Things your Android phone can already do: 13 free features for an older parent

Font size and display size

Font size makes the words bigger. Display size makes everything bigger, including icons and buttons.

Good for: anyone who holds the phone at arm's length to read it.

How to turn it on

1. Open Settings and search for Font size. Move the slider.
2. Search for Display size and move that slider too.
3. If it's too much, tap Reset settings.

On a Samsung Galaxy: Open Settings, tap Display, then Font size and style. Screen zoom on the same screen makes everything bigger.

Good to know: Google says the font size setting doesn't apply in some apps.

Our step-by-step help:

• Words too small on Android (Android phone or tablet)

Sources: Google: Change text & display settings; Samsung: Adjust your Galaxy phone or tablet's display settings

Easy mode (Samsung Galaxy)

Easy mode enlarges what's on the screen, adds a high-contrast keyboard and helps prevent accidental touches.

Good for: a parent with a Galaxy phone who finds the regular Home screen busy.

How to turn it on

1. Open Settings and tap Display.
2. Tap Easy mode, then tap the switch to turn it on.

Good to know: Samsung describes Easy mode as help with the Home screen. The rest of the phone works as usual. The Google help pages we checked don't list an Easy mode for Pixel, so on a Pixel use font size and display size above.

Sources: Samsung: Adjust your Galaxy phone or tablet's display settings (Use Easy mode)

Magnifier

Google's Magnifier app uses the camera to blow up small text, with a button to take a picture and zoom in further, and a front-camera mirror mode.

Good for: reading a menu, a prescription label or a sign across the room.

How to turn it on

1. On a Pixel 5 or later, download Magnifier from the Google Play Store.
2. Open it, point the camera at the text, and tap the plus or minus buttons to zoom.
3. Optional: open Settings, tap Gestures, then Quick Tap to start actions, turn on Use Quick tap, and set it to open Magnifier. Then a double tap on the back of the phone opens it.

On a Samsung Galaxy: Samsung lists Magnifier under Settings, Accessibility, Vision enhancements.

Sources: Google: Use Pixel's Magnifier; Samsung: Galaxy device Visibility enhancement features

Select to Speak

Tap a paragraph, a button or a picture and the phone reads it out loud.

Good for: long emails or letters that are tiring to read on a small screen.

How to turn it on

1. Open Settings, tap Accessibility, then Select to Speak.
2. Turn on Select to Speak shortcut.
3. To use it, swipe up with two fingers or tap the Accessibility button, then tap what you want read. Tap Play to hear the whole screen.

Good to know: If Select to Speak isn't in Settings, Google says to get the latest Android Accessibility Suite from Google Play.

Sources: Google: Use Select to Speak

Live Caption

Captions appear on screen for speech in videos, podcasts, phone calls, video calls and audio messages.

Good for: a parent who struggles to hear calls or videos.

How to turn it on

1. Press a volume button.
2. Under the volume controls, tap the Live Caption button.
3. If that doesn't work, open Settings, search for Live Caption and turn it on.

On a Samsung Galaxy: Open Settings, tap Accessibility, then Hearing enhancements, then Live Caption, and turn on Use Live Caption.

Good to know: The first time, the phone needs Wi-Fi to download the language. Google says the captions are processed on the phone.

Sources: Google: Live Caption; Samsung: Use Live Caption and Live Transcribe on your Galaxy device

Live Transcribe

Turns what people in the room are saying into text on the screen, and your parent can type back.

Good for: doctor's appointments, family dinners, or anywhere hearing aids aren't enough.

How to turn it on

1. On a Pixel, open Settings, tap Accessibility, then Live Transcribe, then Open Live Transcribe.
2. Allow the microphone, then hold the phone near the person talking.
3. To reply in text, tap Type at the bottom.

On a Samsung Galaxy: Open Settings, tap Accessibility, then Hearing enhancements, then Live Transcribe, then Open Live Transcribe. On other phones, get the Live Transcribe app from Google Play.

Good to know: It needs an internet connection unless you use one of its offline languages.

Sources: Google: Use Live Transcribe; Samsung: Use Live Caption and Live Transcribe on your Galaxy device

Sound Amplifier

With headphones on, the phone's microphone picks up the room and boosts quiet speech while turning down background noise.

Good for: a parent waiting on hearing aids, or one who doesn't wear them every day.

How to turn it on

1. Connect wired or Bluetooth headphones.
2. On a Pixel, open Settings, tap Accessibility, then Sound Amplifier, then Open Sound Amplifier.
3. Tap Phone mic and adjust Noise reduction and Boost quiet sounds.

On a Samsung Galaxy: The feature is called Amplify ambient sound. Open Settings, tap Accessibility, then Hearing enhancements.

Sources: Google: Sound Amplifier; Samsung: Galaxy phone and tablet Hearing enhancement features

Hearing aid pairing

Bluetooth hearing aids pair with the phone so calls and videos play straight into them.

Good for: a parent with Bluetooth hearing aids.

How to turn it on

1. Put the hearing aids in pairing mode. Their manual or the audiologist can explain how.
2. Open Settings, tap Connected devices, then Pair new device, and pick the hearing aids.
3. With two hearing aids, wait for the first to connect, then pair the second.

On a Samsung Galaxy: Open Settings, tap Accessibility, then Hearing enhancements, then Hearing aid support, then Bluetooth hearing aids, and tap Continue.

Good to know: For hearing aids with a telecoil ("T" setting), Google says to turn on Hearing Aid Compatibility mode on the phone.

Our step-by-step help:

• Hearing aids with Android (Android phone or tablet)

Sources: Google: Connect hearing devices to your Android device; Samsung: Galaxy phone and tablet Hearing enhancement features

Call Screen (Pixel) and Call screening (Samsung)

The phone answers a call from an unknown number, asks who's calling and why, and shows you the answer before you pick up.

Good for: a parent who gets daily robocalls but doesn't want to miss the doctor's office.

How to turn it on

1. On a Pixel, open the Phone app, tap More, then Settings, then Spam and Call Screen (or Call Screen).
2. Tap Call Screen and choose a protection level. On a Pixel 7 or later, choose which calls to screen: spam, possibly faked numbers, first-time callers.
3. When a screened call comes in, read the transcript and decide whether to pick up.

On a Samsung Galaxy: Open the Phone app, tap the three dots, then Settings, then Call screening, and turn it on. Samsung says this needs One UI 8.5 or later.

Good to know: Save the doctor, pharmacy and family in Contacts first. Google says Call Screen doesn't screen saved contacts, and that automatic screening shouldn't be used with call forwarding.

Our step-by-step help:

• Stop spam calls on Android (Android phone with the Phone by Google app)
• Block a number on Android (Android phone, including Samsung Galaxy)

Sources: Google: Screen your calls before you answer them; Samsung: Use Call screening on your Samsung phone

Emergency SOS

Pressing the power button five times starts an emergency call and can share your location with emergency contacts.

Good for: every Android owner. Practice the setup together, not the call.

How to turn it on

1. Open Settings, tap Safety & emergency, then Emergency SOS, then Start setup.
2. Confirm the emergency number, add emergency contacts and choose what to share with them.
3. Pick Use touch & hold to start actions if your parent worries about calling by accident.

On a Samsung Galaxy: Open Settings, tap Safety and emergency, then Emergency SOS. Press the side button five times in a row to use it. Samsung lets you set a Countdown and turn on Send SOS to emergency contacts.

Good to know: Google says Emergency SOS doesn't work in airplane mode or with Battery Saver on.

Sources: Google: Get help during an emergency with your Android phone; Samsung: Use your Galaxy phone or tablet in emergency situations

Emergency info on the lock screen

Medications, allergies and emergency contacts that someone can see without unlocking the phone.

Good for: a parent with health conditions, allergies or several prescriptions.

How to turn it on

1. On a Pixel, open the Safety app and sign in to the Google Account.
2. Tap Your info, then Medical information, and fill it in. Under Emergency contacts, tap Add contact.
3. Tap Emergency info access, then Show when locked.

On a Samsung Galaxy: Open Settings, tap Safety and emergency, then Medical info, and fill in conditions, allergies, medications and blood type.

Good to know: Google points out that anyone who picks up the phone can read this info while it's locked.

Sources: Google: Get help during an emergency with your Android phone; Samsung: Use your Galaxy phone or tablet in emergency situations

Share location in Find Hub

Your parent can share where they are with family in the Find Hub app, for an hour, the rest of the day, or until they stop.

Good for: families who'd like to know Dad got home, or need to find a lost phone.

How to turn it on

1. Open the Find Hub app and sign in.
2. Tap Start share (or the plus button on the People tab) and choose how long to share.
3. Pick the family members, then tap Create share.

Good to know: Family members see the location in Find Hub or Google Maps. If they don't have either app, Google sends them an email.

Sources: Google: Find your friends and family with Find Hub; Android: Find Hub (share your location steps)

Circle to Search

Circle a word, a product or a photo anywhere on the screen and Google searches for it without leaving the app.

Good for: a parent who sees an unfamiliar word in an email or a product in a video.

How to turn it on

1. Touch and hold the Home button or the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.
2. Circle, scribble on or tap the text or picture.
3. Results show on the bottom half. Swipe down to go back.

Good to know: Google says it works on select Android phones, including Pixel 6 and later.

Sources: Google: Search your screen with Circle to Search