Remotely managing Android apps & device for telecare

[DoctorWhen]

Hi folks, new poster here. Seems like this is the place to be!

I am looking for a video chat solution that I can remotely manage through something like TeamViewer (for which I already have a licence), up to and including being able to switch off the device's screen and/or power cycle.

The problem: I have an elderly aunt in the early stages of dementia who is struggling with isolation during the COVID lockdown. I think it would really help her if she could video chat with relatives - but she has less-than-zero technical ability: Anything invented after the rotary-dial telephone is like space magic to her.

The ideal solution would be something similar to a fully Android version of the Lenovo Smart Display - a freestanding appliance-style device. It would run TeamViewer (or similar) so I (or another techie member of the family) can log in remotely and open up Hangouts / Skype or whatever platform the caller prefers, and 'answer' on behalf of my aunt. When the call is finished, we'd log off and close down the apps for her. The device would probably also use a kiosk app to ensure that the client was not able to break anything, delete apps or lock me out accidentally.

Normally, we would consider a simple smartphone or tablet solution (I've got a drawer full of old devices I could use), and teach the user to switch it on. We have already tried this, and it doesn't work! My mom (84) has a laptop and can use it, no problem. My aunt (86) not a clue, and has no desire or aptitude to learn. Even pressing on-screen icons is a difficult and frightening concept!

Absolutely, this needs to be 100% remotely managed.

Ideally, device power needs to be remotely managed also, or to at least revert automatically to "on" when power is restored.

Wi-fi is available (neighbour has it and is happy for us to piggy-back), but I'd rather avoid a cellular solution.

Happy to consider spending some money on the right device, just not too much!

Many thanks in advance for your advice, folks!

Stay safe.

 

[VidJunky]

Welcome to Android Central. Thank you for creating an account it will make communication easier and opens up a bit more of the community to you.

I think what you're asking is beyond Android. That level of remote control isn't really possible with the way Android does apps and operates. You're better bet would probably be a laptop with a camera, as there are already a ton of remote capabilities available for that platform.

If you were willing to learn some techie stuff yourself there are some automated management apps for Android that could be used to make things easier but total control the way you're talking I've never seen or heard of. One of more well known automated apps is a paid app, $3.99 the last time I looked, called Tasker. It can open, and I believe close, apps based on triggers. It's like logic for Android. It can restart devices and power them down, but it would not be able to power it on if the device is off. Also while it can open, and again possibly close apps, it has no control inside of the app. So if log-in information must be used or it takes multiple touches to reach an area of the app, that wouldn't be possible. There are some tricks that can be used to accomplish some of this but you would have to be really dedicated to learning those, because touches can be simulated and timed out using the screen coordinates but so many things would have to align to make it touchless, I can't even imagine.

Perhaps there is someone else here that knows of some other way to get closer to what you want but you're asking this question in the general Ask a Question area where the odds of finding that knowledge is a shot in the dark. Maybe in one of the Developer or App threads. That gives me a thought... Again to accomplish anything on this scale would require a good deal of input on the part of whomever would be setting this up, but maybe if the device was rooted there would be other options. Rooting a device unlocks all of the systems on the device to the user. Protocols can be disabled or enabled and even non Android functions can be accomplished. Rooting is not a simple process and many things can go wrong. Some times the ROMs, the operating system, isn't completely stable or suffers from bugs in the code. The place to really find out about the possibilities of what root can do would be at XDA Developers. Not to sell anyone short here but many of us are just enthusiast here. At XDA there are a lot hobbyist. People who know the ins and outs of devices and the Android OS. They might even be able to help you modify one of those existing devices you talked about.