An iPhone and iPad is the perfect combination of tech for your parents and grandparents. Its touch-friendly interface makes it easy to interact with and, for the most part, everything just works together seamlessly. So, here is a little guide to setting up an iPhone or iPad for the older generation and some features you may want to adjust.

https://youtu.be/B7MYCXnsink

AppleID

The first thing you want to do is create them an AppleID. This account can be used to sync all their personal information without it getting mixed in with yours. If they already have an email you can use it to create their AppleID. If they don't already have an email then you can create them an iCloud account.

You can sign in or create a new AppleID either during the setup process or later in Settings.

To sign in to their AppleID after setting up the iDevice open Settings. If you signed into their account previously or during setup you will see their profile at the top of Settings. If your account is signed you can sign out by clicking on your profile and scrolling to the bottom then tapping sign out. You may have to enter your AppleID password a few times to disable services like Find My iPhone. If there is no account currently signed in you will be given the option to sign in or create an account. This is where you would enter their AppleID credentials.

Once you have signed into their account there are a few settings you may want to adjust, such as iCloud Services. Start by clicking the profile at the top of Settings then tap on iCloud. All the services set to sync through iCloud are shown here.

Some services you make want to take a closer look at are Messages, iCloud Photo Library, and iCloud Backup. Speaking of iCloud Backup, it's a great idea to keep a backup of their device. If they lose or break their phone you will have another way to get their data back. However, enabling iCloud Backup, Messages in the cloud, and iCloud Photo Library will quickly burn through your 5GB of free cloud space which will result in that annoying popup that your iCloud storage is full. So, if you want to use one or more of these services you will need to purchase more iCloud storage at a monthly fee. If you prefer not to use these services you can always disable them. To disable iCloud Photo Library, open Photos and toggle iCloud Photos off. Now, go back and select iCloud Backup and toggle that off, then you can do the same with Messages. The other services listed here don’t count toward your data allowance, so, they don’t hurt anything being enabled this lighter data will just sync across all of your devices in the background.

Home Screen

Now that everything is syncing correctly it's time to clean up the Home screen. The goal is to declutter the home screen including only the essentials apps that will the used by the user like Phone, Camera, Photos, Email, and such. Apps like the Compass, Measure, and Home can probably go.

On an iPhone, you can get rid of apps by moving them to the App Library. Hold down that app until the options menu appears. From that menu choose "Remove App" and you can choose to either "Remove from Home Screen" which will move the app to the App library or you can completely remove the app from your device by tapping "Delete App". iPad users can remove apps the same way however since there is no App Library on iPad yet the only option is to delete the app. Another way you can handle this is by dragging all unwanted apps into a single folder and moving it to the side.

Shortcuts

With your home screen cleaned up,