Digital Picture Frames for Low-Tech Seniors
November 1, 2023 12:52 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for recommendations for a digital picture frame for seniors who have no computers or home internet, no Wi-Fi, no interest in learning technology, and limited ability to get assistance. But of course, there's more.
The last time digital photos frames were brought up was over a year ago, and I'm sure the tech changes quickly in this arena. I'd appreciate any first-person recommendations, given these caveats.
THE BACKGROUND
I have fabulous, long-time clients. They're seniors, but not what you'd call elderly. However, they're so low-tech they're almost no-tech. They have no home internet and no working computer. They have no cloud accounts. They do have data on their iPhones, but they're extremely limited in what they can do on their phones. Mainly, they call or receive texts.
They'd never seen a USB drive until I showed them one, and they're still not clear on how they work. I helped them identify the location in a photo by using Google image search, and they thought I was a wizard.
Over the years, I've helped them get their thousands of print photos and slides decluttered, digitized, labeled, and organized. After all the print photos were done, I copied a set of each onto multiple USB drives for them to give to various family members; theirs just sits on a cabinet. They bought a digital picture frame for her 90yo mother, who gave it back to them "to fix" because the photos looked all weirdly stretched. On one of my thrice-yearly visits, I played with the settings for about a minute, fixed it, and they were thrilled.
Right now, all of their digitized photos (the ones for which they have USB copies, plus slides we had digitized and memory cards I discovered and uploaded at my office) live in my Dropbox (plus I have backups). The only time they see the photos right now is when we're working together. I use the data on my iPad to access my Dropbox, and we pull up their photos and label/organize them for posterity.
The goal is to put these nicely organized ~115 years (!) of photos on a flash drive to plug into a digital photo frame so they can enjoy them. They want me to just say, "Buy THIS!"
OPTIONS?
They don't (and won't) store anything in the cloud, so transferring from Google photos and iCloud won't be a thing. I'm dubious that their kids or grandkids would email photos to the frame (and again, they have no home internet). They, themselves, don't email. I'm seeking something simple, pretty, and stick-the-USB-into-the-frame-and-go simple, as it will be spring before I see them again.
My head is swimming with all of the conflicting reviews I've read. A decade ago I'd have gone with Nixplay, but right now the best-reviewed and easiest seem like Pix-Star or Aura.
If you can recommend a specific model/version that is pretty foolproof, plug-and-play, and decent-looking, you'd make my very lovely clients so happy. Thanks in advance!
The last time digital photos frames were brought up was over a year ago, and I'm sure the tech changes quickly in this arena. I'd appreciate any first-person recommendations, given these caveats.
THE BACKGROUND
I have fabulous, long-time clients. They're seniors, but not what you'd call elderly. However, they're so low-tech they're almost no-tech. They have no home internet and no working computer. They have no cloud accounts. They do have data on their iPhones, but they're extremely limited in what they can do on their phones. Mainly, they call or receive texts.
They'd never seen a USB drive until I showed them one, and they're still not clear on how they work. I helped them identify the location in a photo by using Google image search, and they thought I was a wizard.
Over the years, I've helped them get their thousands of print photos and slides decluttered, digitized, labeled, and organized. After all the print photos were done, I copied a set of each onto multiple USB drives for them to give to various family members; theirs just sits on a cabinet. They bought a digital picture frame for her 90yo mother, who gave it back to them "to fix" because the photos looked all weirdly stretched. On one of my thrice-yearly visits, I played with the settings for about a minute, fixed it, and they were thrilled.
Right now, all of their digitized photos (the ones for which they have USB copies, plus slides we had digitized and memory cards I discovered and uploaded at my office) live in my Dropbox (plus I have backups). The only time they see the photos right now is when we're working together. I use the data on my iPad to access my Dropbox, and we pull up their photos and label/organize them for posterity.
The goal is to put these nicely organized ~115 years (!) of photos on a flash drive to plug into a digital photo frame so they can enjoy them. They want me to just say, "Buy THIS!"
OPTIONS?
They don't (and won't) store anything in the cloud, so transferring from Google photos and iCloud won't be a thing. I'm dubious that their kids or grandkids would email photos to the frame (and again, they have no home internet). They, themselves, don't email. I'm seeking something simple, pretty, and stick-the-USB-into-the-frame-and-go simple, as it will be spring before I see them again.
My head is swimming with all of the conflicting reviews I've read. A decade ago I'd have gone with Nixplay, but right now the best-reviewed and easiest seem like Pix-Star or Aura.
If you can recommend a specific model/version that is pretty foolproof, plug-and-play, and decent-looking, you'd make my very lovely clients so happy. Thanks in advance!
I don’t have a specific suggestion, but since you mentioned Aura frames, I wanted to post to tell you that they will not be a good solution. We have had good experiences gifting Aura frames to older family members who have wi-fi. The reason they work great for our use case is that multiple people can easily add (or remove) photos remotely because photos are stored in the cloud, but this also means they don’t work without access to wi-fi.
The one thing I will suggest though, is that given the volume of photos, you consider getting several digital frames and putting a different subset of photos on each frame. Our recipients seem to like it as much when favorite photos come up as when there are new ones.
posted by ElizaMain at 2:47 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
The one thing I will suggest though, is that given the volume of photos, you consider getting several digital frames and putting a different subset of photos on each frame. Our recipients seem to like it as much when favorite photos come up as when there are new ones.
posted by ElizaMain at 2:47 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have a Pix-Star that I got as a gift. Their two models only differ in size (10 and 15 inches). I’d say it took about 10 min to set up initially but now I don’t have to touch it. Mine is set to only play photos certain hours of the day (when I’m normally in that room) and to randomly rotate through photos. We email new ones occasionally (and friends and family send photos of their kids regularly). You can set it to auto-accept or require approval for new pics on the frame (with WiFi) or on their website after logging in. I used a USB drive recently for an event and that worked great too without wifi. The frame has a remote, but once it’s up and running, you won’t really need it. Happy to answer any specific questions you might have, but I think it’d be a good fit for your situation!
posted by JannaK at 4:39 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by JannaK at 4:39 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I was buying for a similar setup, for multiple elderly family members. I bought this incredibly cheap and effective and difficult to mess up frame that shows photos only from the USB stick. All the frames are still being used a few years later.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 5:25 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 5:25 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
We also love our Aura frame gift to grandparents, but it's so easy bc they have wifi. Both my brother and I can upload photos to it with ease from across the country and the screen viewing is amazing (although my mom sometimes says uploaded videos play sound without warning, including 3am. I bet we could figure out how not to make that happen in the settings). But if they won't get wifi, I think it might be a non starter.
In fact, while writing this answer
I did some very light research and see aura says its made to be used for wifi and can SOMETIMES accommodate a Hotspot. If they are still unwilling, I don't think it's the product for you/them.
posted by atomicstone at 5:35 AM on November 1, 2023
In fact, while writing this answer
I did some very light research and see aura says its made to be used for wifi and can SOMETIMES accommodate a Hotspot. If they are still unwilling, I don't think it's the product for you/them.
posted by atomicstone at 5:35 AM on November 1, 2023
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It literally advertises: plug in USB drive (or SD card) and it'll go into slideshow mode automatically.
posted by kschang at 2:35 AM on November 1, 2023