With ADHD comes a lot of challenges – geographical, legibility , technology,—.
I had an iPhone 6. The screen was cracked, but I was used to that. Charging was slow and it didn’t hold a charge well, especially with my music, although the readout said the battery was 85% healthy.
I indulged myself and got a new 8. I soon had a problem. It wouldn’t ring when someone called me and wouldn’t give the swoosh sound when I sent a message.
I spent a long time last night trying to fix this. I googled the problem and found some solutions. I made adjustments in notifications and in sounds and in the mail folder. I finally got it to vibrate.
That was not good enough, so I called Verizon tech today. The gentleman spent a lot of time patiently going through all the different settings with me. The result of this was that it not only didn’t ring or swoosh, it also no longer vibrated. No indication that I was getting a call or sending an email.
I was either going to have to follow his suggestion and call back and get a higher ranked tech, or was going to have to drive to the Verizon store and try to find an associate who could fix it for me. Either seemed a time-consuming hassle.
There is a sound control switch on the side of the phone. It silences the ringers and other sounds and you just get vibration as a signal. This is good for when you’re in church or at the movies, for example. You push it down to silence the phone and there is a little orange patch that shows you it’s on silent. You push it up to get the sound back on when you leave the church or the movies, if you can remember to.
In my spare time, I googled again, putting in a different phrase.
Well, turns out, that’s the way it was on the 6. On the 8, just the opposite. And no color indicator of which setting it’s in. I had it turned off.
Wish I had found that out sooner. Anyway, it’s working now.
And that, folks, is life with ADHD and technological challenge.
Doug
PS: The volume buttons on the 8 are hard to use. And it has no jack for headphones. You have to buy a separate attachment for headphones, and then you can’t charge it and use headphones at the same time. That’s what I used to do while driving when I had my 6. But it charges fast and holds a charge longer. There is no other benefit I’ve found yet. Well, the screen is not cracked, yet.
yes, that’s right, ADHD.
@addstrategies #adhd #add @dougmkpdp
ADDadultstrategies 
Pingback: Five Truisms | ADDadultstrategies
I seem to be on a commenting jag recently. Have to think about what I’m avoiding doing ;). Concur with Holdthatthgought’s comments; very glad I have a screen protector.You’ve probably solved all your issues by now, but just in case, I’ll chuck in a few thoughts.
The 8 is supposed to have wonderful photo resolution so that’s a plus. Be glad you don’t have the newest iPhone. I got the MaxXS, and although I love the photo quality (keen on photography, have sold some of my work) and many other features, I HATE the face recognition. Guess I need to go back and retake the photos for ID, with more variety of glasses and grimace, and maybe the odds it will recognize me will improve.
As to the jack, this is annoying but not usually a problem for me, as I wear hearing aids which connect to my phone via Bluetooth, so audio streams into my ear. But if I can’t use them, I got a cheap set of wireless Bluetooth earbuds fromTJ Maxx which work great. And this allows me to charge my phone at the same time.
As for the settings, you didn’t mention a very useful setting that I use all the time, when I’m at the movies, in class or in a meeting, or just trying to concentrate. Perhaps your phone was set to this without your realizing it. It’s called “DO NOT DISTURB”, and it’s on the main SETTINGS screen/page, in the section that starts with “Notifications”. Once you open Settings, click on “Do Not Disturb” and on the next screen scroll down to “Allow Calls From” where there are a few choices.
BUT if you do use that be sure to text yourself something like ‘DISTURB” so that you remember to set it back to allowing calls, or else you will feel sad that you have suddenly become very unpopular.
LikeLiked by 1 person
suz- i know what you mean. once i was working at a different place and on my time off must’ve nearly shut down facebook with my flood of comments.
thanks for the i phone info – i am totally tech challenged, so it helps
best wishes
doug
LikeLike
Or perhaps it is just that apple products are stupid and suck your soul out slowly? It’s possible I speak with extreme prejudice here… 😏 #androidforever #hateapple
LikeLiked by 1 person
dk
i’m not sure about apple, but i’m not a big fan of i phone 8. seems like a small improvement for a big price.
dont the androids catch fire?
thanks for the comment.
doug
LikeLiked by 1 person
oh some more strategies:
if you have a favorite set of headphones that you like to use, just keep the little adapter thing plugged into that all the time so you don’t risk losing it.
for your car: do you have an auxiliary port in the car’s stereo that you connected the phone to previously? if so, you can buy this cool little bluetooth-car adapter thing for like $20-$30 on Amazon (I have this one myself https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0739RGDFJ) that let’s your phone connect to the car’s stereo via Bluetooth!! no more cables and I only need to start my car and the phone automatically connects to it without me having to do anything. it’s great and when I installed it, it made my old car feel like a new one.
lastly–if you’re having tech-issues, reach out man. I’m always happy to help. people with ADHD have got to stick it out together, the world is hard enough as it is.
LikeLiked by 1 person
hold-
wow! what a great comment, good info,
i will try it. of course at the moment, I’m a little overwhelmed by your information and can’t say I really understand it, but then I read it real fast as I always do Everything.. I am going to come back and really get it and see if I can’t make it work for me. Anything that makes life easier.
Thank you for the good input And for your very generous offer
Doug
LikeLike
Doug, you should be proud of yourself that you managed to research a solution this and have gotten it fixed on your own. a lot of people don’t bother and just “live” with the problem.
you’re all about strategies, right? we with ADHD are a clumsy bunch so there’s not much we can do in regards to just not being clumsier when holding the phone
BUT
there are other things you can do, like get really good drop-protection cases.
and sometimes even the best case won’t work that well to protect the fragile little screen so you want a tempered-glass screen protector to absorb the impact of the inevitable drop. here’s what I recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/Protector-Maxboost-Protectors-Worry-Free-Compatible/dp/B01M7MAN4Z
what’s great about this screen protector is two-fold: it’s a great product at a very decent price and they made it really easy to apply and line up on your phone’s screen because they included this little plastic-cover template thing so it aligns perfectly. genius.
this is the case I use for my iPhone 8:
https://www.amazon.com/Speck-Products-Presidio-iPhone-Black/dp/B074GKVT43/
it’s got a really good drop-rating but it still feels pretty slim in your hand and not that bulky.
if you drop your phone all the time, this one is frequently recommended https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01K6PAZ1M/ but this case is a little bulkier.
LikeLike
hold- i got the super case, water proof and all. i think thats part of why the buttons are hard to use. i dont really drop it all the time, which is amazing, but sometimes i really DROP it.
after some time, i really like your strategy of keeping the thing on the headphones. will follo up on the other.
thanks
doug
LikeLike