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My dad is 70 years old and struggles with technology. If it doesn’t work the way he expects, he gets easily frustrated and angry, which then upsets my mom. I would like to simplify things for him as much as possible to minimize the frequency of problems.

Over the holidays, I noticed his TV setup is a bit difficult even for me to use. He has a Samsung LCD that is about 3-4 years old and he mainly watches DirecTV (connected through a box with HDMI) on that, but sometimes needs to use Netflix or Amazon in the event a football game is streaming through one of those services. Just using DirecTV is a little clunky IMO, but using the Samsung’s awful interface to navigate to Netflix or Amazon and then back to DirecTV is a disaster, even for me. There has to be a way to improve this for him.

So my question is, what is the simplest hardware and streaming solution to look into for an older person with these struggles?

FWIW, at my house, I have a Samsung TV in which the Samsung interface never gets used because I run everything through AppleTV and I have a Harmony remote that changes inputs on all devices. I use YouTube TV instead of DirecTV, as well as all the usual streaming services. I personally think that is simple, but it’s also what I am used to.

Maybe a similar setup could work for him? I especially like the Harmony remote because the worst case scenario is to power off and start again, but maybe there is still something easier like a Roku TV or a different smart remote?

Edited by wild_turkey
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My dad is 81 and has the Apple TV/youtube tv combo. He really struggles with it. The main issue is getting to the ā€œtvā€ as he knows it requires clicking on the YouTube tv app. He just ends up searching for things through the Apple menu and sometimes he can get what he wants and sometimes not. Not having channel numbers is also an adjustment for him.

I have told him to click on YouTube tv and select live a million times but it just eludes him.

Edited by harold

Yeah, none of these things are going to work. At that age, they don't have the mental flexibility to deal with multiple "tuning" devices and a single screen.

About the best you can do is simplify it to one device, preferably the TV itself. And that probably means an Amazon Fire TV or Roku.

2 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

Maybe a similar setup could work for him? I especially like the Harmony remote because the worst case scenario is to power off and start again, but maybe there is still something easier like a Roku TV or a different smart remote?

I’d go with an appleTV, and then use the directv app on that.

still gets channel numbers and such, plus a better experience for other apps.

no input changing, no overhead, no shitty tv apps.

Fuck roku. their privacy policy is for fucking communists.

My 77-year old dad uses a $20 Firestick for Thursday night football on Prime with the DTV remote to change inputs. If he can figure it out, anyone can.

I had to get a universal remote with the actual numbers on it recently for a family member that is an old fart, as the new TV they purchased only came with a remote that had a button and scroll system instead of the numbers to input a channel via antenna.

The problem with the Apple TV solution is the remote. My 76 year old father hates the Apple TV remote.

2 minutes ago, hornmpa96 said:

The problem with the Apple TV solution is the remote. My 76 year old father hates the Apple TV remote.

My 58 year old self hates the Apple TV remote as well. I can't punch in numbers. My kids insist on using it, when our Xumo remote allows all the same functions plus I can punch in ch numbers.

I’d steer clear of Fire TV, their interface is messy. Roku and Apple bot have nice big tiles and you might be able to remove a lot of the extraneous tiles. Not sure if there is a Roku or Apple Remote that provides number buttons.

My dad has stuck with Uverse because he has his favorite channel numbers memorized and can’t adapt to anything else.

I noticed that Fubo offers channel numbers too.

  • Author
2 hours ago, hornmpa96 said:

The problem with the Apple TV solution is the remote. My 76 year old father hates the Apple TV remote.

I don't much care for the AppleTV remote either, and I know my dad would hate it, which is why I would look into a universal remote if we go that route. I've used the Harmony Smart Control remote for years now and it works great. It can learn almost any function and control any device, but it has the look and feel of an old school remote without a clunky or complicated touch screen.

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It looks like Harmony remotes have been discontinued but they are still easy to find on eBay and that could be useful, unless there is something better available now. A quick search shows a lot of universal remotes have a touch screen, which even though I feel pretty tech savvy, I think touch screen remotes are pretty dumb and pointless.

  • Author
5 hours ago, harold said:

My dad is 81 and has the Apple TV/youtube tv combo. He really struggles with it. The main issue is getting to the ā€œtvā€ as he knows it requires clicking on the YouTube tv app. He just ends up searching for things through the Apple menu and sometimes he can get what he wants and sometimes not. Not having channel numbers is also an adjustment for him.

I have told him to click on YouTube tv and select live a million times but it just eludes him.

I do worry about that part with YouTube TV. It's hard for him to wrap his mind around streaming services/apps and the lack of channel numbers. I think he also gets confused when he comes to my house and can't find the Live TV section of YouTube TV, but maybe it would be a little better if he did it at home on a regular basis.

Perhaps sticking with the DirecTV service via the app (either on AppleTV or Roku TV) is a safer bet. I haven't used their app so I don't know how user friendly it is. I suppose I could install it on my AppleTV with his account and see what that would be like.

4 hours ago, Bill Brasky said:

I had to get a universal remote with the actual numbers on it recently for a family member that is an old fart, as the new TV they purchased only came with a remote that had a button and scroll system instead of the numbers to input a channel via antenna.

Is there a really easy to use/program remote? I have 3 remotes, currently. One is to raise and lower the TV as I installed a motorized mount. Another is the dish TV remote, and the third is the TV remote. The TV remote is awful because it isn't lighted. So when watching TV in the dark, it is very difficult to scroll down and choose the HDMI input vs. Prime, Netflix and a bunch of other inputs. This problem will get even worse when I finish renovating the house and reinstall a high end surround sound system. So even though I am very tech savvy, the remotes make things difficult. The easiest would be an uncluttered remote like an improved version of the dish remote that could also be used to easily change inputs.

My dad ultimately couldn't understand or always control his TV. This was mainly due to dementia. He didn't live with me so it was frustrating when he wanted me to drive 30 minutes to help him change the channel. And then he would promptly switch the channel to something else in the next commercial break and couldn't find his way back.

I discovered that his cable service had a remote control app for your phone and it didn't require that the user physically be in the house. From across town, I could switch channels, play a recorded show, record a show, etc. The only areas that I couldn't control was turning on the TV or the volume.

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