Does anyone use a phone app to pay their aides? I am looking for something that would eliminate leaving checks in the house. Any suggestions?

Use a professional payroll service to take care of this, all withholding taxes, etc., so you don’t have a problem with the IRS and/or heirs. Whatever fees they charge is money we’ll spent. Photocopy every receipt for expenses before they smudge and become illegible. Keep perfect files. I took care of my parents alone in their home (I lived nearby). Of course, I had to hire caretakers. Over ten years I paid three caretakers with check or cash. After my parents died, my mostly absentee sibs (who had only rarely helped or visited) started questioning every last line item regarding all expenses. They accused my caretakers of wrongdoing. They accused me viciously in more than one court case. I had to produce receipts and an accounting and explanation for every penny spent. I had to even recreate what my parents spent on their own when I was not with them. I was able to get it all together. My parents’ wonderful caretakers testified for me and I prevailed in all cases, but it was incredibly stressful when I was living under threats. Ny siblings told me they would put me in jail—unreasonable and irrational, but a nightmare. This experience was terrible for the caretakers too. My siblings accused and legally attacked the caretakers to a similar extent (probably in an attempt to intimidate) so they would be too frightened to testify. All this while I was grieving for the loss of my parents. In the end, I had to pay costly experts to help me organize the expenditures because the time demands were impossible to otherwise meet. The situation was terrifying. It took a toll on my health and well being. I wish I could go back and organize all the paperwork better from the beginning.

Hi. Yes, I use Venmo to pay the Aides. I use to use PayPal but the younger aides use Venmo. I like the record keeping of it as well.

I used to work for the Department of Corrections and I seen all kinds of crimes against the elderly ranging from robbery, physical abuse to rape..and even murder. I really hope you are not allowing strangers in her home--meth and crack addicts are everywhere. Use an agency--they are at least screened, licensed, and insured.
We are living in very dangerous times. Trust nobody.

We use Zelle through our bank, it is easy, and one can track the use very easily.
It takes one to two days for delivery directly to their account.

Caregivingstuff, these are all great answers but sometimes people can get lost in the weeds. As an older man, I tend to look at the simplest interpretation first.
It sounded to me like the query was for that very occasional, temp fill-in, not someone you might be paying regularly.
If you don’t pay any one person more than $600/year you don’t have to file anything or provide them a 1099. Just keep a journal as to their time, date and name.
As to paying in those situations, almost every bank in the country provides a Quick Pay service; most use Zelle as their software source, and the banks all interconnect via Zelle.
If you have a smart phone or mobile banking, you do it with that. The money is in their account, if they have a bank account somewhere, within minutes, not days. There is a small amount of set-up they do on their end for the first transfer but after that is it all quick and easy, and no cost at the majority of banks.
Some have mentioned Venmo and I think the younger crowd uses that a lot but I’m not a member of that club 😁

PayPal is a safe app to use.

zelle goes direct from your bank to theirs no muss, no fuss

I use PayPal. You can send invoices and all you need is the persons email address. Plus it keeps a record of everything so it is super easy.
You can do most everything the bank does right from your phone. I love it

I use PayPal. I helped the 2 caregivers that help my mom set up their PayPal accounts. There's a 'notes' section when you go to make a payment where you can enter details such as hours worked.

I request all of my private care text me the dates and the hours that they work at the end of the two week period. I print out their text and and put with their ck that I mail them, work week ends on Friday and their ck is mailed on Sat. If they work as a fill in or a temp then at the end of their shift (say 1 shift) they send me the day and hours text and I make out their ck and mail it the next day. It seems to have worked pretty well. At the beginning I used to make out the checks and leave in a sealed envelope at my mom's but I worry about that.