For Helpers
If you’re supporting a parent, relative, tenant, library visitor, or someone you care for — as family, a volunteer, or staff — this page is for you. Your patience matters more than your technical knowledge.
Before you leave: put Kindred Compass on their phone
One icon on the home screen means they can find this place again on their own — no web address to remember, no search to get right. Do this on their device, together, and it may be the most useful minute of your visit.
- In Chrome, tap the menu — the three dots in the top corner.
- Tap “Add to Home screen”, then “Add”. The compass icon appears with their other apps.
The golden rule: with, not for
Doing something for someone gets today’s job done. Doing it with them — their hands on the phone, your voice alongside — builds tomorrow’s confidence. It’s slower, and it’s worth it. When you feel the urge to take the phone, sit on your hands and describe the next tap instead.
Before helping someone
- Ask permission first
- Explain what you’re doing, as you do it
- Keep the person in control — their hands, their device
- Avoid their private information; look away when they type passwords
- Use official websites, typed in or bookmarked — not links from messages
- Encourage them to try each step themselves
- Go one step at a time, and check understanding as you go
- Stop if the person feels overwhelmed — tomorrow is fine
Never ask someone to share their password, PIN, banking details, or private medical information.
Genuine helping never needs them — and modelling that rule teaches the most valuable scam defence there is.
A good first visit
- Do the one-minute set-up together (it’s in the footer under “Set-up”) so the app greets them by name.
- Add the app to their home screen — the guide is on the Technology Help page under “I want this app on my home screen”. This one step doubles the chance they’ll use it without you.
- Show them one thing only: the Scam Checker if they get worrying texts, or the Guide Finder if they like to ask questions. One confident skill beats five half-remembered ones.
- Before you leave, let them do it once more from the start, on their own, while you watch and say nothing unless asked.
Worth knowing as a helper
- Everything saved here — notes, routines, check-ins — lives on their device only. A new phone or a cleared browser starts fresh, so anything important deserves a paper copy too.
- The app never asks for passwords, PINs, or bank details — a useful teaching line: “nothing genuine asks for those.”
- It is not an emergency service and doesn’t replace doctors or professional care. The Resources page has the numbers that do.
- If your phone is different from theirs, set their phone in Set-up — any guide showing collapsed steps has a “Different phone? Change” link, so you can never get stuck on the wrong instructions.
- A “Trusted Helper” feature is coming — they’ll be able to choose someone to call on when they want support. Their choice, their control; that framing is deliberate.
When they’re frustrated
Phrases that help more than any instruction: “That’s not you — this screen is badly designed.” “There’s no rush at all.” “I had to learn this too.” And the one that restores the most dignity: asking them to teach you something back — a recipe, a repair, a story. Help flows better when it flows both ways.
Use my custom GPT in your sessions
If you’re a digital coach, volunteer, grandchild or carer who already uses ChatGPT, I’ve built a custom Kindred Compass GPT. It answers technology questions in the same calm, step-by-step, jargon-free voice as this website — so you can keep it open as a live assistant during a support session, and the answers you read out will sound like the pages your learner already knows.
Open Kindred Compass GPT(opens ChatGPT in a new tab)ChatGPT is a separate service and may have different privacy settings and account requirements.
Want ideas for the conversation itself? The companion has a guide for that too.
Talking with family about helpPrintable guides to use togetherOne clear next step