Tech confidence: the complete guide to your phone, your apps and staying safe online

Somewhere in the last fifteen years, a rule got written that nobody agreed to: if you were born before about 1975, technology is something that happens to you. Grandchildren sigh. Shop assistants speak slowly. You end up apologising to a machine.

This guide is the antidote. It is not a manual for one particular phone — it is the handful of things that actually matter, in the order that matters, with the scary parts made small. If you can send a text and take a photo, you already have everything you need to start.

The mindset: you cannot break it

Modern phones are built to survive people. There is no tap, swipe or accidental press that permanently ruins anything. The worst outcomes of poking around in Settings are that something looks different (and you change it back) or an app asks a question you were not expecting (and you tap “Not now”).

Everything is reversible except two things: sending money, and giving a stranger remote access to your device. Those two get their own sections below. Treat every other button as a thing to try, and you have most of the confidence already.

Five settings worth ten minutes

You do not have to understand your phone to make it kinder to your eyes and safer in an emergency.

Text size. On an iPhone, Apple’s steps are Settings > Display & Brightness > Text Size, and drag the slider; for really large type, Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Larger Text. On Android, open Settings and search for “Font size” or “Display size” — Google notes it goes up to 200%, and you get a preview before you commit.

Emergency contacts. Apple’s Health app has a Medical ID where you add emergency contacts and, if you wish, medications and conditions; “Show When Locked” lets someone helping you see it without your passcode. Android’s Personal Safety app does the same under “Your info”, with a “Show when locked” option. Google’s page is honest that anyone picking up the phone can then see it — decide how much you want on show.

Automatic updates. Leave them on. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lists automatic phone updates as one of its four basic protections against phishing, because updates close the holes criminals use.

Backup. See the photos section below — it takes five minutes and is the difference between a lost phone being annoying and a lost phone being a bereavement.

Do Not Disturb or Focus. Not a security setting, but the one that stops your phone bullying you at 11pm.

Passwords and two-step verification

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has two pieces of advice that do most of the work.

First, give your email its own strong password, different from everything else. The NCSC’s reasoning is blunt: a criminal who gets into your email can reset the passwords on your other accounts, so it is the one that matters most.

Second, make passwords from three random words — the NCSC’s own examples are “coffeetrainfish” and “walltinshirt”. Long, memorable, hard to guess, and far better than one “clever” password reused everywhere. Avoid pet names and family names.

Then let your phone remember the rest. The NCSC says saving passwords in your phone or browser on your own device is safe and “the easiest way to remember your passwords” — just never on a shared or library computer.

Finally, turn on two-step verification (2SV, also called 2FA) for your email and banking. It means a stolen password alone is not enough to get in: the service also asks for a code sent to your phone, or a fingerprint or face. The NCSC calls it “one of the most effective ways to protect your online accounts”, and notes you will not be asked for the code every single time.

For the fuller walk-through, read Passwords and two-factor authentication, made simple.

Spotting scams: the five pressures

Scams change costume constantly — parcel texts, bank calls, “Hi Mum” messages, pop-ups that scream your computer is infected — but the NCSC identifies the same five levers underneath all of them:

• Authority: “I’m calling from your bank / HMRC / the police.”
• Urgency: “within 24 hours”, “immediately”, or you will be fined.
• Emotion: threats, or flattery, or a family member in trouble.
• Scarcity: limited tickets, limited refund, limited time.
• Current events: tax season, a big news story, a recent purchase.

Feel one of those pressures and you have found the scam, whatever it is wearing.

The single most useful habit is the hang-up-and-call-back rule. If anyone contacts you about money, hang up, wait, and ring the number printed on the back of your bank card. In the UK you can dial 159, a short code that connects you directly to your bank and, Stop Scams UK says, cannot be spoofed. Take Five (the UK banking industry’s fraud campaign) adds that a genuine bank will never ask you to move money to a “safe account” or to give remote access to your device.

To report: in the UK, forward scam texts to 7726 (free) and scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. In the US, the FTC asks you to forward texts to 7726 and report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; the FBI takes reports of online fraud at ic3.gov; AARP also runs a free Fraud Watch Network Helpline on 877-908-3360.

The patterns in detail, with examples of each costume, are in How to spot a scam text, email or call.

Video calls with family

This is where the effort pays off. Age UK’s guide lists WhatsApp, FaceTime (Apple only), Zoom, Facebook Messenger and Skype as the usual options — and reminds you that on Wi-Fi, calling someone abroad costs nothing extra. Its best tip is to do a test call with someone patient before the one that matters.

Set a fixed time — Sunday at four, say — and it stops being a technology task and becomes a ritual. For lighting, sound and reading to grandchildren over video, see Video calls, shared photos and the easy ways to stay close to family.

Photos and backup

Your phone probably holds the only copies of thousands of photographs. On an iPhone, Apple’s steps are Settings > your name > iCloud > iCloud Backup, then plug in and connect to Wi-Fi overnight. On Android, open Google Photos, tap your profile picture > Photos settings > Backup, and switch it on. Google’s page warns that storage is shared with Gmail and Drive, so a full account may need tidying or a small paid upgrade.

Do it once and forget about it. That is the whole point.

Online banking, safely

Age UK’s conclusion is that online banking is generally safe when you follow a few habits: register through your bank’s official website (the address is on your statements), download the app only via that website’s link, never share your full PIN or password, log out afterwards, avoid public Wi-Fi for banking, and remember that a bank will never phone you for your PIN or ask you to move money. Check the transactions now and then — spotting something odd early is half the protection.

This is general information, not financial advice; your bank’s own security pages will have the specifics for your account.

Where to get free help

You do not have to do any of this alone.

UK: Age UK runs a Digital Champions programme with one-to-one help, drop-in sessions and device loans — search “find your local Age UK”. AbilityNet offers free tech support to anyone 55 or over or with a disability, including home visits from DBS-checked volunteers; the helpline is 0300 180 0028. Your public library offers free internet access and, in many areas, informal help getting online.

US: Senior Planet from AARP runs free interactive online classes — roughly 50 a week when AARP wrote about it, including cybersecurity and Zoom hosting — with no membership required. Most public libraries also run free classes or one-to-one sessions; ask at the desk.

If you would rather have this as a single printable workbook — a checklist for each setting, a scam-spotting card for the fridge and a week-by-week plan — our Tech Confident guide lays it all out.

Your first week

• Monday: Text size up one notch. Add one emergency contact.
• Tuesday: Turn on two-step verification for your email.
• Wednesday: Turn on backup (iCloud or Google Photos). Leave the phone charging overnight.
• Thursday: Save “BANK — call back” in your contacts with the number from your card (and 159 in the UK).
• Friday: Read the scam patterns article and forward one junk text to 7726.
• Saturday: Test call a patient friend or relative.
• Sunday: The real video call. Put it in the diary for next week too.

Seven small things. None of them can break your phone. All of them make you harder to fool and easier to reach — which is, when you strip away the jargon, all that “tech confidence” ever meant.

Updated 6 October 2026: added the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (ic3.gov) as a second US reporting route.