You may have picked up that I’m a technology nerd 🤓 (see this post on phone apps) and I like to be organized. When my parents and I started to live together again after my accident I noticed they didn’t use technology as much as I do to help organize their schedules and lives (generational differences 😉). So being a former professional project manager who was used to managing tight deadlines and many schedules and personalities, I decided to look to an app to help organize us. I found one that is easy to manage and meant for multiple people to use and input information and it’s user friendly. So of course I have to write up a recommendation of this lovely app. It’s “Cozi: The Family Organizer” and their tag line is: “Family Life. Simplified.”
Cozi is a calendar with reminders, a recipe book that syncs to grocery lists and a great place to keep to do lists. A family can use it together on multiple devices (both Apple and Android compatible) and it’s very easy to use and maintain. It can also be used on mobile devices as well as computers. And it’s FREE to download and use. There is a “Gold” version that you must pay a yearly fee for ($29.99/year) that has a few more features but I don’t have that, I’m just using the FREE version so that’s the version I’m reviewing.
Since everyone in the family has the app and it syncs to the shared family calendar it’s easy for anyone to add events and assign them to family members. This works well for when my niece and nephew have sports or school activities that we want to attend. If one of us learns of an appointment or event we can add it to the collective calendar and notify the other people it was added. All through the app.
Another feature we use a lot on Cozi (especially my Mom and me) is the “Recipe” section and the “Family Recipe Book.” There’s also a meal planner you can drag and drop the recipes into and then I imagine it organizes it in a shopping list for you. I haven’t used the meal planning feature yet (I plan to utilize when we’re making lots of trips to our lake cabin). It’s easy to add recipes from websites (blogs, Pinterest, the Food Network site, etc.) by copying the URL of the recipe and pasting it in your “recipe box.” No need to type in a whole recipe (however I have had to do some formatting and manual copying and pasting, so double check your recipes once you input them to make sure the formatting holds). We’ve actually ended up trying a lot of new recipes and adding quite a few to regular rotation. I have basically created a cookbook on Cozi with the recipes I’ve added. They also have recipes in there already. And I discovered today packing and to do lists in their “List Library” that Cozi has had experts create. It’s basically a “Type A” person’s nirvana (i.e. me).
I have noticed some technical glitches such as formatting issues with recipes (as previously mentioned) and the fact that you can’t categorize and organize recipes within your recipe box without using the computer version is a little clunky. However, overall I give Cozi high marks.
My parents and I are probably not the typical Cozi household. It’s probably usually working parent(s) and school aged kids. Not two retirees who have found their empty nest not so empty after one of their “birds” returned to the nest after breaking one of her wings (maybe I took that analogy too far 🐦)! However, we’re enjoying it. And my parents are even adapting quite well to using it. (Getting my parents to use Cozi was easier than getting people from the agency I worked at to use an online project management software– NO KIDDING!)
As I have in other reviews (here and here) I will rate the app on the common criteria I’ve established.
1) What the product’s name is and what it does. 2) If it’s “recommended by the blog” and that means all three of us (Mom, Dad and me) like the product. 3) Cost (I will usually cover either what we paid (if I remember) or what you might be able to get online. 4) Where to purchase (links to websites or suggestions of where to find in person). 5) “Ease of Use for Parents” is my category that acknowledges that the parental units may not be as technology savvy as their kids! 😆😉
- What: Cozi: The Family Organizer.
- Recommended by the blog? YES
- Cost: FREE to download the app and FREE to use. However, there is a premium “Gold” version with extra features that’s $29.99/year.
- Where to Purchase: Download the Apple version on the App Store (link). Download the Android version on the Google Play Store (link).
- Ease of Use for Parents: EASY/MEDIUM (I am putting “medium because if I didn’t live with them I don’t know if they would have kept it up. Through no fault of the app, they are just not of the generation that uses tech constantly). #parentalfriendlyproduct My parents are really good sports and play along with my schemes and this one certainly is benefiting all of us.
So with that glowing recommendation, I highly recommend Cozi.
Writing By Laura 