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Can I disable the 'Search' button

A

asden

Lurker
I'm teaching my 85 year old mother to use her first phone. Her first ever bit of computing. The first use is texting and I've removed all the apps from the main screens except for the messaging app, and after a few days of casual instruction she's now texting and replying to texts very well.

I've only taught her two other buttons so far:

Home (she insists on calling it the 'Hut' button so if I call it the 'Hut' button she knows what I mean).

Back/Undo button

If she gets into something that she doesn't understand her instructions are to hit 'Hut' or 'Undo' and that will cure most things.

However she still gets caught out pressing the search button which brings up 'the internet' and that's currently really confusing, too much for her to handle :-)

This is a Samsung I5503T so has a physical 'Search' button on the lower right. It's right beside the undo/back button so gets hit by mistake (a lot). Is there any way to disable the physical 'Search' button or reassign it so it does nothing.

I'll eventually add more apps but starting slowly (since I live in a different town so most support is by landline phone :-(

I've seen a number or 'remote desktop' apps for Android. Is there a 'remote Android' app where I could provide support and view and control her phone remotely (with her permission of course).
 
Article on another forum recommended a smartphone for someone under contract with macular degeneration. The phone has the voice commands, and they don't need to see that well to use it.

Put a small bright colored piece of tape over the search button if you can't disable it.
 
sitlet said:
No offense, but is a smartphone really the right phone for someone who is 85?
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Yes, it's just what she needs. A dumb phone will always be a dumb phone and with very limited ability to be customized to meet her changing needs as she gets older (low vision or talking apps). I could teach her how to text on a dumb phone but that would be very limiting and she would need a different phone if her needs changed.

On Android she can start with texting and phoning but bit by bit will be able to do more and more. Once she gets over her fear of 'breaking it' I expect she will learn quite quickly. Currently she is largely housebound and a phone and then later a computer will open her world a huge amount but she has successfully avoided technology for the last 40 years so the ability to text her family, grandkids etc. has been the lure to get her started and she's getting and receiving multiple texts each day after only a couple of weeks.
 
Maybe you're legit or maybe you're not but this sounds like some huge elaborate ploy on finding out how you can get access to your wife/girlfriend's phone ...

Just sayin, not too many 85 yr old grandmothers are rockin' Androids nowadays.
 
shawn1224 said:
Maybe you're legit or maybe you're not but this sounds like some huge elaborate ploy on finding out how you can get access to your wife/girlfriend's phone ...

Just sayin, not too many 85 yr old grandmothers are rockin' Androids nowadays.
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> some huge elaborate ploy on finding out how you can get access to your wife/girlfriend's phone ...
Hadn't thought of that use, so yes let's skip that idea, you're right if it were available it would be dangerous.

The other issue still remains, making it easier to learn to use. Just because 85 year olds aren't typically using Androids doesn't mean they couldn't get huge benefits from them (at least one person on this thread is 86 :-). One common trend with getting that old is increasing isolation (friends and siblings die, children and grandchild move away to larger cities). If you can't drive any more then the isolation increases. So a smart phone has a lot of potential to decrease the real and perceived sense of isolation (texting, video chat, facebook etc.). I have tried to introduce her to a computer many time before but without any success. The texting has her hooked and she can grow her skills from there. Later I will introduce a computer and it will likely be Android OS/Chrome.

My mother-in-law struggled for years on Windows XP, spent more time dealing with AVG anti virus messages than actually doing anything useful on the computer. With a simplified OS there is a huge amount that can be done easily. The trick is to lock down or hide (at least initially) the non essential parts to make the learning process easier.
 
Try an app called button remapper on the market and if that will help disable the search button, it does on the Slide.
 
MyNamesTooLong said:
Have you all forgot that the home AND back buttons will exit the stock browser? I dont see why this is even a question...
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The problem is the 'back' and 'search' are at either ends of of a switch bar on that phone, they are not separate buttons. Often when she tries to hit the Back button she hits the Search, and that really throws her. It's taken 40 years to get her on to any sort of computer so I'm trying to make it as bullet-proof and possible till she gets her confidence. There's this huge fear of 'breaking it' and 'too old to learn' (neither is a real problem) so locking down anything unnecessary in these early stages is very useful.
 
jimczyz said:
Try an app called button remapper on the market and if that will help disable the search button, it does on the Slide.
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Thanks I checked that out, but it requires the phone to be rooted. An option if I can't find another alternative.
 
asden said:
The problem is the 'back' and 'search' are at either ends of of a switch bar on that phone, they are not separate buttons. Often when she tries to hit the Back button she hits the Search, and that really throws her. It's taken 40 years to get her on to any sort of computer so I'm trying to make it as bullet-proof and possible till she gets her confidence. There's this huge fear of 'breaking it' and 'too old to learn' (neither is a real problem) so locking down anything unnecessary in these early stages is very useful.
Click to expand...

press home then if back and search are too close...not trying to be an ass, but you are overthinking this
 
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