Video Calling - 'Parental' lock for my mum

Forums › Android › Video Calling - 'Parental' lock for my mum

funnyfela

342 posts

Ultimate Geek

#303151 19-Jan-2023 17:10

Hey all,

My mum (55yrs) had a brain aneurysm a couple of years ago. This unfortunately left her in a kind of alzheimers dementia sort of way. She's become very innocent and forgetful and trusting. We ended up needing to get data blocked off her cell because of a few situations that happened. She is tech literate.

We're wanting to get her a tablet specifically for her partner to video call when he's not in NZ, but my concern is that I've had spam from random numbers on whatsapp (what I use to video call him on my phone for her), and facebook messenger also was getting her into situations before we took her off.

Open to suggestions on a way to provide video calling for her to call him, or him to call her, but only to like contacts that we allow. Parental lock, but for the parent lol. The care home has wifi. Idea behind not using her phone is to keep the tablet locked to one app, one use sort of thing.

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shk292

2692 posts

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#3024328 19-Jan-2023 19:54

How about an Amazon Echo show? Quite foolproof to use, just need to set it up and leave it plugged in. Can generally only call to listed contacts

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Eva888

1779 posts

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#3024341 19-Jan-2023 21:10

Skype is pretty good as you can set it so only contacts can see or call her. I use and like it because it doesn’t bombard you with people you might know. You can also load cash on to it so she can call phones or mobiles of people who don’t have Skype.

ANglEAUT

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#3024500 19-Jan-2023 23:02

Facetime from Apple? You can easily set up her account as a child of yours. Just set her DOB as 2010/01/01. At "13yrs old" she can legally have her own account & it can still be supervised by you.

You don't mention a platform preference.

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michaelmurfy

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#3024513 20-Jan-2023 01:16

@funnyfela Where are you based? I do have a Kitcal Tablet here that I bought a couple of years back for my Nana however it is back here basically unused. I didn't want to factory reset it just in case somebody else can make use of the Kitcal features.

It is blatantly easy to use however I am missing the manual (you could ask Kitcal for a replacement - they're a NZ company). There is however a requirement for a data plan on it (provided by an integrated Vodafone IoT sim) but the tablet is -super restricted- (I mean this) so there is not a chance she can get in trouble with it. Would this perhaps work for you? https://kitcal.nz/

If so, let me know. It is sitting around here but just know I'll need to get it transferred to you and you'll have to set up the data plan through Kitcal.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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funnyfela

342 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3027144 25-Jan-2023 19:51

Sorry for not coming back quickly, mum had an event and this slipped my mind.

Appreciate the responses. Especially yours michaelmurfy, very generous, a shame its not a bit cheaper or option for wifi only. I also suspect the 'limitations' would frustrate her.

Unfortunately we're a windows/android household so facetime isn't an option, but a good thought.

Skype might be an option, coupled with an app to lock it to skype only... Will have a play.

Cheers

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ANglEAUT

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#3029809 31-Jan-2023 00:53

funnyfela:

... we're a windows/android household ...

Skype might be an option, ...

Disable / remove all unnecessary apps, set Skype as the default dialer, set Skype to auto-start. Try to pin the Skype window to the home screen?

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mattyb

245 posts

Master Geek

#3046871 7-Mar-2023 14:42

shk292:

How about an Amazon Echo show? Quite foolproof to use, just need to set it up and leave it plugged in. Can generally only call to listed contacts

Just spotted this thread after a search. My elderly neighbour had his copper line replaced with a phone over internet spark solution so he could keep his landline, and now he's wondering if there was something simple he could video call his sister back in the UK. He's not tech literate at all, and I wondered whether the Kitcal device might work for him, but then saw it was $39/month and comes with it's own data plan. Seeing as he's already got the internet installed (which has recently been upgraded to fibre) and is paying for it I'm not sure adding another $40 a month is the best option.

Anyone tried the Echo Show for this purpose? Or are there any other devices that might fit the bill?

TIA

shk292

2692 posts

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#3046945 7-Mar-2023 19:31

mattyb:

Just spotted this thread after a search. My elderly neighbour had his copper line replaced with a phone over internet spark solution so he could keep his landline, and now he's wondering if there was something simple he could video call his sister back in the UK. He's not tech literate at all, and I wondered whether the Kitcal device might work for him, but then saw it was $39/month and comes with it's own data plan. Seeing as he's already got the internet installed (which has recently been upgraded to fibre) and is paying for it I'm not sure adding another $40 a month is the best option.

Anyone tried the Echo Show for this purpose? Or are there any other devices that might fit the bill?

TIA

I bought one for an elderly family member living overseas and for reasons I won't go into it doesn't get much use, but I tried it out with video calls to NZ and it works very well (on quite a narrow bandwidth connection). A friend gave me the idea, and she uses one successfully as the main means to talk to her dad, who is not at all good with tech. You'll need either an Amazon device or the Alexa app on a device or laptop to make and receive calls. You can also do all the usual Alexa stuff, and if you link to a Spotify account you can play music via voice command. The sound quality is quite good

One advantage is you just plug it in, set it up and leave it alone - no need to remember to charge, unlock etc