Javascript is required to enable full functionality of this website.
Protecting our Members for over 100 years
How MAS’s screening programme enabled life-saving early action
Grow your wealth and achieve your goals
From building your wealth to managing it in retirement
Advice when you need it
Helping young people to start investing early
Member owned, NZ owned, insurance and investments
Self-service support and inspiration
Turning Everyday Spending into KiwiSaver Growth
By MAS Team
Last updated 29 July 2026
Keeping up with technology feels like a full-time job these days. There are so many new apps and updates, and AI seems to infiltrate everything. It can be hard to tell what’s helpful and what’s hype, so here are 8 tech hacks that might make your life a bit easier.
Home security used to mean elaborate alarm systems that were prone to shrieking at the merest provocation. Now they’re much more sophisticated. Smart security cameras and doorbells can be purchased for as little as $60, you can install them yourself, and they allow you to monitor activity around your home in real time. See who’s at the door while you’re at work, check if the kids are back from school, or confirm you actually did lock up before leaving – all from an app on your phone. Some smart cameras and doorbells are audio enabled too, so you can speak to the person on your doorstep from wherever you are.
The invisible load of parenting isn’t so much the doing, as the remembering – keeping across the play dates, parent/teacher interviews, dress-up days and doctor’s appointments. Thankfully, a clever Kiwi mum invented an app called PAM (Personal Admin Manager) to make life easier. PAM is an AI-driven assistant that automatically organises family schedules. It processes info from emails, school newsletters, appointment reminders, group chats, screenshots and any other brain dumps you provide. It merges all the details into a single, easy-to-manage system that sits in both parents’ phones so everyone knows what’s what.
Realising your dog has slipped through the fence or waiting for your cat to return from a late-night prowling session is a stressful time for pet owners.
Investing in a pet tracking device – a small GPS tracker that attaches to your pet’s collar – could help ease that anxiety. These show your pet’s location on your phone’s map so you don’t need to roam the neighbourhood calling out their name. Even if they’re not lost, wouldn’t you like to know where your cat goes each day? Enjoy hours of entertainment tracking their routes.
How many hours have you spent staring into the fridge or pantry wondering what you can make from the random assortment of items residing there? Inspiration is seldom helped by small voices demanding, ‘What’s for dinner?’. Well now you can outsource this everyday problem to AI. Feed in the details of the ingredients at your disposal, and within seconds you’ll have meal suggestions that actually work with what you’ve got, no emergency supermarket dash required. Sadly it can’t do the actual cooking… yet.
Gone are the days of buying a couch only to discover it dominates your lounge, or painting an entire wall only to hate the colour by morning. Smart home decorating tech now lets you test-drive design decisions before committing to a purchase. With augmented reality (AR) app features from retailers like IKEA and Freedom Furniture, you can virtually place furniture in your actual space through your phone’s camera. Paint brands like Resene let you photograph your walls and digitally ‘paint’ them in thousands of colours, showing you exactly how Rice Cake compares to Truffle in your specific lighting.
No one wants to imagine themselves in a medical emergency, but this hack could literally be life-saving if disaster strikes. Both iPhones and Android devices let you add critical emergency details that are visible from the lock screen, no password required. This can include your blood type, allergies, medications, emergency contacts and any medical conditions first responders should know about. On iPhone, it’s called Medical ID (go to the Health app and tap your profile picture to find it; on Android, it’s called Medical Info and is found via Settings under Safety and emergency.
Finding time to exercise is hard enough, and figuring out the right workout to choose can be a bridge too far when motivation is low. Fitness apps eliminate that mental hurdle by serving up ready-made workouts tailored to your level. If you just want to get out and move, apps like Strava are great for tracking runs, walks and bike rides around your neighbourhood, so you have a tangible record of your efforts and data on what you’ve achieved. For home workouts, Nike Training Club offers free, expert-led sessions covering everything from HIIT to yoga, so someone can talk you through it and keep you on track.
While clever tech can make our lives easier, and even bring us peace of mind at times, it’s not always our friend. Sometimes turning off devices and the constant stream of notifications is the best thing to do for an overstimulated brain. In those moments, connecting back to the analogue world – a physical book, a face-to-face conversation, a walk without headphones – might be the smartest hack of all.
Maintaining good relationships has proven health benefits, not just for our mental wellbeing, but also in more unexpected ways.
New semester, new you? After weeks of fun in the sun, it’s time to hit the books and you may be feeling overwhelmed – don’t worry, here’s a refresher on hitting the ground flying to help you put your best foot forward.
You know how it goes – you decide to make a change in your life. Feeling strong and full of motivation, you tackle the change with enthusiasm and determination. So, what does it take to develop helpful habits and make them stick?