Home Tech

Evernote is life-changing. I’ve been a happy user for years now (this isn’t an ad, just the ramblings of an enthusiastic evangelist) and I seriously can’t remember how I functioned without it before. There are so many different ways you can use it to streamline and simplify your life. You can take notes, write to do lists, attach photos, record voice memos, scan papers, set reminders, save articles—the list goes on.

Caroline Biggs is one of six people tracking their resolutions with Apartment Therapy in real time. I guess you could say I have a problem with overusing social media. Of course, I don’t consider it a real problem, per se—especially when compared to some of my over-sharing peers—but whenever I tell someone close to me that I’m giving up social media for a full month, they can’t help but express equal parts concern and relief.

Whether you like country, rap, pop or rock—or you just need something to help you focus during the work day or unwind before bed—these playlists have you covered.

Just like dust and clutter can accumulate in hidden places in your home (you know… out of sight, out of mind) the same can be said for your computer. Hidden files and programs can accumulate over time that aren’t necessary to hold onto, and can seriously slow things down. To free up space on—and hopefully speed up—your Mac or PC, try decluttering these often forgotten files and folders.

Imagine yourself gift shopping, selflessly browsing the aisles, checking off items on your to-do list, when you find it: the perfect gift. Let me clarify: you find the perfect gift for yourself. While it’s a gift you know your significant other would love, you also know it’s something you’ve been longing for all year. You need to have it. You both need to have it. Perhaps it’s time to make your own wish list.

I’m going to go out on a whim and guess that at least one of your New Year’s resolutions will focus on health. Let’s dive deeper, shall we? Does this particular resolution have to do with improving your personal health? I thought so. You might think your resolutions should start well after the New Year, but the truth is, now is the time to set yourself up for success. One of the easiest ways to do this is to add some of these smart wellness and fitness gadgets to your list.

You know that amazing new app everyone is buzzing about? The tech-loving Early Adopter knew about it a month ago…and has moved on to the next “it” download. The more they can operate via their trusty smartphone (bike locks? toothbrushes?), the easier their lives will be. Monotone or splashy in look, no matter the aesthetic leanings of the EA, these gifts will help them on the hunt for what’s next.

If you’re thinking of upgrading your media station, your instinct might tell you to spend your money on a nice new flat screen TV. But if you’re shopping on a budget, or want a more creative solution for your movie-night needs, consider foregoing a television altogether to get a projector instead. Projectors come with a host of surprising benefits, and though you might assume a projector would feel a bit too outdated for your entertainment needs, don’t worry.

This month we’ll be sharing solutions that are so simple and easy—and at times, automated—that they feel like magic. Hocus Pocus celebrates all the small ways you can trick yourself into living a better life. If you jumped on the bandwagon and watched Stranger Things recently, you’re probably looking for ways to feel less creeped out every time you wake up to go to the bathroom at night and have to walk down that long, dark hallway.

The holiday season is fast approaching, and that means it’s time to start thinking about wintertime travel. Whether you’re heading home to see your family or starting off the new year with a relaxing vacation, your holiday travel plans will be so much sweeter if you can save on the flight to get there. These apps and websites can help you get the best deal on airfare, so you can still travel comfortably on a budget.

Texting may seem impersonal at times, but for many of us it’s the easiest way to stay in touch with the people we care about most of the time. And if you’re part of a tight-knit group of friends, being a part of a group text from time to time is pretty much inevitable. Those group texts don’t have to be for specific events (like planning a party for someone) — actually, being in a long-term, no-reason group chat with your friends can have some awesome benefits.

We’re not all #blessed enough to have a home office or a designated space that’s only for working, but if you have the kind of job that lets you work from your apartment, you still need some sort of workspace. Maybe you have a space you can easily transform into a desk on work days, maybe you’re one purchase or DIY project away from having the perfect telecommuting solution, or maybe you need a little help from your neighborhood coffee shop.

Okay, so we haven’t quite made it to the Jetsons era where Rosie the robot does all the household cleaning, then has dinner ready when we get home. But in 2016, you can invite a robot into your home to help with at least one chore: vacuuming.

Snapchat announced on Friday that they are a) renaming themselves Snap, Inc. and b) releasing their first hardware product, a pair of video sunglasses. I was all set to scoff, but Spectacles could be more than just reimagined Google Glass for the Millennial set. Here’s why you might actually want them: Set to be released this fall, Spectacles are a pair of sunglasses with two front-facing 115-degree cameras that record circular video that’s more similar to the human field of vision.

On a basic level, food allergies are just a restriction on your diet — but that small change can have a much bigger impact on the rest of your life. Normal, everyday things like going grocery shopping become more complicated, fun outings with friends can lead to frustration and traveling can feel almost impossible.

Fall is all about pretty leaves, crisp air and hot cider, but it’s also the season for shopping—between refreshing your winter wardrobe, cozying up your home, preparing for the holidays and buying gifts, it can feel like your shopping list is never-ending.

Moving to a new city can be daunting, especially when you don’t know anyone. It’s stressful enough to pack up your entire life and settle into a new apartment, and knowing that once you’re done unpacking you’ll have to put yourself out there to meet new people doesn’t exactly help. Bar hopping, art classes and the like are all ways to make new friends, but what if you don’t feel comfortable approaching strangers?

Passive aggressive refrigerator notes. Arguments about how to split the utility bill. Dust bunnies that Just. Keep. Growing. These are just a few everyday scenarios that illustrate the ways in which living with roommates can be challenging (to say the least), whether those sharing the space are best friends or total strangers. Thankfully, tech can help.

You put in a lot of effort to keep your home beautiful and organized, but what about your phone? If you've got pages of apps you can't keep up with, here's how to declutter.

Wearables like the Apple Watch, Fitbit, and UP by Jawbone can change your life in high-tech ways, from encouraging lots of steps and tracking your sleep to sending calendar alerts directly to your wrist. Thanks to their tech-y designs, however, they don’t generally come dressed properly for your chic arm party.

Apple is set to debut the iPhone 7 today. But before you get caught up in the possibility of that shiny new phone, you still have one thing to do: deal with the one in your hand. We just heard this smart tip recently, and it’s on our immediate to do list before upgrading to the new version… Did you know you can sell your phone now and lock in that price before actually having to hand over (or mail in) your device?

You may be trying to save up for a big purchase, or maybe you’re just trying to pay off your debt—either way, saving money isn’t always easy. Temptations like takeout and shopping can get in your way, and we feel your pain. It’s too bad these apps don’t actually exist to help us kick our spending habits, but we can dream, right? Problem: Seamless and GrubHub are easily some of the most delectable technological developments of our time.

In the post-Marie Kondo era, clutter has become the enemy. Excessive documents, old T-shirts, and unread books are some of the offending items we see everyday that definitely don’t spark joy. While I’m the first to agree that Kondo’s folding techniques and organizational tricks are genius, there are other ways (besides purging all your worldly belongings) to get your home—and your life—feeling orderly once again.

Doing laundry may be a basic household chore, but if you live in a small apartment in a major city, having an in-unit washer and dryer is a huge luxury. You might be lucky enough to have a laundry room in your building or complex, but it’s more likely that you’re on your own with your dirty clothes. Fortunately, you don’t have to lug your things to the nearest laundromat if you don’t want to.

Oh, the weird and wonderful business of buying and selling secondhand goods online. A market once cornered by Ebay and Craigslist, virtual resale sites and apps are a booming business, some as virtual garage sales and others as niche marketplaces. Here’s the lowdown on five popular sites and apps and please jump in with your favorites (and not-so-favorites) in the comments! The lowdown: The cPro+ Craigslist Mobile Client is a well-reviewed app that lets you take Craigslist on the road.

Does anyone else feel like printer design is stuck in the 90s (and not in a cool crop-top-with-mom-jeans way)? While we’re still holding out for a designer edition hoverboard/printer all-in-one to use at our standing desk, here are a few tips and tricks to keep your overbearing hunk of plastic from being the focal point of your workspace.

Tech tools make your life more convenient and more interesting, but who says humans should have all the fun? After all, what does your dog get for entertainment, just a few bones to chew on and a stuffed animal or two? It’s time to upgrade your tech tools and toys for your pup. As a bonus, a few of these will help ease your guilt when your workplace or the world in general isn’t as dog-friendly as you’d like.

If you’ve already invested in a Nest Learning Thermostat ($249) or have read about the smart device, you likely know about some of the perks—but not all of them. Nest allows you to turn up the AC from your iPhone when you’re about to head home on summer’s hottest day, open utility bills that have dropped significantly thanks to the smart Auto-Away mode, and just generally live in a world where the temperature is perfectly regulated at all times.

There should be a medical or scientific term for that visceral aversion to seeing cords and ugly electronic boxes (something on par with trypophobia for example). Getting rid of them is an endless quest as fraught with difficulty as getting tickets to see Hamilton with Lin-Manual Miranda in the lead role. Figure out how to cover up those unattractive bits— and improve the look of your home in the meantime —and you’ve truly mastered the art of organization and storage.

It’s never been easier to connect with people than it is right now. Social networks reach across the globe in seconds, and there’s a video phone in every person’s pocket, as if we’re all living in an episode of Star Trek. But for all the things that modern technology has done to make it easier to make and stay friends, there are just as many pitfalls to friendship in the digital era. How many friends do you have? A few hundred? A few thousand?

Raise your hand if you’ve ever opened up Instagram just because you were bored. Or if you’ve closed and re-opened Facebook within the same 30 seconds “just to see if anything had changed.” Social media is great for staying in touch with far-away friends, but it can really cramp your style when it comes to your IRL social life right here, right now.

The best thing you bring on vacation this summer might not be the sunblock. In today’s uber-connected era, getting online is pretty much a necessity. But in certain places (and certain situations) it’s either difficult or downright impossible to get connected easily and cheaply. But there’s another solution… It’s a compact, battery-powered gadget that creates a wifi network around you almost anywhere, without needing an outlet or wiring into a wall like at home.

Having a hard time getting up in the morning? A better pillow or an earlier bedtime might help. But the cure might be as easy as downloading a free app to your phone. Each of these apps tries some, well… out of the box strategies for getting your butt out of bed every day. Yep, that Rock.

Smart Home technology has exploded in recent years, and it’s been a challenge to keep up with what’s available, what’s compatible, and what’s getting positive reviews. It has also been a really exciting time for those of us with small homes (and budgets), since DIY smart home technology is affordable, easy to install, and often ideal for small spaces (even if you don’t own yours).

While technology has made our lives easier (and lazier) in countless ways, it hasn’t really done us many favors on the organization front. As our collection of tech gadgets grows, so does that tangle of cords under our desks and tv stands. There are a couple schools of thought when it comes to wrangling the wires: Stash them out of sight, or get more attractive wires, chargers, and docks and let them double as decor.

When photos happened on film, you had to be very deliberate about when and where you snapped pictures. But now with a camera app at your fingertips, you’re able to digitally fill entire photo albums with some really boring things. And you should, actually. We’ve put together a list of everyday things you should be documenting with photographs in order to stay organized and sane, and to maintain a perfect record of parking spots and great haircuts alike.

It points. It shoots. It has a ridiculous number of megapixels. And it makes phone calls. It’s your smartphone, and with so much camera power, you might think dedicated point-and-shoots have been outmoded. But some of the new digital cameras out there can do things your smartphone can’t—plus they look great, and your snaps will never be interrupted by a call from your mom. Here are three cameras worth tossing in your tote, right next to your smartphone.

I don’t know what it is about this time of year, but you’ll often find me with a garbage bag in one hand and a spray bottle in another. I’m tossing things left and right and deep cleaning what’s left. I guess you could call it “spring cleaning,” but with the weather being always-sunny here in Los Angeles, I feel it’s less about the season and more about how things tend to pile up during the school year: the toys, the papers, the… stuff.

At the start of this year, I took a month off social media. I was changed. And, of all things, my home changed, too. Here's how...

While some may consider fitness trackers trendy, they don’t appear to be going away anytime soon. And with good reason! They not only help you monitor your activity, but they can also help you track the quantity and quality of your sleep, record your heart rate, and provide reminders to get up and move. We’ve rounded up some of the most popular and useful options to help get you started on your fitness tracking journey.

Whether you’re new to iPhone or you’re on your third or fourth model, I’m willing to wager that there are still plenty of tricks you’ve yet to learn. It turns out those brains over at Apple have thought up and built a few simple tools and shortcuts to make the things you do every day on your phone a little easier.

Finding them isn’t tough these days; they come in all shapes and sizes, and they’re pretty ubiquitous—just last weekend, I saw some for sale at the gas station where I was buying gum. The fact that they’re easy to come by, however, doesn’t mean they’re all of the same quality or style. In fact, many of the ones I’ve seen are a bit garish, and I’m quite certain that gas station model isn’t top in the sound department.

February is shaping up to be a month of love and heartbreak on Netflix. Check out what’s heading to the streaming service, and what you need to watch this weekend before it disappears on Monday. The TARDIS flies off to other worlds on Monday, so say your goodbyes to the Doctor. The Oscar-winning biopic sings its last song. Though hopefully, he’ll be back.

It seems like television is a four-letter word sometimes in the design community. There’s tons of advice about how to hide your TV away into custom cabinets or convoluted rigs. But you know what? It’s a TV, not your dad’s stack of vintage Playboy magazines; it’s OK to leave it out where everyone can see.

In the 1950s, families around the nation would simultaneously crowd around their TVs to watch Ed Sullivan or whatever prime time show was on. Seems hard to imagine now, since the options are endless for what we choose to watch, when we watch, and where we watch. All of this choice has made it difficult to do something as simple as watch TV, but it also means savings for the consumer. Grab your remotes, because it’s time for a primer on how to watch TV now.

Holiday entertaining is in full swing, and I’ve learned the hard way that I can’t do everything by myself. Gone are the days when I slaved over the styling, the shopping, the cooking and cleaning on my own: Lessons were learned during the Great Blender Explosion of 2011 and the Cannoli Stuffing Incident of 2008.

Technology is great, isn’t it? We carry smartphones now that are the size of a checkbook, and totally replace the need to carry a camera, notepad or music player (among a thousand other things). Of course, that means that when your phone has an accident, you’re losing a lot of utility. Because our phones are our lifelines nowadays, you should know instantly what to do when yours bites the dust. It should go without saying, but get it out of the water immediately.

Do you wish your home was more of a peaceful sanctuary? A getaway from the hectic world? A place you can relax in, yes, but more importantly, recharge in? There’s something you can do that could add to a sanctuary feel, and it involves minimizing the appearance or existence of tech in your home. Is the technology in your home getting out of control? Taking over your rooms? Distracting you from living? Sucking you into hours-long Netflix binge sessions?

Reliable internet is a necessity these days. I actually came really close to signing a lease for a perfect little apartment close to work a few years ago, but ducked out at the last possible second after discovering that I’d be locked into a crappy internet provider (a wise decision later confirmed by online reviews of said ISP). The point is, nothing should stand between you and a strong and fast internet, and your router placement has more than a little to do with it.

Q: My husband and I have a collection of music that spans the years and thus resides in multiple formats—vinyl, cd, and digital (mostly iTunes but stored on several devices)—and we also listen to streaming music as well as radio. It’s such a mess that we’ve stopped using most of it and the house has become too quiet.

Trust me, I am not a television apologist. I’m not embarrassed by my tv one bit and, if you watch yours frequently, I see no reason to hide it (it’s your 365 Day a Year home, remember!). That said, it’s not necessarily something you want to attract attention to – not because you’re ashamed of it, but because a big black box (not to mention cords) takes attention away from all the other nice things you’ve done with the room.

I hoard my cell number like a psychotic squirrel with a single nut in winter. When one icky person or telemarketer breaks through, it feels like they are penetrating my innermost sanctum and I’ll do anything to keep them out. With the declining use of land lines these days, it’s harder and harder to put a buffer between you and unwanted calls. Here’s what I’ve learned for iPhones running iOS8.

When Kelly hauled this antique armoire home, her husband Dave’s initial reaction was less than enthusiastic. But since he wanted a big TV and she wanted a way to enclose it without breaking the bank, Kelly jumped when she spotted this piece on an antiquing trip with her mother, with a price tag of under $200… Of the first time Dave saw the armoire, Kelly says: “It was in the dusty garage, which was full of all kinds of crap from the remodeling project. He absolutely hated it.

This is a golden age, my friends. In the history of the world, it’s never been easier to be so gosh darn lazy. Technology startups are allowing us to automate everything, from how you save money to when you want to have fresh flowers delivered to your door. What a time to be alive! With a little forward thinking and help from a few tools, anyone – no matter how busy or lazy or just plain efficient – keep a clean, beautiful, well-stocked home.

Q: My bedroom in my rented apartment only has one set of electrical outlets, which is very inconveniently placed given the layout of my room and amount of gadgets I need to plug in… I currently have one extension cord plugged into a power strip where everything I need is connected. This horrible set of cords is hidden behind my mirror, and is always a tangled mess!

Robots can already vacuum your floors, park your car and assemble your electronics, but according to Fast Company, the next big push in tech seems to be making these human helpers more accessible to the everyday person and, with some luck, keeping us living, breathing humans in charge. The next five years is all set up for a huge leap forward in the world of robots according to several robotics developers from leading tech companies.

Staring at a dirty computer screen while you're trying to work can be very distracting.

It’s been nearly a year since I had the pleasure of visiting the mothership’s mothership: IKEA’s headquarters in Sweden. One of the most interesting things that I saw there during our preview of upcoming products is about to hit the US stores and it has all the makings of a major game changer… Affordable (nearly) anywhere wireless charging for your devices, that you can install throughout your home.

I love books. From a very young age I’ve been surrounded by them, and the feel and even the smell of books is something I find incredibly comforting. I love them so much that I wrote a manifesto about how, even if the printed word becomes technically obsolete, I’m never letting go of my books. And then, about a year ago, on the eve of a six-week trip to Europe, I made an uncharacteristic decision: I decided to get an e-reader.

When I was a little kid, the only gadget was an Inspector and screen time wasn’t really an issue because Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was only on once a week. Now that we’ve got a slew of devices, we’re figuring out our relationship to them as a family.

I don’t consider myself addicted to my phone, but recently I’ve noticed some bad habits — like going for it as soon as I wake up to check social media, checking my email while I’m in car at a stoplight (I know, I know!), or checking my phone for one particular reason and then going down a rabbit trail that keeps me on my phone for way too long. For the purpose of resetting bad habits, I decided to take a day offline and unplug.

Audiophiles love their records like bibliophiles love their books, and as anyone who has tried to fit a collection of either into a small space can attest it can take some creative finesse to make it work. In a quest to make space for my own record collection I did a bit of research and came up with these inspiring images of beautifully organized and displayed vinyl collections from our own tours and around the web. 1. A low console is a stylish option and just the right size for a single row.

Everyone’s digital life and needs are different. Consider this a very basic guide on how to do a little digital cleaning and organizing of your computer in a couple of hours so you can have a system that runs a little smoother and so you can find files you need a little easier. Before you start doing any deleting, fiddling, cleaning or sorting — backup everything important to you, whether in the cloud, by syncing with another computer or by using an external hard drive.

Gift the gift of access, no wrapping required! Here are our favorite eight subscriptions you can send with no fuss and no muss: 1. The New Yorker Digital Plan, $12/12 weeks For some reason, I tend to flip idly through physical copies of The New Yorker, but I devour the articles online. So much quality writing. 2. Consumer Reports Online Subscription, $30/year access to this enormous database of intelligent, thorough reviews is so, so worth it.

It’s rare to be surprised anymore by new innovations coming out of the tech industry. After all, it’s not been that long since our phones were wired. But if you want to surprise the serious tech heads in your family this holiday season, you need to check out these seriously innovative items: Here are five items that will seriously make you say: really, that exists? 1.

Product: Recoil Winder’s Cord Management Price: $9.99 and up Rating: Strong Recommend* One problem hasn’t gone away in this time of rapid tech innovation: the array of cords required to live a modern, digital life has only grown. I have an entire drawer in my home dedicated to cords and they’re a mess. And yet, the products out there to address the issue largely leave something to be desired. They’re highly manual, often fray the cords and aren’t always compact.

When people talk about organizing their lives or cleaning up their homes, they don’t often mean their digital lives or their tech spaces. So much of our effort when simplifying our lives gets dedicated to the kitchen, living room, closets and bedroom, but if you think about it, we spend much of our time online and that’s a space that often gets ignored. Here are some things you have probably never done to your digital life that you should totally consider: 1.

Yes, it’s true: in the year 2014, I was able to get blisteringly slow internet installed in my home, and the whole process only took 7 1/2 weeks. It truly is the New Future. When we last checked in on my heroic, ode-worthy journey to connectivity, Frontier had failed to show up for the third appointment, a mere 5 weeks after I’d made the first appointment (the tech was given the wrong address, despite the fact that I’d triple-confirmed my appointment).

Product: Blumoo Price: $129.99 Rating: Recommend* The high tech universal remotes you bought your parents for the last few holiday seasons are out. Turning your phone into a universal remote is the future. And why not? It’s always with you. It connects with Bluetooth to many devices already. Add the TV and gaming systems and suddenly lots of remote problems are solved. That’s where Blumoo comes in. The Blumoo is easy to set up. Start by downloading the app for ios or Android.

I’ve never had cable, so my recent attempts at cable acquisition were a bit of a shock: who knew it was so expensive, and so impossible to get direct information? Who knew it involved being swindled at every turn?!? A little backstory: we have neither the time nor the inclination to watch much television, so my $7.99/month Netflix streaming subscription is more than enough for us.

My mom and her parents grew up in the country, so according to her, progress tended to arrive a few decades after it did for her urban contemporaries. I’ve always found her low-tech stories charming, until I attempted to purchase prairie wifi… Somebody please start a company called Prairie Wifi today— I will send you all my money. You can have various branches throughout the world: Forest Wifi, Plains Internet, Tundra Tech, Desert Digital Solutions.

While posture, the quality of your chair and the ergonomics of the mouse and keyboard can be big factors in how long you can sit at your desk, for me, it always comes down to eye strain. Without question, if I stare at my screen for more than four hours straight, I’m guaranteed to have a headache. So how can one battle eye strain? That’s the very question I put to my optometrist the last time I went to visit.