This app lets you check out library books on your phone. Free. From home. Yes!

by Kate Etue | Best Apps

Lately, a lot of readers have been asking us about apps that let you check out free library books. Or, free e-books to be technical. So here’s the info on a favorite of ours, the hoopla digital app. While I love the feeling of being surrounded by stacks and...

5 of the best Santa tracker apps to prove he’s real. Because he is. So there.

by Liz Gumbinner | Holiday Picks, Best Apps

This year is definitely the year of the Santa tracker app. After, all, even the biggest Santa fans among us know that while he is vaccinated (so don’t worry kids) we want to keep him safe — and him, us. So we’re avoiding the mall and turning to some...

Active Arcade is a fun free app that gets the whole family up off the couch.

by Christina Refford | Best Apps, Fitness + Health, Games + Gaming

Before the holidays kick into full gear, I recommend you download one super-fun, get-off-the-couch app that also happens to be 100% free: Active Arcade. It’s entirely designed to get you moving (and maybe burning off all that pie eating) while enjoying yourself...

The best apps for road trips with kids: Map apps, entertainment apps, even restroom finder apps!

by Caroline Siegrist | Best Apps

I’m grateful for this list of the best apps for road trips with kids, because it turns out, I’m not allowed to put my kids in a hilarious sidecar by themselves during long drives. So I’ve been prepping my phone and the kids’ iPad for the long...

The new Rebel Girls app puts kids’ favorite inspiring women right in their earbuds

by Caroline Siegrist | Best Apps

I’ve been a huge Rebel Girls fan since their very first book came out, so naturally I’m so excited to hear about their brand new Rebel Girls app. The app features the stories of some of our favorite women — Malala, Lady Gaga, Maya Angelou, and many...

The 3 best digital planners for parents, according to parents with very strong opinions about planners!

by Kate Etue | Best Apps, Back to School Tech, Life and Home

I’m always on a quest for the best digital planner for the school year, because I have developed a very bad habit: Every year I get tempted by the beautiful, fun, old-fashioned paper planners I discover on Etsy or in our local stationery stores. They’re...

I’m getting better sleep thanks to this app. Which you may not even think of as a sleep app.

by Liz Gumbinner | Best Apps

It’s been a while since we shared our favorite apps to help you get better sleep. So long, that our last post about favorite sleep apps seems to include apps all recently acquired by mattress companies. Hm. I did recently write about my favorite iOS tip for...

10 of the best math apps for middle school that make learning fun.

by Christina Refford | Back to School Tech, Best Apps, Educational Apps

As a former homeschooling parent, I am a huge fan of math apps for middle school — and for tweens and teens whatever their grade level. I used to say that I was okay teaching math until around 3rd or 4th grade, and then I needed some help explaining certain...

10 of the best summer tech posts on Cool Mom Tech right now

by Liz Gumbinner | Tips and Tricks, Best Apps, Kids

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 tech posts — which...

This app actually scans your kids’ LEGOs, then lets them know what they can build with them. Whoa.

by Caroline Siegrist | Best Apps

My son is all about LEGO these days, which is why I was intrigued when I heard about Brikit, a new iPhone app that takes stock of the LEGOs you have and makes suggestions — complete with instructions — on what to build. Turns out, it’s a gamechanger!...