Tips and Tricks

In April 2024, the total solar eclipse will hit our sky, and let's just say we're all pretty excited. If you've got the date marked on your calendar (or wondering if you should), check out these tips for watching the solar eclipse from o…

This past week, I received several emails "from LinkedIn" indicating that someone from Bardstown, Kentucky requested a "reset password" link in the wee hours of the morning. I shared this information on Threads and in our Out Tech Your K…

I know we're all still in New Year's resolutions mode, whether you're purging and recycling old tech , embarking on a family tech detox , or committing to more books and audiobooks and less mindless doomscrolling. But if there's one thin…

For so many of us, the new year is about organization and fresh starts. That's why we tend to use January as an opportunity to cross off a few tech resolutions off our lists -- or at least get a head start on some of those to-do list ite…

It's not an exaggeration to say that email management is overwhelming to me. As someone with anywhere upwards of 10,000 emails in my inbox -- many of them unread, to the dismay of my minimalist friends -- I am always looking for tips and…

It's always a good time to talk about how to best clean your phone and gadgets. But especially this time of year. With cold and flu season now meeting Covid-is-back season (again, sigh) it's important to know how to safely clean your pho…

This week's Washington Post article about the teenage boy sextortion scam by Chris Moody is all I've been thinking about. In part because I know a kid who was targeted in this way, and it was a terrible situation. But to learn that this …

With yesterday's Apple announcement of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max (and I am sooo excited!) I've heard a lot of gripes about the switch from a lightning charge cable to a USB-C charge cable . Here's the deal in a nutshell-- and it's ac…

Just one year ago, AI was not the kind of thing most families talked about over dinner, but today parents are wondering how to talk to their kids about the use of artificial intelligence tools for schoolwork. Whether you're concerned abo…

With back-to-school here, or just around the corner for some of us, I like to take the time to have reinforce some basic tech rules with my kids and have some important tech conversations before things get super hectic. Whether your kids…

Wow, I sound like a TV law firm ad saying, "you may qualify for a payout from the multi-million dollar Facebook settlement!" But honestly, that's the fact. I've popped my name into a couple of class action settlements recently -- general…

Thinking about leaving Twitter ? (Are we calling it Twexit yet?) With the big changeover in management this week, some Twitter users are leaving , some users are staying , and your choice is up to you. Either way, it's good idea to downl…

If your kids are using a laptop or Chromebook for their schoolwork (or gaming), there are a few simple things you can do to help them avoid tech neck . Yes, it's totally a thing (says the person who's on her computer most hours of the da…

For those of us with college students (already!), we know how stressful it can be for our kids to get adjusted to a totally new schedule and, often, a new living situation. We even included meditation apps among our recommendations of ap…

We thought it would be a smart idea to put together the best apps for college students, and especially college freshmen. After all, when parents send our kids off to college -- whether close to home or across the country -- you really wa…

I'm not sure about you, but I'm getting bombarded with ads on Instagram, whether it's in the feed or in the middle of my stories. Argh! Most of the stuff I don't really mind (well, maybe my wallet does), but there are things, like weight…

This is a sponsored message from SaneBox Whether that little red email badge is showing you 20 unread messages or 20,000, it can be overwhelming to feel like you'll never get to the bottom of it. Enter SaneBox . Trusted by TechCrunch, Th…

Recently, Meta announced it would be launching new parental safety controls for teens in the form of tools and resources for both the Instagram social media app and their Meta Quest VR gaming headsets. The goal is to help parents better …

Fireworks are at the top of nearly everybody's list of favorite Fourth of July memories, but capturing the magic in fireworks photos can be extremely tricky. So we scoured our favorite photography and tech resources for great photo tips …

It took me longer than most people to get into audiobooks . Even while friends raved about flying through so many books on their commutes or while sitting in carpool lines, I had tried a few novels on Audible -- good ones! -- and just co…

Lately, a lot of readers have been asking us to recommend the best Fitbit for their needs -- for themselves as a form of self-care, for gifts for others (ahem Mother's Day and Father's Day are coming up), or just an upgrade to an older m…

After creating a group video for my teen's birthday during the height of the pandemic, I realized how many other occasions it would be perfect for: end-of-year teacher appreciation gifts , Mother's Day , Father's Day , graduation , speci…

With the big breaking news this week about the controversial purchase and privatization of Twitter by Elon Musk , a lot of users are talking about whether they'll consider deleting their Twitter account, for a variety of reasons. Some us…

I'm among millions of parents all over the country concerned about widespread efforts to ban "controversial" books in our public libraries. Especially when the lists include some of our favorite books , and plenty of them are not "contro…

After a little texting debacle between my 11-year old and her friends, I realized that maybe I wasn't the only parent dealing with cell phone etiquette issues. And, after asking our Out Tech Your Kids group about the annoying cell phone …

I've been hearing more and more people asking how to back up computer data, as they express concerns about cyberattacks lately. Which has reminded me to make sure that my own data is properly backed up too. Even if cyberattack fears are …

We've officially hit the point of full Apple product saturation in our household -- and as so many parents in our Out Tech Your Kids community tell us, they have too. So what do you do when you're all basically on Apple devices, your kid…

My parents were in the market for a portable car jump starter, (also known as a portable car battery charger), because as city folk, they keep an older model car in the city but don't drive it much. That means they need to have some kind…

Recently, as you may have heard (ahem) a bunch of influential musical artists have been leaving Spotify , podcasters are rethinking the platform , and plenty of listeners are canceling their Spotify Premium subscriptions. (Which is evide…

I'm excited to kick off the year by finding some easy, effective ways to recycle or donate those old tech gadgets that we all have lying around. Not just for you, but for me too! I know not to chuck my trusty old iPhone into the trash af…

With the new year here, it's a good time for a refresher on how to make strong passwords and help keep them safe. With phishing still on the rise , ever-present social media hacks , and general security breaches and unsavory shenanigans,…

Every year, we think it's fascinating to look back and see the top posts we wrote that captured our readers' interests and imagination. Some of the favorites were just fun (hey, trendy halloween costume!) while most this year were really…

Lately I've been looking for the best way to add a holiday aesthetic to my iPhone, uh.... like all the teenagers in my life do. Of course you can always customize your own iPhone icons yourself, I don't have quite as much time to spend o…

I'm absolutely fascinated by the way my own kids and step kids use tech to make ongoing gift wish lists -- the iOS Notes app has become the method of choice for them and so far, that's working pretty well for us. Then I saw Jessica Bradl…

For over a decade now (whoa) we've been sharing the best Black Friday tips to help you find the best deals with the least hassle. Now that Black Friday has turned into "Black Friday through Cyber Monday," which turned into an entire mont…

We love when parents ask us "how do I know if my kid is ready for a cell phone?" It means you're conscientious, caring, and involved -- and of course, want to make sure that you're raising a kid to make good choices, and not who isn't th…

We've said this many times here that some of our best iPhone tricks come from the digital natives in our lives, which is exactly where I got this simple, but very smart AirPods trick. You may be thinking "Are there really AirPods tricks?…

My teenage son and his friends are avid online gamers , so I recently broached the topic of good gaming etiquette for kids and teens with them. “What?” they asked, “You mean like when people tell you to go kill yourself when you mess up?…

I know I'm not the only one who wants to get rid of the unread email count badge on my phone that taunts me loudly in BRIGHT. RED. NUMBERS. Every so often, a friend on social media gleefully (like a Mr. Burns kind of gleeful if you ask m…

Lately I've heard some mixed opinions about the Focus feature on the latest iOS 15. If you haven't updated your iPhone yet, Focus mode is similar to the Sleep mode introduced with iOS 14 with even more detail and more ways to customize y…

There are so many things you can do with an Amazon Echo , something I quickly learned after getting an Amazon Echo Dot for Christmas a few years ago .(It's no Echo Studio , but still...) I admit I was a little skeptical at first. What's …

As we mentioned on Cool Mom Picks , our team is off on a little break this week. Don't we all need one these days? (The answer is yes. Yes we do.) But hey, before we took off, we wanted to put together some of our very favorite summer te…

We recently had a mom reach out on our Out Tech Your Kids group on Facebook, asking for the best tech to help turn handwriting into text. Like so many kids today, her daughter is using her finger to write on a school issued iPad, and the…

If you've ever searched and searched for your frequent flyer numbers (God help me) or insurance card numbers or the numbers that you need every now and then but don't really need to memorize, then I have the coolest tech trick for you. R…

Each time there's a live streaming Apple Event to announce the new products and updates, we watch diligently to see what's new for parents and families, or which advances and improvements will actually make our lives a little easier, mor…

I'm not sure about you, but even with an iPhone 12, which is not the biggest iPhone out there (hello, 12 Pro Max friends), I'm a two-handed keyboard user. I generally peck with my right pointer, and add a little left-hand thumb action no…

Over the past year, I have been so grateful for the sleep stories on Calm and some of the Apple Music playlists to help me fall asleep. The one issue: I was sometimes waking up in the middle of the night, my AirPods still in my ears...my…

This week in our Out Tech Your Kids Facebook group , we were asked how to prevent a Facebook hack, and specifically, if were any security measures to take that might help. And yes, yes there are! Here, a few really simple tips to help pr…

This past week, we had a fantastic chat with college coach and essay consultant Betsy Cadel on the Spawned Parenting Podcast. She offered so many incredible tips on making the college search and application process easier and less stress…

If you do a quick Google of “kids and screen time,” you’ll find a myriad articles telling you how much they’ve had this past year and all the things it is doing to them, as if we haven’t been with our children almost 24 hours a day and k…

Have you noticed lately there's been a huge uptick in text spam? So of course, I want to report it to...someone. Anyone! Turns out it's so much easier than I had expected. Now when I say text spam, I don't mean political candidates you'v…

This is a sponsored message on behalf of Google For most parents, balancing screen time has always been a challenge. But over this last year, the struggle became even more real, with three in five parents allowing an increase in time spe…

We've always said that raising digital natives, especially since we're not digital natives ourselves, means understanding the role of technology in our family. But when it comes to knowing what questions to ask (and answer), well, that c…

We talked last week about tips for spring-cleaning your phone , and this week I'm taking a stab at my email. I'd never let my actual snail mail pile up in a massive overflow of unanswered bills and letters, but for some reason I let my e…

With spring nearly here, I'm getting antsy to clean up my yard and go through all my closets to get rid of all the junk we've accumulated over the winter. But I'm going to start small, literally, and follow these tips for spring cleaning…

Parents of tweens and teens, we've got good news! YouTube is launching new parental controls specifically for kids in this age group. What a relief to those of us who see the value in letting them watch some of the content on YouTube...b…

Over the last month, we've been getting bombarded with all sorts of posts about kids and screen time, from articles telling us that we've got a big problem on our hands to ways to feel okay about all the screen time . If you're like me, …

Chances are good that you're clicking through to this article because you don't know what "tabbed gmails" even are. Right? Well, here's the deal: Gmail has a "handy" organization tool that categorizes all your emails automatically. To se…

If you're like us, you were so busy rearranging your home screen that you missed one of the most helpful new iOS14 features. Of course, "helpful" is relative, especially these days when even the smallest little thing that gives us a tast…

Let's take a minute to applaud our teens who've been willing to quarantine this year. It's been brutal to lose so many activities they love, and they've handled it with flexibility and (mostly) good attitudes! While we'd hoped we'd be "b…

Every year, we share our top 10 most popular posts on Cool Mom Tech. From the best podcasts for kids to customizing your iPhone 14 home screen, here are the posts we wrote this year that resonated the most with our readers in 2020. Also …

We can all use ways to make our lives a little easier, which is why we’re talking about Alexa, which we know has helped our own staff, and maybe you too. That includes this episode’s sponsor Bamboo Learning , which offers fun ways for el…

If you've been hoping that Twitter would launch something to make it feel like Snapchat and Instagram Stories, then you're in luck with the launch of their new feature, Fleets . Admittedly, I looked at the calendar to see if we had someh…

If you haven't heard by now, the customization features on the new iOS home screen are alllll kinds of extra (i.e. you can turn your home screen into a Harry Potter tribute , Microsoft Paint throw-back , or neon color study). It's pretty…

Since my son started remote learning, I've been looking for great G-suite tutorials to help me hone my skills, and I know I'm not alone. We're hearing from a lot of parents whose kids are using G-suite tools for their own online learning…

Just last week, Twitch launched Watch Parties , a feature that allows Twitch creators to watch Prime Video TV shows and movies with their communities. Whether you've got a kid on Twitch, or maybe you're looking for a way to watch your Am…

Okay, so plenty of us gave up on the same screen time limits we had pre-Covid. But that's not to say we don't still have screen time fights with the kids. Or uh...arguments? Debates? Gentle disagreements? If you're looking to cut back on…

Kids are pretty darn smart, but we can be smarter, parents! On this week's Out-Tech Your Kids podcast , we're talking about the ways kids can circumvent parental controls so you can be prepared, thanks to the members of our Out-Tech Your…

We've always said that all screen time is not created equal! And on this week's Out-Tech Your Kids podcast , we're talking about the benefits of social media for kids. Social media tends to get a bad rap -- let alone specific channels li…

"Don't read the comments" isn't going to fly when your kids are old enough to watch YouTube videos without you around, let alone managing their own TikTok accounts. But learning how to be a responsible commenter is a skill that comes in …

When our state was put under a stay-at-home order back in the middle of March, 2020, I told my 11-year old that she should start writing in her journal every day because this was going to be a time in history that her kids and their kids…

If you're like me, then your Facebook feed has been filled with everyone's new Facebook avatar. It's also been filled with people saying how they look nothing like them. And I have to be honest, I totally agree. So of course, I had to gi…

It's ironic that I chose the word "connect" as my 2020 word, just to find myself practicing "social distancing" three months into the year. Suddenly, instead of looking forward to coffee shop meetups, long chummy walks, and dinners with …

A few months ago, we shared how to set up the Close Friends feature on Instagram , just in case you’ve got your kids (and their friends) following you and wanted to share something that they couldn’t see. Of course, whenever you do that,…

In what feels like a game of " Which Site Will Violate Our Privacy More This Week ?," Google remains consistent in their issues with user privacy and released an inconspicuous email to users to let them know that some Google Photos users…

Every now and then I'll spot a fantastic article shared by one of my Facebook friends, only to discover it was written a few years ago. Womp, womp. But in a few cases, like this Vice article about what screens are doing to our eyes (and …

We live in an age of photoshop and photo altering, and quite frankly, our teens and tweens are pretty savvy when it comes to pointing out (and complaining about) a model's face that's been de-wrinkled. But photos of women -- made to look…

With resolutions and goals for 2020 in mind, we know that a lot parents are thinking about technology and screen time. Wrangling screen time is a huge concern for many of you (and us), as well as the members of our Out Tech Your Kids Fac…

Every parent wants to know how to take better pictures, especially around Christmas. A few years ago I received the completely awesome gift of a DSLR camera, but I admit I haven't entirely learned how to use it properly. I've taken thous…

This past week, my 11-year old daughter and I had a long conversation about Snapchat. She's been begging me for awhile now, but lately, it's amped up because pretty much all her friends use it exclusively to communicate. I've been very r…

We know that " digital parenting " is quite the buzz phrase these days. Our approach to it has been similar to how we parent our kids around similar difficult topics (think non-alarmist, non-judgmental), except unlike the sex talk or the…

In our Out Tech Your Kids group on Facebook, we've had several questions about parental controls for Gmail, with so many kids needing and using email accounts. We did some research to see what parents can and can't do when it comes to mo…

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. …

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 dial…

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 Par…

I often like adding Boomerangs to an Instagram Story to help change things up from still photos. But then, I either have to go shoot a Boomerang in Instagram (and figure out what to shoot) or open the Boomerang app itself. Not one of lif…

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…

YouTube has come under major scrutiny in the last couple of years with inappropriate videos showing up on their popular YouTube Kids apps, from awful parodies to suicide how-to videos . So according to a recent report, they've decided to…

My daughter and I have the same taste in books, generally, so we love sharing anything good we've read lately. That's typically been much easier to do with hardcopy books than digital ones, but now you can set up a Family Library for you…

If you're like me, you've gone into your iPhone to show someone a photo, and as you scroll through the thousands of images, you realize you didn't delete those photos. Yes, you know what I'm talking about (actually, I'm talking about my …

We're thrilled to welcome a new monthly columnist, Dr. Devorah Heitner, author of Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive and Survive in Their Digital World and the founder of Raising Digital Natives, a resource for schools and families wishing …

I've been a longtime Chrome user, but after having some functionality on a few different websites, I've decided it might be time to seek other options. And then I did a deep dive into their privacy issues , let's just say it's a very goo…

I currently have just under 12,000 photos on my iPhone. I know, I know, but when you work in social media and have four adorable children, it happens. As you might guess, even with the handy location feature, as well as moments, favorite…

A few weeks ago, my teenager asked me to take a few photos of her while we were visiting my son at camp in Washington D.C., but she kept moving through her poses too quickly that all I kept getting were photos of her in motion. Not so gr…

Our social media feeds are blowing up photos from the FaceApp, thanks to the new FaceApp Challenge, but is it safe? If you'e missed the buzz, this hilarious (ish) app lets you upload a photo to the app, then edits it using AI filters so …

I've written a few times here at Cool Mom Tech about my love-hate relationship with the new MacBook , particularly the butterfly keyboard. It makes typing so incredibly fast and easy, but it gets stuck very easily. And it's not just me! …

Yesterday, I spent a good two hours live tweeting the bigger Apple announcements at their 2019 developer conference that would be of interest to parents. Like, news about parental controls, photo sharing, and home security? Yes please! N…

If it looks like your kids are hard at work on their laptop or Chromebook, they might actually be messaging with their friends. Turns out, tweens and teens are using Google Docs to chat with each other, and it's honestly pretty brilliant…

When it comes to digital parenting , there's a seemingly endless number of conversations we need to have with our tweens and teens. And according to a recent survey, moving " how to make a strong password " to the top of the list is pret…

We're big fans of the Do Not Disturb feature on iPhone , which, if you're not familiar, allows you to temporarily block notifications (including texts and calls) with lots of customization too. As you can probably guess, it's perfect for…