If you’re entering college this fall you well know that your precious
phone is also a game console, a book reader, a note taker, a camera, a
language translator and last but certainly not least, a computing device
that can run all kinds of apps that do incredible things.
According to
Neilsen‘s
2014 data, “85% of Millennials aged 18-24 own devices” and “men and
women in the U.S. own smartphones almost equally”. You can bet that
trend is continuing upward for anyone of college age and we expect
campuses to be flooded with smartphones and tablets like never before.
Laptops tend to be more widely used for actual school work but phones
and tablets are more frequently used overall and are used more and more
for school work, not just entertainment between classes.
So, what can and should be done with all this usage time? Funny you
should ask, in this post we cover a lot of ground; note taking, schedule
management, study aids and much more.
After all, it’s all about that app (with apologies to Meghan Trainor).
Just continue on down and read about the Top 21 Android Apps that we think every college student should not leave home without.
Google Drive – (Free) – Cloud Storage – access to your files anytime, anywhere
Students are likely to use multiple devices while working on a
project and group projects are a regular part of college life. Google
Drive makes your documents available to you on whatever device you
happen to be using and collaborating with fellow students on these
projects is a breeze.
Students with a Gmail account already have a Google Drive account and
can use the app to create, share and collectively edit presentations,
spreadsheets and documents.
Additionally, Drive has its own suite of tools, similar to Microsoft Office, that provide a wealth of functionality:
Docs,
Sheets,
Slides, Forms, Drawings, and
Maps.
Drive is a cloud-based service that provides students with 15GB of
free storage for documents, images, music or other files. These files
can then be shared and are accessible from any device; iOS, Android, and
desktops.
Of course there are quite a few alternate cloud storage options including
Dropbox,
Box,
Microsoft OneDrive, and
Amazon Cloud Drive.
Which one is best for you depends on many factors and there’s nothing
wrong with using more than one, especially since there are apps, such
as
File Expert with Clouds, that can easily tie them all together.
Google Classroom – (Free) – Improves communication between students and teachers
If your school uses Google Apps for Education then you should have Google Classroom on your Android device.
It lets you use Classroom on the go and keep you in touch with what’s happening with your classes and assignments.
Teachers can create, review, and grade assignments quickly, all in
one place. Students can see all of their assignments on an assignments
page, and all class materials are automatically filed into folders in
Google Drive.
The overall benefits to keeping it simple while also making sure everyone is on the same page are substantial.
Dictionary.com – (Free) – Dictionary & Thesaurus
The Dictionary.com app is a must-have for anyone and especially for
students. It’s not just for those studying literature or languages
either.
As a student you will be constantly exposed to new subjects and
information, much of which with it’s own particular vernacular. Don’t be
intimidated if you come across a word you’ve never even seen before,
just tap on your dictionary.com app and in seconds you’ll have it
nailed.
A nice addition is that it also includes a Thesaurus which will help
you avoid using the same words over and over again and painlessly expand
your vocabulary.
Evernote – (Free) – Multimedia note taking and sharing
Evernote
is much more than the ultimate note-taking app, Evernote is an entire
ecosystem of productivity aids and is perfect for students.
It’s fully cross-platform, with an app for every device and an extension for every browser.
PCWorld
has a terrific article to help any newbies get the most out of it. The
article is a bit dated at this point (2 years old) but does a great job
of orienting new users to it’s key functions.
Evernote makes it easier than ever to store your notes, photographs,
documents, and other details you may need for class. Students regularly
use it to organize the materials associated with specific courses or to
retain information that will help throughout the degree experience.
Features like keyword search simplify the process of finding the
notes that users need to study, write papers, or quickly revisit
critical information.
The Evernote apps synch your notes across all of your devices (
iPhone,
Windows Phone,
Android and desktops) and in doing so really amps up its value. You can
use the device’s camera to create a new note by snapping a picture,
say, of a classmate’s notes, or the office hours posted on your
professor’s door.
Any text visible in any images that you save becomes searchable, and
Evernote can also keep track of where each picture was taken. Nice.
Tons and tons of other apps let you save things to your Evernote account—a few of our favorites include
LectureNotes, the cross-platform image-annotation tool
Skitch, and the incredibly flexible
IFTTT.
AudioNote – ($4.99) – Audio recording synched with written notes
So where do you get your class notes when you just don’t feel like
writing or typing? Try AudioNote, a very capable cross-platform
recording app that connects your sketches and the notes you take with
what you’ve recorded.
The built-in voice recorder can capture your lecture or small-group
discussion, while you jot down notes that are automatically synced up to
the recording.
Later you can just tap a note to jump to that part of the recording.
That means you no longer have to worry about scribbling down everything
important that’s said, and you can be more present in the discussion
instead of focusing on taking detailed notes.
You can then easily share your notes and audio files together or separately with your study mates using email or cloud storage.
OfficeSuite – (Free) – View and edit MS Office and PDF files
If
you need to create and edit Microsoft Office files (that’s Word docs,
Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations) and PDF files on the
go, OfficeSuite is worth a hard look.
It lets you work on the go using your iPhone or iPad and connects to
all popular cloud storage services so wherever you park your files,
you’ll be able to access, edit, and share them with this app. No need to
download and upload as additional operations either, just open and save
just like you would for local files.
It also provides a gallery of templates for Word, Excel, and
Powerpoint. If you try the free version and decide it fits your needs,
you can upgrade to the “
Pro”
version for $14.99, currently on sale for $9.99. That’s a one-time full
license, not an ongoing subscription as is the case with many highly
functional productivity app.
Of course if you don’t need access to edit MS docs, just provide them to others, the suite of free apps from Google, including
Google Docs,
Google Sheets and
Google Slides, do a terrific job.
Wolfram Alpha – ($2.99) – A computational knowledge engine covering a broad array of topics
OK, we get that the first thing you do when you have a question is to
“google it”. But there are questions that Google just can’t handle very
well. That’s where Wolfram Alpha comes in.
Wolfram Alpha is a reference app that curates scientific, technical, mathematical, and other resources.
It covers an amazing number of domains and uses its vast collection
of algorithms and data to compute answers and generate reports for you.
Parts of Wolfram Alpha are even used in Apple’s Siri assistant.
Sounds like a pretty useful study buddy to us.
Mathway – (Free) – Instant answers to math problems
This app may not have the best designed UI but its broad range of mathematics ability more than makes up for that shortcoming.
Mathway can not only solve your maths questions but if you subscribe
to its service it will also show you how to arrive at the answer with a
step-by-step explanation.
The math topics it can handle range from basic math, Algebra and Trigonometry to Calculus, Finite Math and more.
Its breakdown of the solution is especially valuable and can be a great help when you’re trying to master a new topic.
RefMe – (Free) – Citations made easy
Writing research papers is tedious and the most tedious part is
making sure you have all of your citations correct. The bibliography
page has been know to make strong students weak and weak students cry.
RefMe does a great job of letting you focus on the content and avoid figuring out the nuances of MLA versus Chicago style.
The app allows students to scan the bar code on books and journals,
use book/article titles, ISBN numbers or copy and paste a URL to get
citations in various styles, including Harvard, American Psychological
Association and Chicago style, as well as most school-specific styles.
You can export via email or Evernote, and send work straight to MS Word using
the application’s Web platform.
My Study Life – (Free) – School, homework and exam schedule manager
This
powerful planner and scheduling app starts by storing your information
in the cloud allowing you to synch your schedule across all of your
devices. It then keeps you on track with all of your tasks, from
classes to homework to exams.
My Study Life works even when you’re offline and shows you if you
have any conflicts in your schedule. It will let you store your exams
and supports day and week rotation class schedules.
You’ll never again (unintentionally) miss an assignment deadline, exam or class with its notification feature.
Chegg Textbooks & Study Help – (Free) – Cheap textbooks, rentals and study help
A stack of college textbooks can cost more than major surgery. This
app will keep your wallet nice and fat: Snap a photo of your book’s
barcode or search by title, author or ISBN number, and you’ll save up to
90% on buying it.
Don’t want to buy it? Not a problem, you can rent textbooks or etextbooks as well.
hey’ve also got you covered if you need some study help.
If you don’t see what you need in their library of textbook solutions
you can submit your question to the online community of subject experts
or even set up an online tutor 24/7.
AnkiDroid Flashcards – (Free) – Rote memory drills
If you’ve
ever used good old-fashioned flashcards to memorize vocabulary words,
foreign language words, historical dates or any other rote memory items
you know how valuable that type of practice can be.
Today, apps like AnkiDroid put that concept on steroids by making good use of your phone or tablets immense capability.
AnkiDroid enables you to make digital flashcards to let you study on
the go. You can create your own cards or use any of the thousands of
free decks available on many topics and in many languages.
During any time that you have a break, simply take out your device and study the flashcards.
Pocket Physics – (Free) – Basics physics concepts and formulae on your phone
If you’re taking physics in high school or college then you know it is a challenging subject.
For most students it takes review and practice with problems to wrap
your brain around it and have any hope of a good, or even passing,
grade.
Any help is appreciated and this app should be part of your arsenal.
Aldiko Book Reader – (Free) – Access to thousands of ebooks
Textbooks
aren’t the only books you’ll be reading. With Aldiko you can get to
just about any other book that may be assigned to you, or that you just
want to read.
This reader has some pretty cool features, is fully customizable, and
supports EPUB, PDF formats, Adobe DRM encrypted eBooks, as well as
ebooks from
public libraries.
While a tablet is going to give you a better overall experience, this
app works quite well on phones so if you’re on the train or bus you can
catch up on your reading with just your phone.
Wikipedia – (Free) – Millions of online articles covering every conceivable topic
OK, so you have a paper due and you need to get started on it. Sure
the library is a great place to do some research but if you want to get
started right now this is the app for you.
You’re probably at least somewhat familiar with the Wikipedia website so this shouldn’t be totally new to you.
The big advantage of the app is that you can access all that amazing
content in a phone or tablet friendly format. Makes a big difference in
readability on your mobile device.
The good folks at Wikipedia are not content to rest on their laurels,
however. As easy as it is to use this app, it has recently undergone a
major overhaul to add some great new features and update and improve its
UI. Check out the
beta release of this major new design.
Either way with this app you’ll be sure to crush that assignment.
Essential Anatomy 3 – ($9.99) – Human anatomy in beautiful 3D images
If
you’re a pre-med student you need all the help you can get with
understanding all the intricacies of the human body and visualizing how
everything connects and works.
A herculean task to be sure but one made significantly easier with
today’s powerful hi-res phones and tablets. The question is which of the
dozens of anatomy apps is the best one?
Essential Anatomy 3 has won numerous awards and for a mere ten bucks you have an incredible learning tool at your disposal.
Using highly detailed anatomical models coupled with a powerful 3D
graphics engine, this app delivers much more than just a nice 3D drawing
of muscles and nerves. You’ll be amazed at the interactivity it offers
and the impact it will have on your learning curve.
If the $10 for this app is pushing your budget, we suggest you give the free app,
Anatomy Learning – 3D Atlas, a try.
My Money Tracker – (Free) – Track you money to avoid paying late charges and overdraft fees
It’s the last week of the month and your crew is going out for hot wings and brewskis. Can you afford to go?
Keeping a close eye on your finances will make sure you can pay your
rent, put gas in your car, and have something left over for fun.
My Money Tracker will make it as easy as possible to keep you in the
black and know exactly when you need to hunker down to avoid overdraft
fees or be in a position to splurge on those new bluetooth earbuds
you’ve been jonesing for.
It has tons of great features including easy to understand graphical
displays of key financial data and flexible budget planning.
Map My Fitness Workout Trainer – (Free) – Track all of your activity and calories to hit your fitness goals
It’s
a good bet that you have a life outside of the classroom and it’s also a
good bet that your “other” life includes some type of physical
activity.
What’s great about this app is how flexible it is. Fitness is not
just about running or any other single activity. It’s about being active
and if you’re going to keep it interesting that means a variety of
activities such as biking, running, walking and going to the gym.
May My Fitness Workout Trainer helps you keep track of all the
various ways you exert yourself (well, almost all of them) and also lets
you track your calorie intake. If you’re trying to lose that “freshman
fifteen”, or not gain it in the first place, it’s critical to keep track
of input and output.
Consuming 2,500 calories a day is fine as long as you’re burning them up, and they’re reasonably healthy calories to begin with.
Scoutmob local deals & events – (Free) – Find out where to go and what to do around campus
Pizze again? Why not? It’s cheap, quick, and oh so delicious! Yum!
But ok, after pizza three nights in a row, maybe, just maybe, you’re
ready for something else.
Scoutmob (somewhat like a Groupon on the go) clues you in to the
newest and, more importantly, the most budget-friendly deals at lots of
off-campus restaurants.
Whether you’re in a new city or living at home and commuting to
college, we guarantee there’s tons of stuff you don’t know about what’s
around you. Go explore the neighborhood, you never know what, or who,
you’ll discover.
Your GPS-enabled phone gives Scoutmob your all important location and
will alert you if there’s a Scoutmob deal on the menu—or if there are
better dining discounts in the vicinity.
This is about much more than where to eat cheap, with Scoutmob you’ll
also know if there’s anything going on this weekend near you that might
be of interest.
Barcastr – Local Bar Finder – (Free) – Check out the local bar scene and hook up with friends
The
great thing about Barcastr is that it integrates with Facebook so you
can quickly and easily see what your fellow Barcastr friends are up to
and make plans to meet up.
But not only that, it also gives you the skinny on what’s happening
at a bar you might want to check out. It will show you live male to
female ratio and age range at the bar. And to think you used to have to
actually go to a bar and give it the once over to know that. Welcome to
the 21st Century!
With the instant feedback feature you can see what your friends are
saying about it and whether or not you want to check out someplace else.
This app will do just about everything possible to make sure your night out is not wasted, even if you are.
TripAdvisor – (Free) – Find the lowest cost airfare and hotels
At some point you’ll either head home or plan a trip to get away over the break. Why spend more than you have to?
TripAdvisor will give you all the info you need to get the cheapest
hotels and airfares, not to mention great restaurants and things to do
when you get to wherever you’re going.
With over 225 million reviews and opinions posted, you’ll not only
find the cheapest way to get there but you’ll also be up to speed on
what other liked and didn’t like.
Of course if it’s a road trip is what you have in mind, we’d like to point you to
GasBuddy to make sure you’re saving money at the pump.
