10 MORE Resourceful Apps for Seniors

In our continuous dedication to creating a comfortable home life for aging adults, we here at Home Vitality Care have compiled a list of 10 more resourceful apps to help ease seniors and their loved ones:

1. Magnifying Glass + Flashlight

It’s as simple as it sounds. The Magnifying Glass + app turns the smartphone’s camera into a magnifying glass, and assists the user to read text that appears to be small.  Great for seniors who need help reading restaurant menus, prescription bottles, and other text of this nature.  The app is available on both Apple and Android devices.

 

2. Kindle

Boasting a library of over one million books and thousands of magazines, the Kindle reading app is one of the best entertainment apps for reading enthusiasts.  The app is especially great for seniors due to its ability to allow adjustments to the font, background color, and audible narration. Additionally, if they have an Amazon Echo device, they can ask their device to read the book aloud for them.

 

3. Audible

Similar to Kindle, but with a focus on audio books, Audible has over 450,000 audio books within their library.  In addition to audio books, they have original content and podcasts as well. Audio books are excellent alternatives to traditional books for seniors who are blind or just have a difficult time reading.  

 

4. Life360

Designed as somewhat of a failsafe, this app is more for the family of seniors than it is for the seniors themselves.  Life360 uses GPS location tracking to keep track of seniors as they travel around their respective areas. Life360 is great for family members who want to ensure their loved ones are making it back home from doctor appointments, errands, and things of that nature.  And, of course, family members can track each other as well, not just their senior family members.

5. Uber, Lyft, Etc...

Whether needing a ride to a doctor’s appointment or just looking to grab a bite to eat, mobility is no longer a restriction.  For seniors who can no longer drive or just feel uncomfortable doing so, rideshare apps are especially great for getting them to where they need to be.  Yes, of course, taxis have been around for decades. However, rideshare apps such as Uber and Lyft are inexpensive in comparison, and they often are more readily available for ride seekers.  

6. Instacart

Instacart is a service similar to Uber Eats, but with a focus solely on same-day grocery delivery.  The service allows users to order groceries through the app from local grocery stores and schedule the delivery for a time frame of their choice.  This is particularly great for seniors who aren’t freely able to get around, and need assistance getting groceries and household supplies.  

7. Lumosity

Available on both Iphone and Android, Lumosity is an app to challenge and sharpen the mind with over 60 brain games.  The games focus on helping to improve or maintain memory, attention, flexibility, reaction time, and more. All things that are important to everyday life, but even more so for seniors.  Lumosity offers a free version with a limited number of games, and paid subscriptions grants access to all of the games and monitoring tools. Overall, though, lumosity is great for retired seniors looking to get more mental stimulation. 

8. Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime in 2020 at this point is definitely a household name.  However, what many may not know is that Amazon Prime provides special services catered to home needs.  Services such as the Prime Pantry for household supplies, House Cleaning for home cleaning, Assembly Services for various items, and more.  If seniors or their families have a Prime membership, these are great services to take advantage of for a better home living experience.

9. Google Home & Amazon Alexa

These devices are great devices for seniors living alone at home.  The devices can not only help them find information online via a voiced AI, but they can also make phone calls and order items for shipping.  The devices can also play their respective companies audiobooks, podcasts, and movies all through voice commands. For seniors that struggle with reading, these features are invaluable.

10. Dashlane

Dashlane is a straightforward app that assists in keeping track of your passwords.  They offer both a free and paid subscription. The free version allows you to store up to 50 passwords on one device, and the paid version is unlimited passwords on unlimited devices for $59.88.  Seeing as we primarily use our smartphones for nearly everything, the free version is probably more than enough for most seniors.

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