1. Best Mac Mail App For Seniors
2. Best Mac Mail App For Seniors 2019
3. Best Mac Mail App For Seniors 2020
4. Best Mac Mail Program

Smartphone applications can educate, entertain and even make life easier. They enable you to get the most out of the computer in your pocket: your smartphone. But, with well over two million applications available for mobile today, it's easy to get overwhelmed. Here we have put together a list of apps for seniors that are easy to use and can truly improve your life.

You can set iCloud Mail to permanently and immediately erase messages when you delete them, instead of storing them in the Trash for 30 days. In Mail on iCloud.com, click in the sidebar, then choose Preferences. If you don’t see the sidebar, see Show or hide the sidebar in Mail on iCloud.com. This built-in best Mac email client works well with most of the email providers. This includes Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, and more. However, there are many other email apps for Mac too. They perform well in terms of speed and come with great additional features. Some offer simpler UI and improved features than those offered by Apple Mail.

Medisafe – Manage Your Medications

Available for iPhone and Android
Cost: Free

For older adults who may take multiple medications at different times of the day, forgetting to take prescriptions and get refills on time are significant problems. In fact, about 50 percent of prescriptions filled are not taken as directed by a doctor or pharmacist.1

Medisafe helps you manage your medications and get reminders. Simply input your prescriptions and timings, and Medisafe will create a visual schedule complete with images of each pill and a list of potentially harmful interactions. It will then give you reminders throughout the day when it's time to take a medication, let you know if a prescription is running low, and even alert a friend or family member of a missed dose.

Google Maps – Remember Where You Parked

Available for iPhone and Android
Cost: Free

Everyone has experienced the moment when you get ready to leave somewhere and realize you have no idea where you parked. If you find this happening frequently, your phone can help you out. But you don't have to download an extra app to remind you where your car is because this feature is included in the most popular navigation app.

In Google Maps, click on the blue dot showing your location, click “Set as parking location” from the menu that pops up, and it will be saved. Then when you are ready to navigate back to your car, click the blue “Directions” icon and choose “Saved parking.” This app is also great for getting directions when you're going somewhere new or if you get lost while driving.

Google Maps app

Magnifying Glass + Flashlight – Read the Menu in a Dim Restaurant

Available for iPhone and Android
Cost: Free

One-in-three people 65 and older have some form of eye disease,2 making it difficult to read small print. If you've ever had trouble reading a restaurant menu, forms at the doctor's office, or labels on food packaging, a magnifying app could be a handy tool.

This magnifying app uses your phone's camera to zoom in on whatever you point it at, and you can quickly turn on the light to illuminate what you need to read. With a touch of the screen, you can also “freeze” what you are looking at, so you don't have to point it in the same spot the entire time you're reading.

Facebook Messenger – Connect with Friends and Family

Available for iPhone and Android
Cost: Free

If you are among the 40 percent of adults over 653 who have a Facebook account, you've already done most of the work needed to use Facebook Messenger. Messenger is a standalone app that connects people through their Facebook profiles.

You can video chat with one person or do a group chat, as well as send text messages and photos. There are even fun features to try out while you're on a video call. You can make your grandchildren giggle by putting a digital frog on your head or even turning into a dragon!

Facebook Messenger app

Personal Capital – Take Charge of Retirement Planning

Available for iPhone and Android
Cost: Free

While there are lots of tools that allow you to track finances, personal capital stands out when it comes to retirement planning. If financial planning seems daunting, check out this app for its straightforward visuals and projections. Use it to assess your current retirement situation and even play out other scenarios to decide whether you need to make changes to your long-term plans.

GoodRx – Save Money on Prescriptions

Available for iPhone and Android
Cost: Free

One of the reasons seniors do not take medications as prescribed is simply that they cost too much. GoodRx helps users compare prescription drug prices at different pharmacies and find coupons that can be used right from the app. The app can also alert you when a particular medication drops in price and let you know when you may be due for a refill. If you use Medisafe to manage your prescriptions, you already have savings help powered by GoodRx and don't need to download a separate application.

For more information on all of our favorite prescription discount apps similar to GoodRx, head to our best prescription discount cards page.

GoodRx app

Snapfish – Get Those Photos off Your Phone

Available for iPhone and Android
Cost: Free

We're all taking more photos than ever, but hardly any of those photos ever leave the digital world. Creating photo books no longer requires any tech-savvy or artistic flair as you can simply choose your favorite shots, and the app will do the rest. Snapfish makes it easy to order photo books and prints right from your phone and have them delivered.

Audible – Escape Into a Good Book

Available for iPhone and Android
Cost: Free; requires a paid subscription after free trial

For seniors who have vision problems or arthritis that may make holding a book uncomfortable, audiobooks are a great alternative to print. Audiobooks have never been better, featuring excellent narration by voice talent or the author themselves.

Audible has the largest selection of audiobooks available. It's free to download, and you'll pay for a subscription to access books. Audible also offers a free trial period, so make sure to take advantage of this 30-day freebie!

Audible app

LastPass – Never Forget a Password Again

Available for iPhone and Android
Cost: Free

To do anything on the internet these days, it seems you are asked to create a password. Creating a unique password each time is important to avoid being hacked, but who can remember all of them? Many people use the same password for simplicity, but it leaves them vulnerable to online attacks.

LastPass stores all of your passwords securely in one place so you can look them up when needed. It can also autofill passwords into websites you use frequently and create strong passwords for you. Simply remember one password – the LastPass password.

Words with Friends 2 – Play with Friends and Family Virtually

Available for iPhone and Android
Cost: Free

Video chatting is a great way to connect when you can't meet face to face, but coordinating time can be challenging. With this app, you can challenge friends and family to a game or get paired with another player. Calling itself a mobile word game, Words with Friends 2 is very similar to Scrabble, so it's great for passive playing and connecting with friends without a significant time commitment.

Words With Friends 2 app

Spotify – Listen to Music and Podcasts

Available for iPhone and Android
Cost: Free; select plans require a paid subscription

Music can help people relax, set the ambiance at a dinner party, return to a bygone era, get pumped for exercise, and so much more. With Spotify, you can listen to specific songs or let the app curate music for you based on what you like.

Spotify is also the number one app for listening to podcasts. Podcasts are continuing to grow in popularity, and there is something out there for almost every interest. Use the app to discover new podcasts or manage your favorites.

If you'd like to see some of our other favorite phone apps and features for seniors in action, check out the video below, hosted by our Editor in Chief, Jeff Hoyt.

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More senior citizens have smartphones than ever before, with 42% of adults over the age of 65 in the USA now owning one, a figure that has more than doubled in the last five years. While many take to tech like a duck to water, others struggle to get to grips with the intricacies of modern smart-phones, and perhaps find them inaccessible. Happily, apps are available to help solve these issues, as well as providing security, connectivity, and entertainment. We’ve rounded up some of the very best apps, all of which can help senior citizens make the very most out of their smartphones.

Apps to Increase Accessibility

While the iPhone’s simple user interface is oft-lauded, Android is a little more complicated to work with. This can be an issue for seniors who are not familiar with smartphones, and those who are visually impaired. Big Launcher addresses the problem by making the interface simple, large, and colorful. Functions such as phone, messages, and notifications are clear, while apps are listed with large icons and text.

When it comes to typing, the traditional QWERTY keyboard often proves to be less-than-optimal when squeezed onto a smartphone screen. MessagEase has reinvented the wheel and radically redesigned the smartphone keyboard, replacing it with just 9 large and customizable buttons, each of which can be manipulated to input different characters. Being such a departure from any other keyboard – physical or electronic – it takes a little getting used to. Once mastered, however, the large buttons can make typing much easier for seniors, or indeed anyone who struggles with the QWERTY design.

Another solution to text input is to do away with typing all together, and replace it with voice dictation. Apple’s Siri can do more than simply search the web and tell cheesy jokes. It can be used to make phone calls, send messages and emails, take notes, and a whole host of other features. Google’s inbuilt voice-to-text service is similarly functional, and can be activated by simply saying “OK, Google.” Speechnote is a third-party app that is perfect for longer dictations, and will keep listening even after long pauses, which cause most other apps to end the recording.

• Big Launcher: $9.99 for Android
• MessagEase: free for iOS and Android
• Speechnotes: free for Android

The app for remembering medication

• Reminders for all types ofmedication

• Symptom and well-being checker

• Printable health report you can sharewith your doctor

for iPhone
for Android

Memory

Forgetfulness can be a normal part of aging, and technology is on hand to help reduce the impact of lapses in memory when it comes to health. With around 90% of people in the USA aged 65 and above taking at least one prescription medication, MyTherapy (free for iOS and Android) is an important tool in ensuring pills, tablets, and injections are taken as intended. Medication reminders can be programmed with an individual medication plan, no matter how complex, and promptly notify the user when it is time to take their meds. As well as being a pill reminder, added features such as an activity reminder, symptom tracker, and printable health report, make MyTherapy an excellent all-round health app for seniors.

As well as helping seniors stay on top of their health, apps can also relieve the burden of remembering where the car is parked. A plethora of apps are available to make a note of the location using GPS, and then guide the user back to their car later. Of them, ParKing for Android is one of the most sophisticated, particularly for anyone whose car has Bluetooth. Connecting to Bluetooth is usually a cinch, and once up and running, the app can log the car’s last location with no user input whatsoever, making it unobtrusive and remarkably easy to use. On the iPhone side of things, Follow My Car is free and simple, just requiring the user to tap a button when they want the location saved.

The more a senior uses their smartphone, the more passwords they are likely to acquire. These often require a mix of numbers, upper and lower-case letters, and special characters. For security reasons, we are told to not reuse passwords, to use random combinations of words, and avoid guessable information like names and dates. This can make remembering them almost impossible, and can easily discourage seniors from using their smartphones. Help is on hand though, in the form of password managers. One of the very best is 1Password, which can be unlocked with a master password or, even better, fingerprint recognition. All of the information is encrypted locally, and can be locked should the phone be stolen. The app, which is subscription-based, can also store credit card information, codes, and personal details. Family subscriptions are also available, to safely share passwords between relatives.

• MyTherapy: free for iOS and Android
• ParKing: free for Android
• Follow My Car: free for iOS
• 1Password: free for iOS and Android. Subscription options available at 1password.com

Stay Connected

Just as Google has transcended from a noun into a verb, WhatsApp and Skype have become so synonymous with the act of instant messaging and video calling that they too have been verbed.

Considering the overwhelming use of these apps, they are the perfect tools to help senior citizens keep in touch with the family.

For those wanting to take things a step further, Oscar Senior is designed to be a one-stop-shop for allowing senior citizens to connect to their family. It integrates social media platforms, makes instant messaging and video calling easy, and is perfect for sharing photos. Its stand-out feature is the ability for remote connectivity. This allows family members to help solve problems, add contacts, and install apps on their relative’s device, from anywhere in the world.

• WhatsApp: free for iOS and Android
• Skype: free for iOS and Android
• Oscar Senior: free for iOS and Android. Subscription options available at oscarsenior.com

Staying Safe

Best Mac Mail App For Seniors

While 1Password can offer security to seniors in the online world, technology can also be a valuable safety tool in the real world. bSafe is widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive safety apps. An alarm can be activated to send time-stamped audio and video to family members, as well as the location. The app can also allow family members to trace the location of their loved one, and pre-set timers can be arranged to send an alarm if the user does not check-in by a certain time.

A simple but potentially life-saving app is ICE – In Case of Emergency. The profile can be customized to include important health information, such as blood type, diseases, and allergies, as well as a list of emergency contacts. All of the information is accessible from the lock screen. Immediate access to such information can save crucial time in the event of any emergency. The app is available for Android, while ICE Medical Standard is an iPhone equivalent.

Red Panic Button is an app that delivers what the name promises. Once the phone and email information of a loved one is stored, seniors can have a message sent to their chosen contact in any emergency situation. The message will also contain location information, as long as GPS is enabled.

Best Mac Mail App For Seniors 2019

• bSafe: free for iOS and Android
• ICE – In Case of Emergency: free for Android
• ICE Medical Standard: free for iOS
• Red Panic Button: free for iOS and Android

Entertainment

On top of all the other benefits a smartphone offers, the icing on the cake is their capability to keep one entertained. Audible, now owned by Amazon, contains a vast library of over 200,000 audiobooks, making it the perfect source of literature for any senior living with impaired eyesight. A subscription includes one free book, plus one credit per month that can be used on any book, regardless of price.

For seniors who wish to reminisce and enjoy the radio of old all over again, Old Time Radio for Android, and OTR Streamer for iOS, each boast well over 10,000 shows from years-gone-by. From comedy and crime, to drama and westerns, both can provide hours of entertainment to listeners, completely free of charge.

Best Mac Mail App For Seniors 2020

Alongside the classic radio shows, Apple and Google both have a huge catalog of music, all of which can be streamed in their native apps, Apple Music and Google Play Music. Both have impression collections, including classical productions, and songs dating back decades. Songs can be streamed, or downloaded for offline use. Perfect!

• Audible: free for iOS and Android. Subscription options available at audible.com
• Old Time Radio: free for Android
• OTR Streamer: free for iOS
• Google Play Music: app installed by default. Subscription options available at play.google.com
• Apple Music: app installed by default. Subscription options available at apple.com

Best Mac Mail Program

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