Tips and Tricks

We've covered a ton of topics on our Spawned with Kristen and Liz podcast in 2017. From kids and social media to vagacials (yes, it's a thing), we've had a blast chatting with each other, and our esteemed guests, about parenting and pare…

At my house, we use our Amazon Echo every single day. I ask Alexa to place orders, find the proper cooking temperature of pork, or play my favorite playlist, just to name a few. So with the holidays here, I thought it would be fun to sha…

Raising digital kids, we parents all want to raise them to be good digital citizens, make wise choices, never bully, never be bullied, use their platforms for good, and be the change we want to see in the world. Not much to ask for, righ…

By now, everyone knows about Snapchat and kids right? It's like Snapchat has come to epitomize the "watch out for kids and their apps." But the truth is, there are so so many apps that can get kids into trouble, and it's hard to keep up …

We're all learning about new technology right along with our kids, which can put us at a bit of a disadvantage. Darn those growing brains. And if you've ever gotten a new cell phone and seen how much more your kid knows about it than you…

Even we here at Cool Mom Tech were surprised to learn about this hidden iPhone safety feature that could possibly help save lives. And while it's easy to activate, it's not something you would happen to do by accident, which is great for…

Okay, so please tell me I'm not the only iPhone owner who's had an iPhone for literally years ...and never knew this super basic time-saving iPhone trick. Turns out, your clock -- you know, the little digital display of the time at the v…

There's a glitch in the matrix! Okay, not really, just that there's a bug in iOS 11 that for many people turns their letter "i" to a weird symbol. Thankfully, there's a quick fix until they come up with a fix in the next iOS version, whi…

The TBH app has been blowing up over the past few weeks and just hit #1 in the App Store for iOS following the announcement that Facebook has purchased it. I've seen multiple articles referring to it a "kindness app" or an "anonymous com…

We just discovered a cool, new feature in iOS 11 that you might not have heard about, called Screen Recording, that actually allows you to record your screen (think live screen shot), and even narrate while you do. However, it's a little…

If you've upgraded to iOS 11 , then there's a good chance you've stumbled upon the new Control Center. Well, given it takes up almost the whole screen now, it's pretty hard to miss. And if you haven't, we'll I think you're in for a treat…

As someone who uses Instagram on an almost hourly basis (hey, it's work, too!), I was pleased to discover that just yesterday, they launched 2 new features to help keep users a whole lot safer. Here's the quick scoop on what they are, an…

Leave it to my twelve-year-old-daughter to be way ahead of me on the Instagram design tricks -- in this case, how to make an ombre text overlay in Instagram stories. I fell instantly in love. Now we're not the types (ha) to spend hours m…

I took the plunge this weekend, and upgraded my iPhone to iOS 11. There are no shortage of awesome new features, but the one that caught my attention almost immediately was Do Not Disturb While Driving . This feature will automatically m…

Last week, my fiance' showed me his newly organized iPhone with all the apps neatly filed away into folders and I got hella jealous. This is 40, people. Turns out, organizing your iPhone apps into folders is super simple, and it can make…

Like me, you've probably tried to share a favorite photo on Instagram Story after the fact, only to discover that it was taken well past the allowable 24-hour time period. Also like me, you may have figured out a trick where you can scre…

With the iPhone 8 announcement coming tomorrow, we know there's going to be lots of you (including us) strongly considering selling or trading-in your older model for a pretty new one. But there's good reason to update beyond just the aw…

During the dry spell of summer, when our favorite TV shows were in their off season, my 10-year-old daughter and I got hooked on a fun Korean high-school drama series. But while we watched I noticed something I didn't expect: her reading…

My youngest child loves watching movies on our family iPad, but if your kids are like her, they can't help tapping and touching the screen which then requires you to rewind, fast forward, or turn it back on 400 times. So when I found out…

We're counting down the days to the total solar eclipse that we'll be experiencing on Monday, August 21. In case you haven't heard about it (what?), or might have missed all the helpful information we've been posting here on Cool Mom Tec…

Over the years, you've probably heard a few different suggestions on how to create strong passwords , one of which was pioneered by Bill Burr, formerly of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. However, he's now saying that …

If you or your tween or teen loves those glitter-filled iPhone cases, you know, the ones with liquid and floating sparkles and designs, you'll want to check the manufacturer stat. The CPSC has recently issued a recall because there have …

For ages now I've touted the wonderful benefits of Boomerang for Gmail to help me better manage my incoming and outgoing email, and it seems the folks at Google like the feature themselves. Because now Gmail has actually incorporated Boo…

If you're counting down the days to the total solar eclipse (or a partial solar eclipse, depending where you live), you'll probably want to know exactly how much you'll see of it based on your location. Which is why you'll want to check …