Liz Gumbinner, Author at Cool Mom Tech

Why iOS apps are better than Android apps, and why we tend to review more iOS apps

Every so often, a commenter gets frustrated that we have reviewed an iOS-only app, and asks why we don’t review more Android apps. We feel you. So every so often, we offer a response as to why iOS apps tend to be better than Android apps, and why iOS apps are...

If you’re a Twitter user, you must update your password STAT. That’s 330 million of you.

by Liz Gumbinner | Internet Safety, Tips and Tricks

As Twitter has just informed all 330,000,000 of its users in an apologetic but so far underreported post, you should really change your Twitter password right now, this very second. Not to be alarmist — but out of an abundance of precaution. Evidently, a bug...

Amazon’s Echo Dot for Kids is here. But there will be no “Alexa, buy me a pony.”

by Liz Gumbinner | Smart Appliances, Tech Toys and Random Fun

The Echo Dot has been one of Amazon’s most popular speakers, so it’s no surprise that they saw an opportunity to bring all the joy and magic and Orwellian fun of Alexa to kids in the form of the new Echo Dot Kids Edition available exclusively at Amazon....

Who was Stephen Hawking? These terrific shows can help.

by Liz Gumbinner | Entertainment

With so many of us mourning the passing of Stephen Hawking, and celebrating his many contributions to the world of science, it leaves a lot of our kids asking who he was, what he did, and what he believed — and some of us adults are interested in learning more,...

10 awesome girl power phone cases for International Women’s Day….and every day

by Liz Gumbinner | Cell Phone Accessories

Considering it’s International Women’s Day today, and Women’s History month for the next three weeks, there are certainly a lot of phone cases out there to honor women through history we admire. But I think there’s something kind of special...

High tech baby gifts: 4 of the best splurges for your very favorite parents-to-be

by Liz Gumbinner | Around the House, Baby Tech, Geeky Baby Gifts

If you’re shopping for a baby gift and want to go in on The Big Gift with a group — or maybe all on your own, generous soul, maybe consider high-tech baby gifts. Talking to you, best friends from college, generous boss, first-time aunt-to-be, and amazing...

The easy way to send a free ecard for Valentine’s Day. Make someone’s day!

by Liz Gumbinner | Lifestyle Apps

Whether you forgot to grab a Valentine’s Day card for the kids (or to the grandparents “from” the kids?), have a Galentine pal who would love to her from you today, or are thinking about sending a sexy “shape of things to come” message...

A cool time-saving emoji keyboard trick for iPhone (courtesy of my 10 year old)

by Liz Gumbinner | Tips and Tricks

Leave it to the kids to figure out cool iPhone tricks before we do, especially where emoji are concerned. Turns out, there’s a fun way to insert emoji into your texts without toggling back and forth between keyboards — something that can be a bit of a...

Ooh…Cromatica Bluetooth speakers are music for the eyes, too

by Liz Gumbinner | Around the House, Audio

One look at the Italian Cromatica Bluetooth speakers and…whoa. Think of this lamp-speaker hybrid like a mood ring for your home. You choose the color illumination that suits you, choose your music, then lie back and chill. Or, clean your bathroom. Or, get some...

A Design Kit: The fabulous new type overlay and stickers app to keep your Insta stories on point

by Liz Gumbinner | Photo Apps, Social Media

Last year, I fell in love with the A Color Story app for photo editing, and named it my cool pick of the week on our Spawned podcast. Just this weekend, they launched A Design Kit, their equally fun, friendly, and really wonderful app this time for design. Especially...

NEW: The podcast that helps you be a savvier digital parent in under 15 minutes a week

Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz

Kristen Chase + Liz Gumbinner of Cool Mom Picks

We started Cool Mom Tech in 2010 to help make our increasingly digital lives easier, more organized, more meaningful, and more fun, however old your kids may be.

We love that it's grown to become the go-to source for millions of parents who want commonsense info about tech delivered with a smile.

We even have the privilege of sharing our tips + tricks with The TODAY Show, CNN, HLN, GMA, Nightline, newspapers and magazines around the country, and our favorite -- regular parents who stop us at PTA meetings and ask us how old kids need to be to get a smartphone, and whether they really need to panic about Snapchat.

(Answer: It's complicated.)

We're so glad you're here! And we hope we can help you too.