# Apple Assistive Access

11 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple Assistive Access and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Strips an iPhone to a simplified mode that makes a good dumb phone for kids and elderly relatives. Caveat: slow to switch in and out, and limited for daily use.

## Why people recommend it

- Simplifies phones for elderly relatives (2 comments): "For the elderly, that removes a lot of clutter and ways to shot yourself in the foot." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48851471)) "That one feature was how I migrated my in-laws to Smartphones from their Nokias." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48826243))

## What people warn about

- Clunky and slow to switch (2 comments): "It's more painful to use than it should be, but it absolutely solves this problem." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50079878)) "It's incredibly slow to transition in and out of the mode" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48852013))

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Apple Assistive Access", https://hackerapproved.com/p/assistive-access/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).