Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.
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OK. Mrs M's parents are self-isolating and we want to increase contact as much as possible. They are in their late-80's and can manage a landline and email (with difficulty). As a whanau, we use Whatsapp to messaging and sharing - but they don't.
I'm looking to set up a Windows 10 PC with remote access/control and set up to run a messaging app on log-in, or a very big icon on the home screen, to make it as easy as possible to use.
A smart-phone would be too tricky for them, so my current thinking is using an Android emulator to run Whatsapp (to avoid the need for a phone) but worry this could be a bit fiddly to use, even using a script.
What I'm after is a cross-platform app we can all use - iPhone, Mac, Win10, Android - which doesn't need a phone but has much Whatsapp capability. Web-based solutions would be fine.
Any thoughts from the techies really, really welcomed.
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Signal on android also functions on Windows 10, so it would feel like an instant messaging email to them, but with the benefit of full screen PC resolution.
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WhatsApp Has a windows 10 application You would need to install it on their phone as well but they could access it through their computer.
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Thanks. Checked that out but it needs a phone to work, sadly.
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@mooshld said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
WhatsApp Has a windows 10 application You would need to install it on their phone as well but they could access it through their computer.
Thanks, but they don't have a smart-phone and I doubt they'd be able to manage keeping it on/charged up. If I cant get a solution i'll duct tape a phone to the laptop and keep it connected to the USB port for charging.
Looking for a solution which is native to Windows 10 & other OS's, Seems to be bugger all out there.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
@mooshld said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
WhatsApp Has a windows 10 application You would need to install it on their phone as well but they could access it through their computer.
Thanks, but they don't have a smart-phone and I doubt they'd be able to manage keeping it on/charged up. If I cant get a solution i'll duct tape a phone to the laptop and keep it connected to the USB port for charging.
Looking for a solution which is native to Windows 10 & other OS's, Seems to be bugger all out there.
skype?
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Webcam set up?
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@R-L said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
Webcam set up?
It's the software which uses the (built-in) webcam. I'm trying for something which someone with mild dementia can use.
Needs to be as saimple as "Open the PC and touch the screen" to initiate a call.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
@R-L said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
Webcam set up?
It's the software which uses the (built-in) webcam. I'm trying for something which someone with mild dementia can use.
Needs to be as saimple as "Open the PC and touch the screen" to initiate a call.
Ah OK, can't imagine the worry. Best of luck x
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@R-L said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
Ah OK, can't imagine the worry. Best of luck x
Yep. Thanks. But we'll get there
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Must be a bloody scary time for the elderly, those who live alone or at rest homes feel cut off and isolated the best of times. Can’t imagine what they are feeling now, given they are most at risk.
All my grand parents are long passed on but there’s family members we are concerned for. Neighbours too.
Hopefully govt agencies are working out proper strategies to give them as much chance to get through this, the dedicated shopping hour that some places are doing now is a great idea.
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@Victor-Meldrew not techy at all but have you considered an AI solution?
I have Alexa and I can call or text simply by talking to her. Bit more of an investment but it's very user friendly and allows you remote control. Get a couple of Ring cameras and connect them as well and you can keep an eye on them as well.
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@dogmeat said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
@Victor-Meldrew not techy at all but have you considered an AI solution?
I have Alexa and I can call or text simply by talking to her. Bit more of an investment but it's very user friendly and allows you remote control. Get a couple of Ring cameras and connect them as well and you can keep an eye on them as well.
Great thought. Will check that out.
Thanks
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Another that I would recommend from personal usage is Viber.
It has an android, ios and windows version. For the Windows version, you have to have a mobile phone number to associate it to. So you set it up on a mobile phone and then the windows version is installed and linked to the one account by scanning the QR code with the Viber app on the mobile and you're done.
https://www.viber.com/download/
My personal opinion is that Viber is much safer than many other instant messaging/video calling apps, including WhatsApp.
Viber uses an encrypted person to person direct connectivity rather than using a server(s) in the middle like WhatsApp. This makes it more secure and more trustworthy IMO.
One thing about WhatsApp, remember it is owned by Facebook and I really struggle to trust them as an organisation.
Edit. Another advantage over WhatsApp is that once installed on Windows, it is not reliant on the mobile phone being on and/or present. So you can get them a cheap old phone with a SIM, use that number to install Viber and then the phone can be turned off and not needed again.
WhatsApp for Windows needs you to have the phone on nearby and every now and then you need to confirm the connection by scanning in the QR code. It's a lot more painful this way than Viber.
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Tks. Will keep that in mind as we move forward - didn't realize it was phone independent once set up. That's a big plus.
I've had a look at Google Duo which seems to fit the bill for simplicity. Can set it up so it launches on boot and it has a really simple interface. Might try that as a start.
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@Virgil said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
Hopefully govt agencies are working out proper strategies to give them as much chance to get through this, the dedicated shopping hour that some places are doing now is a great idea
Our local village has set up a FB group to co-ordinate shopping, prescription deliveries etc for older people. Grocery orders are taken over the phone and ordered online for those who can't do it themselves. Local supermarket has virtually waived delivery charges.
Simple but really effective
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I understand the distrust in FB but won’t FB messenger work off a webpage?
You could set up temporary FB accounts to use for nothing except this.
The Alexa idea is good though. I assume they have WiFi?
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Really needs to be as simple as opening a laptop and touching a screen to call as we are dealing with failing mental capability.
Planning to use Duo to start with but look to write some scripts to access FB Messenger functions as that interface is simple and easy to use.
Thanks.
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@Victor-Meldrew might be some chrome extensions that sit on those messenger webpages to simplify the UI, worth a look
I’ve used ones that allow you to remove HTML to declutter some sites too that might help.
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We used to use Skype with our pet, using a special account that only we knew, that only accepted calls from us, which we then set up to answer automatically:
I'm not sure how easy it would be to get them to make calls with it, but paired with Alexa for example, I could see it working even if they forget the 'Alexa, pick up' or Alexa 'answer' or for whatever reason don't recognize the call.
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@gt12 said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
We used to use Skype with our pet, using a special account that only we knew, that only accepted calls from us, which we then set up to answer automatically:
I'm not sure how easy it would be to get them to make calls with it, but paired with Alexa for example, I could see it working even if they forget the 'Alexa, pick up' or Alexa 'answer' or for whatever reason don't recognize the call.
I barely know what you're talking about but it sounds awesome!
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@Hooroo until you find out it's a goldfish.
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@Bones said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
@Hooroo until you find out it's a goldfish.
Or some bloke with a rubber mask.
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Ask @Snowy . He’s probably got a slick set up for his basement
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@Rembrandt said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
@Bones said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
@Hooroo until you find out it's a goldfish.
Or some bloke with a rubber mask.
"Some bloke"
Yuh huh.
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@Kirwan said in Coronavirus & Messaging Apps - Help wanted.:
@Victor-Meldrew might be some chrome extensions that sit on those messenger webpages to simplify the UI, worth a look
I’ve used ones that allow you to remove HTML to declutter some sites too that might help.
Cheers mate,
I'm going down the Duo route for now to get this up and running and shipped today.
Dogmeat's Alexa idea is a def. possibility. An Echo Show could solve a lot of issues.
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Hey, thanks for all the input on this. All set up and working reasonably well, which is great.
For the geeks, decided to use Google Duo for simplicity and it runs on start-up. as does Teamviewer which I use to remotely control everything with a back-up comms link via 4G if they lose Wifi. (they have difficulty connecting anything like WiFi).
Shipping them an Echo Show next week to keep an eye on them when they are in their lounge.
