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Our Tools and Tech Tips

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Parenting Technology Talking Points

Our Roadmaps Screen Time Social Media Our Collection Our Toolkit Gold Star Articles Best Practices Our Guides Our Tech Tips iConcierge Services Our Q & A Line What Can I Ask? How It Works Invite Me PARENTING TECHNOLOGY TALKING POINTS Here are Some of the Major Parenting Technology Talking Points: Parental Controls - Why? Often kids like things just the [...]

Summer – Our Screen Time Plan

Our Roadmaps Screen Time Social Media Our Collection Our Toolkit Gold Star Articles Best Practices Our Guides Our Tech Tips iConcierge Services Our Q & A Line What Can I Ask? How It Works Invite Me Summer - Our Screen Time Plan Where Parenting Meets Technology: A Screen Time Plan that WORKS! At the outset of summer, we were determined to put together [...]

How Screen Time Works in My Family

Exit Screen Time: Find Your Path Step 1 of 7 Let's start with your first child: 1 2 +3 Knowing this information helps us to customize recommendations for your child. saving... Which Apple devices does use? Select all that apply: iPhone iPad iPod Touch Mac If uses any of the following and you have concerns, select them below: Chromebook Gaming [...]

Our Family Agreement

Our Family Agreement According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): “Parents play an important role in helping children and teens navigate media [which] means teaching them how to use it as a tool to create, connect and learn.” By knowing your child’s approximate age, we can better customize the information so we can present it to you! Add Child [...]

What to Expect: The Major Inflection Points

Our Roadmaps Screen Time Social Media Our Collection Our Toolkit Gold Star Articles Best Practices Our Guides Our Tech Tips iConcierge Services Our Q & A Line What Can I Ask? How It Works Invite Me What to Expect: The Major Inflection Points Inflection Points One thing’s for sure about screen time is that it’s not going away. Be prepared [...]

The Social Emotional Well-Being Scale

The Social Emotional Well-Being Scale When we first started reading up on the impact of social media, we kept hearing the term social emotional well-being and that teens with lower scores were more susceptible to the downside risks of social media. We've adapted this Social Emotional Well-Being scale, so that you don't have to go searching for one. While no [...]

Our TimeWise Calculator

Our Roadmaps Screen Time Social Media Our Collection Our Toolkit Gold Star Articles Best Practices Our Guides Our Tech Tips iConcierge Services Our Q & A Line What Can I Ask? How It Works Invite Me For parents and children alike, there are only 24-hours in a day. How you spend them can make all the difference. Too often, when [...]

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'Parenting Tech' - Kids
'Parenting Tech' - Teens
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#42: Likewise – Keeping Track of What to Read, What to Watch and Where to Dine

Tech Tip #42: Likewise - Our Favorite App for Keeping Track of What to Read, What to Watch and Where to Dine Since many of us are still social distancing or have moved on to ‘distancing in daily life’ recommendations of what to read and what to watch are evermore prized. We always like being in the know it comes to [...]

#41: Use Google Drive for Recipe Exchange Copy

Tech Tip #41:Jump into the 21st Century — Use Google Drive tp Power the Ever- Popular Recipe Exchange Copy So one surprise in the last month is the number of times I’ve been invited to join a recipe exchange. I think the count is up to eight now, and I’m always flattered when a Friend thinks of me (and maybe my [...]

facetime

#40: Group FaceTime is a Group Lifeline

Tech Tip #40: Group FaceTime is a Group Lifeline. During these crazy uncertain times, connecting with Friends and Family is evermore important. While FaceTime can enable video communication with up to 32 people it’s best used for smaller groups. Here’s how to set it up: If you already have an ongoing group chat, just hit the arrow and select FaceTime The initiator [...]

Honey: Your Smart Shopping Assistant!

#38: Honey: Your Smart Shopping Assistant!

Tech Tip #38 - Honey: Your Smart Shopping Assistant! When online shopping, it’s just too easy to click and add to your cart. While moderation is always advisable, Honey can help you save hundreds of dollars with almost zero effort. Here’s how it works: Download and add an extension for your primary browser (Chrome and Safari) Honey canvases the web [...]

shopping,online,

#37: How to Manage All Those Online Purchases

Tech Tip #37: How to Manage All Those Online Purchases with Slice During the holidays, there’s a flurry of online ordering, and it’s not all just coming from Amazon. For years, I’ve been using Slice to help me manage purchases and order logistics. Download the app here, and when you receive an order notification by email, just forward it to orders@goslice. The benefits: You have [...]

#36: How to Keep Santa’s Secrets – Hide those Amazon Purchases!

Tech Tip #36: How to Keep Santa’s Secrets – Hide those Amazon Purchases! If your doorbell ringing sounds like Carol of the Bells, chances are Amazon packages are piling up at your doorstep. If you have kids who like to spy on Santa’s elves, or routinely include checking Amazon packages as one of their hobbies, then you’ll be glad to know how to [...]

#35: PaperKarma

Tech Tip #35: PaperKarma With the holidays fast approaching, chances are your mailbox is filling up with loads of holiday catalogs. Every night, we look forward to PaperKarma. It literally helps to lighten our load by stopping all those unwanted catalogs, especially the five-pound paperweights (Restoration Hardware, we’re talking to you!). Just snap a photo, and PaperKarma does the rest. Climate [...]

#34: Find My

Tech Tip #34: Updated Find My In its latest iOS 13 release, Apple consolidated Find My Friends and Find My iPhone. They are now bundled together in a new app known as Find My which automatically replaces the others when you update. Key Features include: Sharing your location easily with anyone in the People section Receiving Location Updates so you [...]

#33: Crack the Calendar Code

Tech Tip #33: Crack the Calendar Code Find What Matters in Seconds! The Family Calendar is the central nervous system running through the family, and usually, all activity centers are lit up. When you want to see important dates and related events in one glance, use this trick. You can see your kid's health appointments and all those random days off from school quickly, without [...]

#32: ADD IT TO YOUR HOME SCREEN

When running the ‘Family’ Business, there’s so much to keep track of--sports schedules, updates on the school website, the school directory...And my kids always want to know what’s for lunch!

#31: Nowvel Photo Album App

Tech Tip #31 Delight in those summer MOMents all year long with Nowvel We’re often asked about our favorite apps, and we’re big believers that there are some that every CEO Mom should have in her toolkit. As the memory makers and keepers for our family, seeing those treasured summer MOMents come together in a beautiful photo album is so [...]

#30 – How to Text with Special Effects

Holidays are a time for sending well wishes to friends and loved ones. This 4th of July send them with fireworks. You may even impress your kids with your tech savviness, and who knows, you may actually teach them something new!

#29: Find my iPhone- Sound the Alarm

If your kids aren’t answering the phone or responding to your text messages, Use Find My iPhone to set every device in the house pinging. It will definitely get their attention and they’ll know to call you if you set this expectation ahead of time. Here’s how to sound the alarm:

#25: How to Manage Teens, Tweens, and Texting

Texting these days can get a little out of hand. It is the mode of communication for today’s generation. Here are some little-known secrets for making texting work for you and your family.

#24: How to set up the OurPact App

Life as Chief Technology Officer of the household has been so much better since we started using OurPact. I love that we can give our kids allowance time! This means more freedom for them and less time spent tussling over devices.

#22: How to set up a Medical ID

So in an emergency this is really important. You can create what’s called a Medical ID. Here you can store important medical information that could be life-saving, especially if you have a medical condition. And you can add contacts, so if someone finds you lying on the ground, they’ll know who to notify.

#21: How to get Siri to Work for You

When you're running the "Family Business" you can always use more help. Here are some ideas on putting Siri to work to help you to be more efficient.

#20: How to Share an Apple Note

Using Apple Notes is a handy way to stay organized. What do you do when you need to share your list with a collaborator? Watch the video to see how easy it is to share your Notes.

#19: How to Lock a Note in Apple Notes

So this is still a relatively new feature that a lot of people don’t know about. You can create a note and lock it with a passcode in just a few quick steps. I use this a lot for my children’s passwords and other not-so-sensitive information. It may not be as secure as two-factor authentication, but at least it’s better [...]

#18: How to Use Google Maps Offline

Using Google Maps offline is a great solution for when you’re traveling and don’t want to burn data, or you don’t have a good internet connection. Here's how to set it up:

#17: Our Public Service Announcement: How to Prevent Kids From Seeing Porn on Their iDevices

This is one of the biggest concerns we have as parents --our kids either googling or stumbling upon things they shouldn’t see. Most people don't realize that Apple sells all iOS Devices with settings defaulted to allow explicit content. Fortunately, it takes just 30 seconds to change the settings. It's easy to make sure your kids are safe! Step 1: [...]

#16: How to Make Sure You’re Sharing Only the Minimum Amount of Data with Facebook

Here are four quick and easy steps to managing how much personal data you share with Facebook:

#15: Guided Access – Lock Any Device to Just One App

Guided Access allows you to lock any device to just one app and shut the device off after a set period of time. So, you can feel assured that your children are really just reading on the Kindle App or practicing their math facts. Here’s how to set it up: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility. Find Guided Access [...]

#14: It is Possible to Make a Phone Just a Phone

Step 1: So once you’ve set up Guided Access, go to your child’s phone, tap the Phone app and triple-click the Home Button. Now it’s in Guided Access mode. You can’t get out of it. Step 2: Your child can still make phone calls and your child can receive phone calls. Even when the screen is asleep, the phone is [...]

#13: How to Make Sure Your child is Just Reading

https://hearditfromafriend.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Setting-time-limits-with-guided-access.mp4 Download the Kindle App and log-in. Triple-click the Home Button to enable Guided Access, now all your child can do now is READ! Set reading goals by using Time Limits. The above instructions are for an iPad. The settings on an iPhone are a little different, so you will find Time Limits under Options. Apple, as kids get older [...]

#12: How to Easily Protect Your Child’s Basic Privacy

Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Sharing. Select which apps you want to block from sharing your device's Location. For my kids, I turn off Location Sharing for every app except Find iPhone and Weather. Turn off location sharing for Camera to prevent geotagging. Geotagging stores the location where every picture was taken in the picture file's metadata. When [...]

#11: How to Limit Functionality On a Phone

Many parents feel like giving their kids a phone is like opening up Pandora’s box; I know I did. But after researching, I was surprised to learn how much functionality you can actually turn off. Set up Restrictions--this is one of Apple’s most important parental controls. Go to Settings > General > Restrictions > Enable Restrictions. Create a Passcode that [...]

#10: How to Manage Which Apps Your Child Can Access

Parents do really have a lot of control over what their kids can do on their devices. And you can decide, or in a conversation with your child, which apps are appropriate for them. Option 1: For the Most Control… Download all the apps you want your child to have access. Turn off the App Store by going to Settings [...]

#9: How to Manage Web Surfing for Your Child

When your kids start researching projects on the web in 2nd grade, you may want to limit the number of websites they can browse: Settings > General > Restrictions. Tap Websites. Select Specific Websites Only. Add a Website. The other way you can manage what your kids can surf is to block certain websites. This is important for when you [...]

#8: How to Stop Binge-Watching Before It Starts

It’s happened to all of us--parents and children. The cliffhanger’s really good, and before we can reach the remote, the next episode already has already started playing. Our little people are still learning self-control, so it's especially hard for them to turn it off. This forces us parents to have to play the heavy. We now know that this Automatic [...]

#7: Traveling with a Suitcase Full of Devices? Get Everyone on Wifi in Seconds!

This is just brilliant! When traveling with a suitcase full of devices, get everyone on Wifi in seconds*. Just enter the network name and password on one device, and then seamlessly transfer log-in details to everyone else. Now you can take a break from playing CTO and kick back and relax a little sooner! Of course, it would be nice [...]

#6: Call Me Always!

Have you ever Googled a phone number, but then discovered it's not a live link? Frustrated, you keep tapping, but nothing happens. Here's how to always make the call, seamlessly!

#5: The Hidden Secrets of Control Center

As CEOs of the Family Business, we run command central and we need the best tools at our fingertips. With the revamp of Control Center in iOS11 you can easily access your favorites, along with some additional features. In Tech Tip #3, I showed you how to customize the Control Center-- and here are the hidden features of 3D Touch: [...]

#4: Using Guided Access to Lock Devices to One App and Control Usage Time

Guided Access allows you to lock any device to just one app and shut the device off after a set period of time. So, you can feel assured that your children are really just reading on the Kindle App or practicing their math facts. Here’s how to set it up: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility Find Guided Access [...]

#3: How to Easily Customize iPhone Control Center

As CEOs of the “Family Business,” we run command central, often from our kitchens. We make family life happen, from planning and logistics to celebrating holidays and stocking up on toilet paper. We need the best tools at our disposal on command. In Control Center you can access flashlight, calculator, timer, camera etc., all with just the swipe of a finger [...]

#2: Customizing Apple News

Apple News: It’s been right in front of us since 2015. Do you know how to make it work for you? News conveniently aggregates stories from a variety of sources: From CNN to The Wall Street Journal, The HuffPost to WhoWhatWear. You can follow specific topics, select your favorite publications (known as Channels), and even save stories. There were some [...]

#1: How to Customize the Today View on Your iPhone

It's quick and easy to customize app widgets within the Today View on your iPhone. See how in the video below: https://www.hearditfromafriend.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/EnlightVideo-F314C5C6-361B-415D-BDA2-01EC2788A22E.m4v Swipe right from your Home Screen Select edit (or scroll down to bottom) Add the Widgets you want Re-order your list by dragging the Hamburger (the horizontal lines) To launch the app, engage 3D Touch by pressing down [...]

More Tech Tips!

To Turn on Do Not Disturb: Swipe up from the bottom of your phone to access the Control Center. Select the crescent moon, and you will see this moon displayed on your home screen – top right corner To mute a specific conversation, tap the group message string > tap the “i” on the top right > Scroll down and turn [...]

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