About The Toms Guide
The Toms Guide is an independent technology news and review publication covering the apps, devices, and software that shape how we work and live.
We started in 2008 because most technology reporting falls into one of two failure modes: thinly sourced opinion driven by affiliate revenue, or jargon-heavy specification dumps written for industry insiders. We try to do something different — serious, evidence-based journalism, edited like a magazine, written for adults who want to understand the products they buy without being talked down to.
What we cover
- Apps & Software — calorie trackers, photo editors, productivity tools, and the consumer apps shaping daily routines.
- Phones — smartphone reviews and comparisons against fixed rubrics.
- Laptops — tested recommendations for every use case, from student through power user.
- AI — AI products, models, and the tools shipping them. Tested, not promoted.
- How To — step-by-step guides on getting the most out of your tech.
- News — industry, policy, and product news from the technology world.
- Best Of — our shortlists, ranked picks, and editorial buying guides.
Masthead
Sarah covers the consumer apps and software that mediate daily life — productivity tools, calorie trackers, photo editors, and the AI-assisted apps shipping every quarter. She came to product journalism from consumer-software engineering, where she spent six years building backend systems for mobile health apps. She is skeptical of vendor benchmarks and patient with rubric-driven testing protocols, and her reviews are built on multi-week use of the product on personal accounts at retail prices.
Tom founded The Toms Guide in 2008 after a decade covering consumer technology for major U.S. tech publications. His editorial obsession is the gap between marketing copy and what the product actually does on a kitchen counter or in a backpack on a Tuesday morning. He has personally tested more than 1,400 devices and apps across his career, and runs the editorial standards document for the site.
Independence and funding
The Toms Guide is independently funded. We do not accept paid placements, sponsored articles, or vendor-supplied review units that come with conditions. Where useful, we may use referral links to App Store / Play Store listings; this never influences editorial coverage. See our editorial standards for the full policy.
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