Tips and Tricks

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…