Android Phones for Seniors in easy steps

Excellent book. I purchased this book for my 71 year old mom who just got a new smart phone (Galaxy S9) for the very first time ever. The print is large, easy to read and there are many photos and good tips. It explains all the basics in a simplified way. Its very helpful. The layout is comfortable and enjoyable to read. Very happy with our purchase and would recommend. My mom will be a cell phone pro in no time...

mixed review. I liked the book - (have a copy on my Kindle and a paper copy) - my husband was less enthusiastic. I think this is a learning style issue-- I like to read/consult a book-to learn - he likes to "muck around" and "discover" on his own. I do find he picks up the book occasionally so it is useful to both of us. I think the title (which attracted me) put him off since I gave it to him for his 50th birthday.

Received item in good working condition.

The pictures in this book did not match the screens on my phone and it took several tries to try and figure out how to use my SamsungJ7 using the pictures and directions in the book. I basically had to play around until I figured some of the basic operations out myself. Felt like I wasted my money.

After years of using basic flip phones, we gave in and got smart phones recently. This book has been very helpful !

A good basic book that provides a general outline of the Android system. It is still necessary to get up to date detailed information by doing research on the Internet, but this book points you in the right direction.

Useless to me. Very confusing.

Did not give explicit instructions-just general-of no help to me. Found out what I wanted on my own. Iris Reddy

Easy to read, and understand the how to's of Cell phones!

Bought as a gift

There will never be an instructional book that is perfect for everyone. Any book will be too simple for some, too complicated for others. It's going to omit HOWTOs you think EVERYONE needs, and waste space explaining things you regard as having dubious usefulness. First off, this book touts itself as "so you don't have to ask the kids". But if you're anything like me, you got your smartphone as a hand-me-up FROM your kid. Therefore, the fact that it's completely pertinent to Android 6 and up makes it less than completely useful. Unless you went out to spend $$$ on a brand-new something you had no idea you'd be able to use, you probably want something targeting early versions of Android. Not that there've been wild changes as Android evolved - just enough to confuse. An edition of this book from 5 years ago would've been better for MY needs, but the author hadn't written one then. But if you'd learned to drive in a 1950 DeSoto, you wouldn't have much trouble getting behind the wheel of a present-day gasoline-engined car. One thing I founded extremely annoying was chapter 2. It's a collection of 1-page summaries of current-as-of-writing smartphone offerings from different manufacturers. As I mentioned above, they're all like cars. Different trim and accessories, but pretty much the same. If you want to pad the page count, stuff this info in an appendix, not up front. If you bought new, you don't need to pile buyer's remorse onto sticker shock. Aside from these nits, the book isn't that bad. It's laid out like the ubiquitous Dummies volumes, with page margins of about 30% for commentary, but without feeble attempts at humourous asides. (Not a recent invention, this body + marginalia approach actually goes back to the Hebrew Talmud.) The illos are in colour, giving a bit more visual "snap" than Dummies products. There are 2 glaring omissions of the "I think everyone needs to know" category. Unless you've recently emerged from a sarcophagus, you'll have a Contact List somewhere that you'd like to pour into your new Phone. Some detailed explanation would be in order, even if it's just for lists on Yahoo and GMail. Memory cards are another. The book talks about physically putting one in, but nothing about how to use it. My card is invisible, but that may be due to settings my hacker kid left behind when he gave me the unit. I WILL have to bother him after all... Not being of the Kindle persuasion, the price of this paper edition is about 1/2 of the corresponding Dummies volume, so it's a decent buy. But if you do Kindle, you can save another 50% by forgoing the new-book smell. And at that price, well worth acquiring.

Still working my way through but perfectly OK so far

Pretty informative but there are a few things not included.