how-to

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…

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…

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…

We're all for setting some smart parental controls on our kids' tech, and there are some great parenting controls built into the Xbox One that you might not know about it. From limiting screen time to blocking other users who might be in…

So, we were all a little freaked out about the story that an Amazon Echo had recorded a private conversation in a user's home, then sent that conversation to someone else. Because, oof. Beyond embarrassing, this is a major privacy breakd…

When we were Apple newbies, my kids racked up quite a collection of paid apps before I realized what was happening. And I wasn't the only one. Apple ended up refunding lots of parents money for apps their kids bought . Then they set up t…

Online privacy is becoming harder and harder to wrangle. Remember Spokeo ? Well, recently there's been a ton of buzz about a newish site called Family Tree Now . It's been around for a couple years, but within the last 24 hours I have he…

Its pronunciation may be in the tomayto/tomahto zone, but when it comes to GIFs there's no debate about their popularity. So, last week when our favorite social network rolled out the Boomerang app that basically lets you produce and sha…

As someone who uses all Apple gadgets, including an iPhone, iPad, and my precious MacBook Air , I've had my eye on the news about the Apple security hole that was discovered on Friday. But now it seems to be affecting more applications t…

If you're an Amazon Prime member, then you might be wondering how to borrow a book from the Kindle library--one of the excellent benefits you get with your membership. Now granted they're probably not all books you actually want to read …

We finally decided to give our sixth grader a smart phone. And while I think the good has outweighed the bad so far, I really wasn't prepared for how complicated things would get -- and how quickly it would happen. So I can see why imple…

Over the course of the year, we've put together so many helpful tech tips for our readers, plenty from your own questions to us. (We love answering reader questions!) Here, some of our favorite tips of the year, including lots just for p…

There's no shortage of cool gadgets to help you find lost items , but lost cars? Not so much. I'm not quite sure if it's that I'm getting older or I'm trying to do too many things at once, but lately, I've been forgetting where I park my…

If you're big Twitter users like we are, then you know that currently, you can't send DMs to people who aren't following you--a feature we actually really like. Beause it means you can't get DMs from random people either. Well that's all…

On November 11, Google will go live with three new changes to their terms of service, with one particular component regarding Google ads that you might want to pay special attention to. Especially if you don't want your Google Plus profi…

One of the most frequently asked questions we get here on Cool Mom Tech is how to take a screenshot. Before you feel silly asking the same question, you should know that it's a common one, and not necessarily as simple as it sounds. Here…

You might have noticed that some (or many) of your favorite Facebook fan pages have started disappearing --again--from your news feed on Facebook. Thanks to a recent Facebook update that eliminated Facebook Edgerank, entirely changing ho…

Don't know about you, but we tend to be sticklers for capturing those first day back to school photos of our kids in their thoughtfully planned new outfits and shiny new backpacks. Of course they're often hastily captured as we race out …

Just about every day, I have a moment where I'm grateful social media wasn't around when I was a teen or pre-teen. Don't get me wrong; technology is a major positive in my life and in my kids' lives. But it's also kind of scary to think …

I've always wondered if there's an easier way to type accent marks if you don't have them all memorized, or stuff like currency symbols. Do you have any ideas? Thanks! -Juliet Oh, the accent marks. The special characters. The symbol for …

Ever since Instagram launched video , we're still seeing some freaking about problems and troubleshooting needs. So we dove in a little ourselves to help you get started, address some of the common issues, and hopefully, get you on your …

And in one of the more impressive--or insane, depending on your perspective--DIY projects, may we present this very creative craft-meets-tech tutorial? On the Etsy blog this week, Swedish crafter Lova Blavarg of Sweet Paul Magazine offer…

I've decided to spend a little energy styling my home office this summer, and first up, putting my excellent friendship bracelet-making skills (ha) to good use by covering a few of those unsightly cords with this cool tutorial. We've fea…

I am so not a DIY type. But when it comes to this little bit of crafty tech genius, I'm on it. At Sew Trashy, I was thrilled to find this DIY Washi Tape Apple Charger project. Especially considering I'm in a household where there is much…