Kristen Chase, Author at Cool Mom Tech

Cases with a cause: Student-designed smartphone cases celebrate women empowerment, sisterhood, and the LGBTQ+ community

by Kristen Chase | Cell Phone Accessories

The original designs by the two awesome winners of the first annual Make My Case design competition have been released by Speck, BUILT BY GIRLS, and Verizon, and they’re all about supporting empowerment, sisterhood, and the LGBTQ+ community. Yeah! Related: 17...

Why are kids watching other people play video games? A tech expert weighs in.

by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks

So your kids are obsessed with watching other people play video games and you can’t quite wrap your mind around it. We decided to ask video gaming expert Dr. Rachel Kowert to weigh in on this phenomenon and tell us what we need to know. We’ve spoken about...

This might make you think twice about getting AirPods

by Kristen Chase | Audio

We’re pretty much Team AirPods here at Cool Mom Tech. I was the first person to try them and sing their praises (though I don’t use them anymore since my dog chewed one up). Then Liz jumped on the AirPods train. Well, after reading this recent article in...

Instagram launches Restrict to help combat bullying. Here’s how it works.

by Kristen Chase | Internet Safety

With someone who’s got two teens on Instagram, I was pleased to hear that they recently added Restrict, an anti-bullying feature that, as Instagram describes, “allows users to quietly protect their account while still keeping an eye on their bully.”...

Our review of the new Nintendo Switch Lite

by Kristen Chase | Tech Toys and Random Fun

Over the weekend, my family and I played with the Nintendo Switch Lite, which is Nintendo’s newest handheld gaming device. Considering how much we love the Nintendo Switch, we figured this would going to be a pretty popular holiday gift for lots of people. Plus,...

25 things kids should know before they get a smartphone

by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks

Whether your kids have had a smartphone for awhile now, or you’re considering getting them started with one, it’s important that they understand how to use it. And as we all know, when it comes to a smartphone, it’s not as simple as dialing a number...

How to raise responsible digital kids

by Kristen Chase | Social Media

Over the last few weeks in particularly, we’ve seen our Out Tech Your Kids Facebook community filled with parents who seem panicked — or at least very concerned — about kids and texting and social media. And if you follow us (or are a member of that group), then...

5 ways to encourage screen-life balance in your kids (and you)

by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks

Raising kids in a digital age presents all sorts of parenting challenges. That’s one of the many reasons we started Cool Mom Tech, along with our new Out Tech Your Kids Facebook Group (OTYK). And we talk about it a lot on our Spawned Parenting Podcast. While it can be...

Apple Event 2019: Here’s the quick and dirty on the iPhone 11 Pro, Apple Arcade, and everything else they announced

by Kristen Chase | Cell Phones

On Tuesday, Apple hosted their big Apple Event 2019 and announced some pretty exciting new products and services. If you had time to watch it live, this time streaming on YouTube (whoa), then you’ve probably heard all of this before. But if you’re like me...

Parents beware: The Siri 911 prank is going around again.

by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks

My son just texted me: “Mom, Say 18 to Siri, but then watch your screen.” Sure enough, a countdown for calling 911 pops up. Thankfully, I was watching my screen like he told me to and I was able to stop it. Related: The first thing your child should say...