Best Apps Archives | Page 5 of 55

2 awesome free reading resources that kids will love

A little over two years ago, we featured Amazon Rapids, a reading app full of stories for kids that read like text messages. Talk about meeting kids where they are, right? Well, just yesterday, Amazon Rapids went from a free app + monthly subscription, to totally 100%...

3 of the best apps for free international texting

by Kristen Chase | Travel Apps

With my daughter in Japan for the entire month of July, we needed to come up with a communication plan, most of which involved texting apps because they’re free. Whether you’ve got a teen or college student heading overseas, or you’re traveling there...

Enjoy the fun of an escape room, right on your phone or tablet

by Kristen Chase | Fun Apps

Over the weekend, my husband and son became completely engrossed in these escape room apps (or puzzle room, to some people), and after taking a look myself, I can totally see why. Warning: they are pretty freaking awesome, so much so that you might have a hard time...

The new parental controls and screen time management tools coming to iOS 12. THANK YOU, APPLE.

by Liz Gumbinner | Best Apps

No judgments, parents — we too have admitted (often) that it can be hard to manage kids’ screen time, especially when our kids get older and we’re not attached at the hip. Well Apple gets it too, and in today’s big iOS 12 announcement,...

How huge changes to Spotify Free just made it even more amazing | Sponsored Message

by Cool Mom Staff | Lifestyle Apps

This is a sponsored message from Spotify Spotify remains the world’s largest global music streaming subscription service and for good reason. It’s transformed the way we can all find and enjoy music for free. And now, thanks to some amazing updates ...

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

by Liz Gumbinner | Best 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...

Add some positivity into your news feed with the Womaze app

by Kate Etue | Lifestyle Apps

If your social media feeds are like mine, they’re no longer places for me to find out what’s going on with my friends and distant family. Instead, they’re oftentimes the source of stress and anxiety for me, given the constant influx of sad news and...

What you need to know about Cosmo After Dark on Snapchat, parents.

by Kristen Chase | Lifestyle Apps

I am not going to say “I told you so!” when it comes to Snapchat, but it’s mighty tempting after the recent launch of Cosmopolitan’s new Cosmo After Dark stories that go live every Friday at 6pm EDT. And hey, I even wrote a book about sex for...

Is that poison ivy? The new Seek app can tell you that, and a whole lot more.

by Kate Etue | Fun Apps, Travel Apps

With the warmer weather finally here, I’m looking forward to getting outdoors with my family. We’re avid campers and hikers, and I have to admit, I enjoy the time we spend away from screens. Turns out, it’s also Screen-Free Week, so how perfect that...

WEYV gives families all your favorite music, magazines, ebooks and more in one smart app | Sponsored Message

by Cool Mom Staff | Best Apps

This is a sponsored message from WEYV If you’ve got a separate music app, magazine app, audiobook app, they can certainly add up. Especially when you’re talking about media for a whole family. So instead of of flipping through multiple apps and paying...

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.