Grandma Phone DIY Kit

Build the elder-screen device yourself, using your own hardware and this exact guide.

This is the same screen software that ships in the fully assembled Grandma Phone — a hands-free, voice-activated video and photo intercom. Building your own means sourcing the hardware below and following these steps. Nothing about account setup is different: you'll pair this device to your household exactly the way a shipped device would be paired.

Before you startWho this guide is for

This path is for someone comfortable flashing an SD card, editing a config file, and troubleshooting a Linux boot process without hand-holding. It is not written for the person the device is ultimately for — it's written for whoever is building it on her behalf.

If any step below sounds unfamiliar rather than merely unfamiliar-but-followable, the Complete System (hardware, setup, and support included) will get you a working device with far less risk to your time.

Parts listHardware you'll need

This exact combination is the one we've tested. Substituting a part — a different board, a different webcam — is possible, but you're then troubleshooting compatibility yourself as well as setup.

Part	Spec	Why it matters
Raspberry Pi 5	4GB minimum, 8GB gives more headroom	Needs to run a browser, decode video calls, and listen continuously — all at once
Official 27W USB-C power supply	Raspberry Pi-branded, not a generic phone charger	Pi 5 is picky about power; underpowering it causes random reboots
Active cooling + case	Official Active Cooler + matching case, or equivalent	This workload runs hot continuously, not in bursts — passive cooling isn't enough
microSD card	32GB+, high-endurance rated (Samsung PRO Endurance or SanDisk High Endurance)	A standard consumer card wears out fast under 24/7 writes
Monitor	Any size, HDMI input, plain — not a "smart" TV	A dumb monitor auto-displays whatever's connected with no menu to get lost on; a smart TV needs babysitting
USB camera/mic/speaker	A UVC-compliant conferencing webcam with a built-in mic and speaker (e.g. Anker PowerConf C200)	One cable, one part, handles video capture and two-way audio with echo cancellation
Micro-HDMI to HDMI cable	Pi 5 uses micro-HDMI; most monitors use full-size HDMI	A standard HDMI cable will not physically connect

Parts alone run about $299 at current prices (excluding a monitor, if you don't already have one) — DRAM prices are elevated industry-wide right now, so that's the honest number today, not a discounted one.

Skip this if: you don't already have a stable home WiFi network reachable from wherever the device will sit. This device needs to be online continuously — a weak signal will show up as dropped or laggy calls, not as an error message.

Build itSetup, start to finish

Flash Raspberry Pi OS

Using Raspberry Pi Imager on another computer, flash Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit, Desktop) to the microSD card. In the Imager's advanced options (gear icon), pre-set your WiFi network name and password, and enable SSH if you want to configure the rest remotely instead of with a keyboard plugged into the Pi.
First boot

Insert the card, connect the monitor, the USB camera/mic/speaker, and power. Let it boot fully and complete the on-screen first-run setup (region, WiFi if not pre-set, updates).
Set Chromium to launch in kiosk mode on boot

Open a terminal and add an autostart entry pointing Chromium at the elder screen, with kiosk flags so it opens full-screen with no browser chrome:
```
mkdir -p ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi
nano ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart
```
Add this line to that file:
```
@chromium-browser --noerrdialogs --kiosk --incognito --disable-session-crashed-bubble https://grandmaphone.com/screen.html
```
Turn off screen blanking and sleep

This device needs to display something at all times. In the same autostart file, also add:
```
@xset s off
@xset -dpms
@xset s noblank
```
Reboot and grant camera/mic permission

Reboot the Pi. On first load, Chromium will prompt for camera and microphone access — allow it. Confirm in Chromium's site settings that the USB device is selected as both the camera and microphone source, not any placeholder option.
Pair the screen to your household

The screen will show a pairing code. From family.html, signed in as the household owner, use Pair a New Screen and enter that code. Once paired, the device will show the photo slideshow — the same idle state a shipped device starts in.

Before you walk awayTesting checklist

Confirm every one of these before considering the device done — each is a real failure mode we've hit during our own build and testing:

Photo slideshow displays correctly and rotates on its own
A call from family.html makes the screen ring with the "just say hello" banner
Saying "hello" out loud answers the call — test this from across the room, at normal speaking volume
Requesting video prompts a spoken question, and saying "okay" turns the camera on (and "no thanks" correctly declines it)
Video and audio both work in both directions during an active call
The device survives a full power cycle and comes back up already logged in, still in kiosk mode, with no keyboard or mouse needed
WiFi signal is strong enough at the actual install location, not just wherever you built it

If something doesn't workGetting help

This kit doesn't include hands-on support by default — that's the tradeoff for building it yourself at a lower cost. Two ways to get help if you get stuck:

Self-serve

Free

This guide
Email support for account/pairing questions
No troubleshooting of your specific hardware setup

A working session

$50 / session

A real video or phone call where we work through your specific setup together
Covers hardware, kiosk config, pairing, or a call quality issue
Booked per incident, not a subscription

Have questions? Contact us Compare with the Complete System

Common questionsFAQ

Can I use a different Raspberry Pi model?

A Pi 4 will run it, but has noticeably less headroom for running a browser, a live video call, and continuous speech recognition all at once. If you already own a Pi 4, it's worth trying — just budget time to see whether it feels sluggish during a real call before relying on it.

Can I use a webcam instead of the all-in-one camera/mic/speaker device?

Yes, if you separately provide a speaker with real echo cancellation. Without it, the microphone will pick up the speaker's own audio during a call, and the family member on the other end will hear an echo of their own voice.

Does this device need its own WiFi password entered, or does it use my phone's?

It connects directly to your home WiFi network, the same way a smart TV or laptop would — it doesn't rely on any phone being nearby.

What if I don't have a spare monitor?

A basic 24" monitor with an HDMI input is inexpensive and works well for this. Avoid using a "smart" TV in its place — see the hardware table above for why.