Make Your Phone Easier to See and Hear

If you're squinting at your phone or asking people to repeat themselves on calls, that's not something you have to live with. Every phone and tablet has settings built in to fix it. Most people just don't know they're there.

Make the text bigger

Make everything bigger, not just the text

Text size only changes words. Display size (Android) or Display Zoom (iPhone: Settings → Display & Brightness → Display Zoom → Larger Text) makes buttons and icons bigger too, so they're easier to tap accurately.

Turn up the brightness

Swipe down from the top corner of the screen to find the brightness slider. Slide it up.

Also turn off automatic dimming if your screen keeps going dark on you: iPhone, Settings → Accessibility → Display & Text Size → turn off Auto-Brightness. Android, Settings → Display → turn off Adaptive brightness.

Hear calls better

Turn up the call volume during a call — press the volume buttons on the side of the phone while you're actually on the call. Phones keep separate volume levels for calls, ringtones, and videos, which is why turning it up one time doesn't always stick.

Make the ringer easier to notice

Pick a ringtone in a lower pitch — low tones are easier to hear as we age than high chimes. Turn on vibration so you feel it as well as hear it. On an iPhone, you can also turn on LED Flash for Alerts (Settings → Accessibility → Audio & Visual) so the camera light flashes when a call comes in.

Let your phone read to you

If reading a long article or email is tiring, your phone will read it aloud. iPhone: Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Speak Screen. Then swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen and it starts reading.

One last thing

These settings can be changed back at any time. Nothing here is permanent and nothing here can break your phone. Try them, see what feels right, and adjust.