free or close to it

If we asked you to count the things you'd rather spend a day doing than iPhone photo organization, what number would we be talking about here? Fifteen? Fifty? Eleventy hundred other things you'd rather do? Yeah, wrangling the tons of pho…

I recently found myself caught out there without portable, backup battery power . I mean, I had a Plan C -- my iPhone charger in my purse -- which was more like a Plan E, because trying to locate a conveniently-placed wall outlet at a ma…

When the director of our ad team, Lisa, tells me to try a new app, I know it's going to be a good one. She has good taste. And this time it's Brain Dots (for iOS and Android ) which happens to be fun, challenging, infuriating, and someti…

Getting our kids on board with STEM early in the game seems like a great way to go. And just because it's summer doesn't mean that gentle parent-ly nudge in the right direction has to take a break. An easy way to get kids hyped about thi…

They say every picture tells a story, which makes my six-year-old a master story teller. We get a book's worth of drawings from her each day and the explanations of her creations are always mind blowingly crazy awesome. So imagine our ex…

Our young children may not entirely understand why mom's Facebook avatar is covered in rainbows or what all those happy tears on Friday were for, but quite simply, kids can understand the basic premise that all of us here share, that lov…

School's out (finally). Time to really sink into summer's sun and fun. But for many parents, summer also means tackling this gnawing question, how are we going to keep these children entertained? Well, for your tech-head kid, we're happy…

Before your next summer road trip or family barbeque, we have a little gift for your ears: Free kids' music! Ready to amp up those playlists? Then you have to check out these 10 Cool Mom Picks approved songs from some of our favorite kin…

I am a longtime, shameless, all-things-Apple fan. But that doesn't mean I don't tip my hat frequently to cool, non-iOS products. And, when it comes to this new Google Photos app? I'm basically standing up and doing a slow-clap, because t…

With an estimated 37 million Americans hitting the road on the Memorial Day holiday alone, it's going to be the biggest travel weekend in a decade. Clearly, after enduring a long, miserable winter, folks are super hyped for the (unoffici…

We're very pro-photo book around here. Actually, we support any service or app that helps us get all the digital pics we snap off of our devices and on display for all to enjoy. And with Father's Day and graduation season officially unde…

From Vered 's beautiful new album Hello My Baby , her song Thank You is just what we need to hear on this Mother's Day. Because, even if our kids are too young to speak the words, we know just what they mean when they reach out their han…

I have a close-knit family. My sisters and I talk a lot any given week. The thing is, we all live in cities spread miles (and countries) apart, so we rely on social media, texting and, when time zones line up nicely, video chats. And wit…

Bless the big-hearted Star Wars fans of this world, for on May the Fourth Be With You Day, they are always an extra-giving bunch. Like Jason Yang, the designer and illustrator behind Invisible Element, who just offered up this wonderful …

W e are a house divided. My husband is an Android user (but I love him anyway), and I am an iPhone user. We need a calendar app that works with both, allows for the importing of Google calendar an iCal and automatically refreshes it. Is …

Hey Cool Mom Tech! Do y'all know of an Instagram app for iPad that allows you to add text or make a collage? -Delilah, via Twitter Hey Delilah! The short answer to your question is: Indeed we do. And we totally get it, too. Sometimes you…

When I first heard about the V.ALRT personal emergency alert device I immediately went to I've fallen and can't get up. I figured it was just some newfangled version of those Life Alert medical bracelets and it turns out, it kind of is -…

I didn't even know there was a term for it, but of course there is. O versharenting . It's that thing that so many of us parents do on social media -- especially on Facebook -- where we share, or overshare, info about our kids that range…

The selfie stick struggle is real, friends. From major museums, like the MoMA and The Met in NYC to the Palace of Versailles in Paris, to sports stadiums, to musical festivals Coachella and Lollapalooza, the ban on selfie sticks shows no…

You know how bouncy your kids get after eating too many jelly beans? We've found the musical equivalent with this awesome new tune from Mista Cookie Jar and the Chocolate Chips that's a perfect choice for our weekly kids' music download …

Just last year, we gave you the straight intel on the best Instagram collage apps . And now, finally (some might say, including us) Instagram has jumped in the game with Layout from Instagram , their very own app for making photo collage…

We are so excited about (and kind of in awe of) so many of the things that computers are doing for our kids, but the reality is, sometimes we need help managing their screen time. So many readers have written to us thanking us for tips l…

Spring is (finally) rounding the corner. That also means that prime travel season and spring break is about to begin, and when it comes to family vacations -- be it a long weekend or a 10-day stretch -- there are plenty of moving parts t…

As parents, we are not shy about our love of cool camera apps since that's easily half the reason we all own smartphones in the first place. And we've experienced first-hand how a really great camera app -- like the Camera+ 6 app -- can …