Best Apps

With two tweens, I'm increasingly aware of all the trouble they might get into using social media like Instagram, Facebook , and especially Snapchat . A.K.A. "the sexting app"--eep! Even if it is just an accidental lapse in judgment, it …

I had moved three times by the time I was eight, so I totally understand how it feels to be a strange kid in a strange land, a topic that is explored in a lovely new app for both iOS and Android users. Even kids like my own who have neve…

As parents, we're huge proponents, obviously, of Internet safety and the many tools and services to help us out in that arena. We've recommended the Net Nanny software previously, and phew, we are finally glad to see that it has caught u…

If you've got an alphabet-hungry kid and are craving some awesome ABC apps for your iPad, I understand completely. When my son little, he was so obsessed with the alphabet that he saw letters in everything: a scotch tape dispenser was a …

I review a lot of apps for kids and thus, am inundated with spinning, whirling, jumping, and shrieking characters/animals/aliens on my iPad. But once in a while, an app comes along that makes me breathe a sigh of "well, finally." Such is…

Don't pet the strange dog. Don't poke the sleeping cat. Don't touch the dead bug behind the grocery store toilet. I can't imagine how frustrating it is to be a child and have your exploration curtailed due to pesky things like hygiene an…

Now that I've discovered this amazing new journaling app, I know plenty of parents can make up for lost time without going out of their way. In fact, it might be the very best baby book app I've found. I pretty much ditched the baby book…

Ready for one crazy addictive app for you iPhoneographers and world travelers? Halftone lets you iOS users turn your pictures into pages straight out of a comic book. The colors are bright and vibrant, the fonts are straight out of an ol…

If your fridge is like mine, it's covered with artwork, kids' papers from school and class lists that I'm just too busy to input into my address book, computer or phone. Well how about an app that can do it all for you? Really. Lo and be…

Maybe it's an age factor or the fact that I have a lot in my brain, but I've been relying more heavily on making lists to do, well, everything. We've covered quite a few great ones here at Cool Mom Tech like Teux Deux, Orchestra and Cozi…

Even though it can be a bit challenging finding great Android apps for kids , we are always looking. But what makes our jobs easier is when we find cool apps and ebooks for preschoolers that are available for both iOS and Android users--…

With an iPad and a Kindle Fire in the house and a husband who likes to take one with him on work trips, I love finding apps for kids that my own children love that are available for both iOS and Android. Well, I was in luck with Pepi Bat…

I know better than anyone that it can be hard to come up with gift-giving ideas. While I am fairly diligent about amassing birthday gifts for the countless number of kids' parties we go to, I admit that I sometimes lack that ability when…

Any app that can help me get a delicious home-cooked meal on the table easier and more efficiently has my vote. Yes, I realize that there are quite a few recipe planning apps on the market but some end up being supplanted by my trusty pe…

It is a known fact that getting kids started early in foreign language study enhances their chances of having success in mastering a second, or even third or fourth language. Having struggled in my own youth with this subject, I have bee…

I get excited watching my kids begin to understand the basics of music composition and creation -- which doesn't mean karaoke to Call Me Maybe in our living room. Okay, it does, but I don't want it to stop there either. If you've got a k…

If you're looking for a way to get the kids up close and personal with the presidents this Presidents' Day, check out a new app that will have them learning while they play. In fact, in just a short time, they'll probably be teaching you…

Let's just imagine that I'm standing on a street corner, chatting with a friend on my Android phone and suddenly she says "Hey, let's go to Paris this weekend, stay in an reasonably-priced hotel, eat at some fabulously-reviewed restauran…

The other day I was cleaning out my daughter's closet and I came across her baby book. About the first six months of her life were complete, but after that, it was pretty spotty. I will say that looking at digital baby book options avail…

If you could see how bananas my grade-school-age kids just went over an "alphabet app," you might think they were watching some ridiculous YouTube video. Surely an eight and ten year old couldn't be hysterically laughing while playing an…

If you're like me, you've got tons of family videos on your smartphone and lots of aspirations to do something with them all. But then "one of these days" turns into months and years, because who really has time to sit down and edit toge…

Q: With all your evaluations and explorations, have you found a great place for on-line storage of cell phone pictures? A place where you can upload and then invite friends and family to view? - Gloria Hi Gloria, great question! I have o…

Any time I talk to a parent with tweens, the conversation eventually turns to the kinds of technology they are using, which then eventually turns into a Q&A session of me asking about cell phone usage, social media usage, cyber bullying …

If it has sparkles, hearts, fairies, crowns and cupcakes, my preschool princess is all over it. Me: not so much. Which is why I was really surprised to fall in love with Princess Fairy Tale Maker app from app developer Duck Duck Moose al…