Apple Assistive Access
Hacker ApprovedAccessibility feature in Phones & tablets
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.
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.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Simplifies phones for elderly relatives
“For the elderly, that removes a lot of clutter and ways to shot yourself in the foot.”
Comment from 9 Jul 2026 in “Buried Apple Feature Turns an iPhone into the Perfect Kids' Dumb Phone” “That one feature was how I migrated my in-laws to Smartphones from their Nokias.”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “Buried Apple Feature Turns an iPhone into the Perfect Kids' Dumb Phone”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Clunky and slow to switch
“It's more painful to use than it should be, but it absolutely solves this problem.”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Apple HomeView” “It's incredibly slow to transition in and out of the mode”
Comment from 9 Jul 2026 in “Buried Apple Feature Turns an iPhone into the Perfect Kids' Dumb Phone”
What people said
13 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it has its own passcode, and if you know it, you can get out of it.”
“It's more painful to use than it should be, but it absolutely solves this problem.”
“Soon we will lockdown their phones with Assistive Access mode.”
“looks like you can't use third party apps with this, meaning WhatsApp, Signal, etc can't work”
“Assisted Access also adds back the home/back button, like older iPhones and Androids.”
“It's incredibly slow to transition in and out of the mode”
“For the elderly, that removes a lot of clutter and ways to shot yourself in the foot.”
“refuses to activate with alphanumeric passcode enabled”
“it's baffling that it doesn't shout about how good Assistive Access is for making a kid's dumb phone”
“That one feature was how I migrated my in-laws to Smartphones from their Nokias.”
“it felt too limited for daily use”
“it's a pretty good detox. A lot stronger than screentime restrictions.”
“Have you tried Assistive Access mode?”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.