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Setting up a special purpose iPad

For many seniors, especially those relegated to a Retirement Home or Long-Term Care facility, they need to have an ability to reach out to family and friends easily and without any knowledge of these sophisticated devices except to turn it on and ask to speak with a listed party - Skype seems to be the best for simplicity and cross-platform generally available free service.


Is there a way using an iPad to achieve maximum ease to do this? It seems to me to require a special setup of the device.


Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Posted on Oct 7, 2022 7:32 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 7, 2022 7:56 AM

Depending on the ability of the senior, you can set up the iPad with Face ID and Siri so all they would have to do is open the iPad, look at it, then say ā€œSiri, Call Phillip (or whomever) on Skype.ā€ You can find many more tips for folks with special needs if you go to Settings > Accessibility.


Again, depending on the seniorā€™s mental capacity, you may want to consider Guided Access which limits the device to a single app and lets you control which features are available. This might prevent your senior from replying to spam emails and messages. And it would definitely stop an outsider from accessing other apps and possibly causing complications. On that note, I would definitely recommend NOT setting access to any financial, banking or credit cards. I believe you can set up an Apple ID without a credit card. Check here:

How to create a new Apple ID - Apple Support


But if you must enter one, maybe set up a new credit card with a VERY LOW credit limit and one that will notify you if it is used without the card present. I would not recommend using a debit card.


Iā€™m sure others in this forum will have more good advice to add. I commend you for your efforts in doing this. It could be a welcome window to the world for your senior.

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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 7, 2022 7:56 AM in response to Philip.144

Depending on the ability of the senior, you can set up the iPad with Face ID and Siri so all they would have to do is open the iPad, look at it, then say ā€œSiri, Call Phillip (or whomever) on Skype.ā€ You can find many more tips for folks with special needs if you go to Settings > Accessibility.


Again, depending on the seniorā€™s mental capacity, you may want to consider Guided Access which limits the device to a single app and lets you control which features are available. This might prevent your senior from replying to spam emails and messages. And it would definitely stop an outsider from accessing other apps and possibly causing complications. On that note, I would definitely recommend NOT setting access to any financial, banking or credit cards. I believe you can set up an Apple ID without a credit card. Check here:

How to create a new Apple ID - Apple Support


But if you must enter one, maybe set up a new credit card with a VERY LOW credit limit and one that will notify you if it is used without the card present. I would not recommend using a debit card.


Iā€™m sure others in this forum will have more good advice to add. I commend you for your efforts in doing this. It could be a welcome window to the world for your senior.

Setting up a special purpose iPad

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