iPad advice - music streaming for my 84 year old mother!

[whyrichard]

Hello,

I have tried in the past getting my 84 year old mother set up on an iPad, but she really doesnt' do too much on it at all. However she loves listening to music... when I play it.

I am wondering if I can set something up for her so that I can play music for her in her apartment, with zero interaction on her behalf, besides a volume knob. (and minimal subscription services if possible)

Thoughts:
Option 1: iPad with Roon Arc (I am a rune and quobuz subscriber and I love them) playing her playlist on repeat. I modify the playlist from my home and hopefully it updates. The iPad has cell service, and hopefully doesn't need too much to keep it running in this manner...

Option 2: old iMac with something like screen connect. I playback music for her and maintain the Mac from afar. (requires an internet connection at her house, she just uses cell service.... so would like to avoid this option if possible as it is expensive monthly)

Option 3: just set her up with an old old iPod playing a playlist on repeat, and I update the playlist manually from time to time... (not as much fun)

Option 4: Is there an app on the iPad or phone where I can just stream from my own Mac to? And it plays whatever audio I send?

What are your thoughts?

Thank you!
Richard

 

[xxFoxtail]

Sounds like a HomePod might be a good solution assuming she can get an internet connection at her house. Just set her up with an Apple Music subscription and she can do everything with her voice.

 

[Ctrlos]

Sounds like a HomePod might be a good solution assuming she can get an internet connection at her house. Just set her up with an Apple Music subscription and she can do everything with her voice.

I'd second this but perhaps consider a Google Home instead just because the HomePod cannot access online radio stations, or at least not here in the UK. Sometimes you get bored of your music and want to listen to the BBC.

 

[ericwn]

A smart speaker that she can request music from might be the least friction, or an iPad with Apple Music and Siri on it.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

First: keep it simple. Your options seem to require her to take a leap in tech. While any of them seem easy to you, they may not to her.

The various smart speaker suggestions seem pretty good (and simple). I'll add Sonos Move to the considerations. She can click a play button on top and it will start playing whatever station she was last enjoying. Link that to any of them: Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify and many others. Rather than paying for AM, Pandora is quite good for free with an occasional ad. The Sonos stations themselves are very good too.

Sonos is not so locked down like HP. And Move has a battery in it, so she can lift it off a charging ring and take it to any other room with her and enjoy music there for many hours. When she puts it back into its charging ring, it will automatically recharge itself.

If she needs bigger music, consider setting her up with bigger setups, like maybe Sonos Arc plus 300s. They work the same way.

Even simpler (and less expensive for you): consider one of the "simple music players" especially for older people with one button on & off. They are basically a big iPod-like device. Store music she likes on a card. Insert the card permanently. And then she can just "on" or "off" to play music. If she has a CD collection, rip the collection to Music, then drag & drop all of the albums onto the card and now her whole music collection is in this thing.

If she already has speakers set up but not in use, maybe Sonos AMP to put them in (literal) play or Sonos Port if they are amplified already but only need a simple music playing source.

If she already has speakers and amp, maybe dig up an old iPod, load it up with her favorite kind of music, jack it in and she can click that play button to enjoy music.

If you think voice control would appeal to her, Sonos works with voice control too. But again, in the spirit of keeping it very simple, the ONE play-pause button can be clicked to play and then clicked again to stop playing: no other technology or technical leaps/learning required.