Reading to Ruth › Advice for families

Before you buy a gadget for Mum or Dad

One-button devices for elderly parents: Komp, myhomehelper, Alexa and more

I once wrote a whole book about things that stop working before they should, so forgive me for starting with the gadgets that have already gone. In this corner of the market, devices and services for older people really do disappear, and when they do, it's your mum or dad who has to start again.

By Tara Button, Ruth's granddaughter and the founder of Reading to Ruth · Updated 20 October 2026

The ones that have already vanished

My book, A Life Less Throwaway, has a chapter on planned obsolescence: products made, on purpose, to stop being useful. Gadgets for older people aren't usually built to fail, but they do get switched off or quietly dropped (the industry calls it "sunsetting", which makes it sound like a nice evening on a beach), and you'll want to know that before you hand one to someone who's 90.

• Alexa Together. In December 2021 Amazon launched a $19.99-a-month service in America for families looking after an older relative from a distance. It was retired in June 2024; Amazon's announcement now says it's no longer available and points people to Alexa Emergency Assist.
• GrandPad. A tablet for older people, launched in the UK and Ireland in March 2019. Age Space's guide, updated in August 2026, lists it as not available in the UK. It's still sold in the US.
• Skype. Microsoft closed it on 5 May 2025, so anyone who'd learned it had to learn Teams instead.
• The Doro Tablet. When I went to check it for this article, Doro's UK online shop no longer listed it. The old product page now sends you to their phones.

None of that makes these companies villains. Services cost money to run. But for someone in their nineties, learning a new screen takes real effort, and losing it can mean they don't try the next one.

So here's each one, fairly, then the questions I'd ask before buying.

The one-button devices you can buy in the UK

Komp

Komp, made by No Isolation in Norway, is the purest one-button device there is: a 15.6-inch screen with one button, which turns. The family send photos and messages from the Komp app and they simply appear. Calls start from the family's end and answer themselves after a short countdown; if your dad doesn't fancy a chat, he turns the button to decline. It has 4G built in, so there's no wi-fi to sort out. It's a lovely piece of design.

At the time of writing (October 2026) it's from £599 in the UK, according to Age Space, plus £19 a month after three free months. The subscription has been compulsory for Komps ordered since 28 November 2022.

Where it falls short: it's a screen. Photos and written messages are no help to someone who can't see them, and Komp's product page doesn't mention voice messages or audiobooks. And while your parent only plugs it in, Age Space's review notes that someone in the family still sets it up in the app.

myhomehelper

myhomehelper is a British 10.1-inch tablet that works as a calendar clock and memory aid, often bought for someone living with dementia. The family run it from a web control panel: reminders, a diary, photos, news headlines, and video calls that answer themselves. A message sent by text or through the website pops up with a photo of you. Its Talking Text option reads the screen aloud when it's touched, and there's an impaired vision mode.

On myhomehelper's own site the tablet is £199.99 plus delivery if they qualify for VAT relief, which can apply to someone living with dementia, or £239.99 if not, with a month's service included. After that it's £9.99 a month or £99.99 a year before VAT.

Where it falls short: it's a clock, built to be read. Talking Text helps, once they've learned to touch the screen for it.

Echo Show and Alexa

An Echo Show is Amazon's smart speaker with a screen. Once you've both switched on Drop In, you can connect to your mum's Echo and start talking without her having to answer, and the Show adds video. It plays Audible books. And if she's a member of RNIB's free Talking Books library, she can say "Alexa, open RNIB Talking Books" and choose from it. Age Space puts older Echo Shows at under £100 and the newest at nearly £200.

Where it falls short: Alexa has to be asked. Your mum has to remember the wake word, phrase her request in a way Alexa understands, and hear the answer. Age Space says Alexa "has proven too difficult to use", and points out that the Echo Show puts adverts and news on its screen and is fiddly to set up for someone else. (I'm a huge audiobook fan, and even I'd struggle to ask for half my favourites by their exact title.) There's more in our guide to Alexa and Audible for an elderly parent.

Konnekt Videophone

Konnekt comes from Australia and is supplied in the UK by Just So Care. It's a 15-inch touchscreen with huge named buttons, twin loud speakers that work with hearing aids, and captions on calls, which is a real help for someone who's hard of hearing. It arrives set up, with the contacts already in. Just So Care offers a 30-day trial for £49, and the Living Made Easy directory lists it from £49 a month.

Where it falls short: to ring someone, they need to see the buttons, and the listing doesn't mention books or recorded messages.

Reading to Ruth is not connected with No Isolation, myhomehelper, Amazon, Konnekt, Just So Care, Doro or GrandPad. Komp, myhomehelper, Alexa, Echo Show, Konnekt, Doro and GrandPad are trade marks of their owners, and their prices and features may have changed since this was written; check each company's own site.

Side by side

What to ask before you buy

What does it cost after the first year, and what stops if we stop paying?

Add up three years, not one. A Komp at £599 plus £19 a month comes to £1,226 by the end of year three. Then ask what still works without the subscription. myhomehelper, to its credit, says plainly that the clock keeps running but can't be changed.

What happens if the company stops the service?

Ask what it still does if the company's servers go quiet, and whether you can get your photos and recordings out. Nobody can promise forever (we can't either), but a straight answer is a good sign.

Who sets it up, and who fixes it?

"No set-up" usually means no set-up for your mum. Someone still downloads the app, adds the family and sorts out problems. Can they do that from their own phone, or do they have to drive over?

Will it still suit them if their sight or hearing gets worse?

A screen that works today may not in two years. Something that works by sound alone has more life in it.

What I built for Ruth

My grandmother Ruth is 101, almost completely blind and hard of hearing. She didn't get on with the RNIB devices, and she needed something she could work herself. Having written a book about things that get switched off, I didn't want to give her another gadget, or the rest of us another monthly bill.

• No new device. It turns a tablet, phone or laptop they already have into one big Play button. On the simplest set-up, the whole screen is the button.
• It's all sound. It says each title aloud, keeps the place in every book, and the narration can be slowed down. Ruth found normal speed too quick, so hers is slower.
• The family fill it from their own phones, wherever they live: free classics, or any other audiobook at the normal shop price.
• Your voices come first. Voice messages from any relative's phone are free and unlimited, and they play before the story.
• Paid for once, or month by month. £49.99 once for the whole family, or £6.99 a month if you'd rather. If you ever stop the monthly plan, the player keeps playing everything already on it.

To be fair to the others, it doesn't do video calls, and it needs wi-fi. If your dad loves seeing your face on a Komp, keep the Komp. This is for the hours in between.

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