
The voice assistant is my parents’ new ally that took some getting used to, but now they can’t do without
- Adjust media volume
- Adjust phone volume
- Turn off do not disturb mode
- Turn off airplane mode
- Activate mobile data
- Activate Wi-Fi
- Activate Bluetooth
- Activate auto rotate.
- stop music
- Say “Congratulations, your phone should now be working properly”
Although the wizard allows you to create a link to the routine on the desktop, I preferred to get my parents used to speak directly to the assistantavoiding direct access, in case when touching the touch screen without looking at it, they move again or eliminate access to the routine.
In fact, thanks to “fixing” the mobile by themselves, my parents have gotten used to talking more on their mobile and asking them for things that are practical for them, such as “turn on/off flashlight” or “read this news” when they enter discover. I’m also trying to create other routines like “pill” that remembers what time to take specific pills.
