tips and tricks

Feeling inspired by Jordan Shapiro's interview on NPR with our former Spawned guest Anya Kamanetz , and reading his book for our upcoming interview with him on Spawned, I decided to let my tween daughter give TikTok (formerly Musical.ly)…

It's been a rough couple of weeks for YouTube, first with the news about their growing pedophile problem . And now, YouTube Kids is under fire. We know lots of parents, including us, have found a little sigh of relief letting kids watch …

Over the years, we've written about many issues that parents need to be aware of when it comes to the content on YouTube . But this recent report from Wired should really throw the huge red flag of caution up for parents, particularly if…

Last week, we had a lively discussion about inappropriate follow requests on Instagram in our Out Tech Your Kids Facebook Group . Many parents bemoaned the challenges of trying to navigate this with their kids on Instagram, even on priva…

Since reading Anya Kamenetz's interview with Jordan Shapiro on NPR , I've made some heavy shifts in how I'm approaching screen time with my kids. For the years that they've been on video games, tablets and most recently, their own phones…

If you're still using Facebook and Facebook Messenger, then you might have missed some big news that makes life a little bit better: you can now unsend messages on Facebook Messenger. Hey, it only took 10 months, and wasn't even a thing …

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…

If you're a frequent Facetime user, you might want to turn it off until Apple fixes a recent glitch that actually allows callers to listen and see the people they're calling, even if they don't answer. Creepy much? Related: Watch out for…

We've been talking a lot about screen addiction and overuse here over the last few weeks (and well, years), including our Curb Your Screen Addiction series . Well, we recently chatted with author Jake Knapp on our Spawned podcast, who ha…

I tend to be the one who schools my husband on cool iPhone tips and tricks , but this time, he's the one who schooled me when he showed me how to set a live photo as my iPhone's wallpaper. I admit, I take a bunch of live photos, but don'…

Next up in our Alexa Organization Series, we’re sharing some of our favorite Alexa calendar skills to help you keep your family organized. Whether you want to add events to a joint calendar, keep up with a shared to-do list, or just make…

We're getting organized in the new year, and I've found that using my Amazon Echo -- which is strategically placed in our kitchen, the hub of our house -- can be a huge help, including fitness. Yes, we're not kidding. In this post, some …

Next up in our Alexa Organization Series, we're sharing some of our favorite Alexa finance skills to help you keep your family budget it check. Whether you want to track your investments or keep up with your spending, even pay you bills,…

Next up in our Curb Your Screen Addiction series, we're featuring our easiest tip yet. This one comes from Kristen and Liz's interview with The Art of Screen Time author and NPR commentator Anya Kamenetz, who offers some excellent, non-a…

With the new year starting up, if you're like me, you've got organization on your mind. I've found that using my Amazon Echo -- which is strategically placed in our kitchen, the hub of our house -- can be a huge help. So, we're sharing s…

As a mom of four kids, I get all sorts of questions asked of me by friends and strangers alike. You can probably guess what they are. "How do you do it?" "Do you ever sleep?" and then a question about whether my kids get along, which is …

Next up in our series on how to curb your screen addiction, we're tackling the issue of notifications. Back when I first got a smartphone, those little red numbers next to my apps filled me with excitement. Someone had messaged me! Or li…

As we continue our New Year's series on how to curb your screen addiction, I'm excited to share our next tip since it's been one that's been so helpful in managing my own tech habits. Plus, it's a change you can make in literally 5 minut…

Who else here is planning to curb your screen addiction in 2019? As parents, we often spend so much time worrying about our kids' screen time (and how to preserve my sanity during a 700th viewing of Cars 3), but everything I've heard and…

tThis morning I was scrolling through Facebook and found several friends had shared this iPhone keyboard trick that I had never seen before. And well, of course I had to give it a try. Guess what? It totally works, and it's a gamechanger…

I've tried many different approaches to organizing my iPhone apps , but the same thing always happens: I can't find the ones I need when I need them. Logic says you leave your most-used apps on the main page, then put the others in files…

A few weeks ago, my youngest was angry with me about losing her iPad privileges, and in her fit of rage yelled "I bet you couldn't be without your phone for 12 hours." We all know that the truth hurts, but to hear it out of the mouth of …

We always get kind of excited for each new iOS update (yeah, we're geeky that way) and the new iOS 12 update is no exception. We've been looking forward to it since we heard about all the new iOS parental controls in particular that Appl…

Lately I discovered how to mute text threads on my iPhone, and let me tell you, it's been a productivity game changer. Because as much as I love a raucous group chat once in a while, I don't accomplish much when I have notifications popp…