Ask Adrian: Our technology editor tackles your trickiest tech problems
Question: Can you suggest a good, easy-to-use smartphone for an older person? My dad (83) is on his own and only has a Nokia and I'd love to get him set up on FaceTime with my kids.
- Anne Louise Foley, via Twitter
Answer
If it has to be FaceTime then it has to be an iPhone as FaceTime is an Apple-only ecosystem. If this is the video-calling service you feel you must have, you might be better off getting a basic Apple iPad (about half the price of an iPhone) which would do the same thing. My hunch is that your Dad may feel comfortable with his phone the way it is, so this might let him keep that while also setting him up with a video-calling device. A bonus would be that it has a much bigger screen, which is probably preferable.
If you're willing to consider other video-calling systems and think he'd manage a smartphone, I'd probably recommend Samsung's A50 (around €250). It's an excellent budget smartphone with a great big screen, great battery life and decent cameras. In this scenario, you could use either Hangouts (free, from Google) or just use Whatsapp for video calls.
Question
Everyone is telling me to use video calls or conferencing, but I haven't the faintest clue about where to start. I feel really stupid but is there any chance you could give me a basic idea of how to use one? - A.M., via email
Answer
Don't worry, you're definitely not on your own here. If anything, the government's new language of potential 'cocooning' - elderly people having to stay indoors, by themselves, for weeks - brings up all kinds of fear of isolation.
There are lots of ways to make and take videocalls. I've already mentioned WhatsApp (above), but I'll take a closer look at two that you might find useful: FaceTime and Google Hangouts. Skype is also a good option, but I don't think it's quite as simple to use for most beginners as the first two so I'll focus primarily on those.
FaceTime comes with iPhones, iPads and Macs and is really easy to use because it's just like making a call. In other words, it works right from the part of your iPhone where you make ordinary calls. Just pick the person (from 'contacts' or 'recents' in the phone app) and tap the blue 'i' symbol beside their name. You'll now see a 'FaceTime' video call icon. Tap that and you'll make the FaceTime video call to that person. You will see and hear them and they will see and hear you, because of the camera that's on the front of your phone. If you use an iPad, there's a separate 'FaceTime' app symbol on the front page of the device. And it's the same on an Apple iMac or MacBook laptop. FaceTime can be used on the normal mobile network on your iPhone, but needs wifi (such as your home wifi) to work on your tablet or laptop.
As I said, this is an Apple service - both of you have to have an Apple iPhone, Apple iPad or Apple Mac computer to use it. If you don't, or if the person you want to see doesn't, you'll need a different service.
Whatsapp video calls work on any kind of smartphone, but not on iPads or laptops.
So that leaves you with alternatives like Hangouts. This lets you do video calls with one person or several people at the same time. It's made by Google and can be accessed downloading the free app (for any smartphone or any tablet) or going to the website Hangouts.google.com
To start a call, you need to have a free Google account, which is the same as a Gmail or YouTube login (and uses the same password). If you don't have one, just go to Gmail.com and set one up.
The website is slightly easier to use than the app. When you're logged in, you'll see a big 'video call' symbol. Click or tap that and it will ask you to 'invite people'. Start typing a name and it may recognise it from your own contacts list. If not, you'll need to type in their email address. (It can be any email address; only the person making the call has to have a Google account. This means that you can join someone else's call even if you don't have a Gmail or Google account.)
Then you can add other people as you like, by replicating the first step. Before you know it, you have a group video chat underway. You can stay on the line as long as you like because the Hangouts call uses your wifi, which is very unlikely to run out of data, no matter how long the call is.
Hangouts isn't quite as easy as FaceTime to set up, because it's not as neatly built into any single phone or laptop. But it can be accessed by far more people.
Email your questions to aweckler@independent.ie
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