Whether you’re looking for an app to help with studying, finding the cheapest textbooks or getting around the college campus more efficiently, there are many options available to you!
If you’re a college student, there’s a good chance that you’re always on the go. Between classes, studying, and socializing, it can be hard to find time for everything. That’s where mobile apps can come in handy. There are tons of great apps out there that can make your life a lot easier. Here are some of our favorites for iOS users.
For note-taking and studying
Evernote
Evernote is one of the most popular note-taking apps. Evernote offers the ability to take notes, save audio files, create checklists and more. It is very similar to Google Keep, but it allows students to have a digital version of their notebooks. All you have to do is type in the name of each class, and you’ll be able to see all of your notes in a list form. The app also allows students to dictate a voice note if they’re too lazy to type out their ideas for the day, which is perfect when you don’t feel like taking out your laptop during class. Even though this app is quite popular, many people don’t know that it’s free for users who have a basic account.
Quizlet
If you’re struggling in your classes, one of the best things you can do is review what you have learned. Quizlet can help you do just that in a fun and effective way. On this app, you can create flashcards to quiz yourself on anything, which is fun and useful, especially when you want to memorize new concepts or vocabulary.
My Study Life
My Study Life is a cross-platform student planner that helps you organize your studies. This app helps you manage your time effectively by creating a schedule that revolves around all of your classes. You can also keep track of tests, homework and anything else that is relevant to your course in the app. You may save your lessons, assignments and tests in the cloud and access them from any device, anywhere. My Study Life syncs your data across all of your devices, allowing you to access the app even when you’re not connected to the internet.
For keeping track of your expenses
Splitwise
This is an app that allows you to keep track of all the payments between friends, roommates or family members. All it takes is a few minutes for each person to input how much they owe everyone else and how often they are planning on paying their share of the bill, and the app will do the rest. This is just one of many apps that can help keep track of who owes you what, eliminating all of that annoying back and forth that goes into settling debts.
Zeny
This app helps you manage all your accounts in one place (e.g. banking, loans, credit cards). It’s a great way to see what you can afford and how much you’re spending, and you can even set up alerts when you’re about to go over your budget for the week.
Mint
Mint is a useful app that allows you to keep tabs on all of your expenses and create budgets for yourself without getting stressed out about money (and hopefully, staying under budget!). The app starts by asking you how much your monthly pocket money (in the case of college students) is, and then you can connect any of your bank accounts and credit cards to the app. Mint will then ask if it can take a look at your spending habits and categorize all the transactions on those accounts (e.g. groceries, gas, subscriptions). After that’s done, Mint will create budgets for each of those categories. You can also manually create budgets for specific things, like books or any other expenses you might have. Mint will then send you alerts when you are about to exceed your budget. Good news for those who are investing in cryptos—you can connect your crypto accounts with crypto exchanges, such as Binance, Coinbase, Gemini and Robinhood, to your Mint account to keep track of your portfolios.
To find cheap deals on textbooks
Chegg
Chegg has both a website version and an app version. The app allows students to rent books for the semester instead of buying them. Currently, it only ships its books within the United States. The site also provides study guides and online tutoring services. To rent a book, all you have to do is type in the name of your course book, and you’ll be able to see the list of textbooks that will be used for it. When you click on a book, you can choose from two options: rent or buy. If you decide to rent the book, all you have to do is enter your college email and address in order to receive the book in a matter of days! You can also choose to have Chegg send you e-mails when there is a price drop for certain books.
To connect with other students
Facebook Groups
If you’re worried about being lonely in your dorm, then this app is perfect for you! You can join all kinds of groups just by searching for the name of your college or major in the search bar. You may discover groups for almost everything—from a group that can connect you with other individuals in your department to a group created by students who are taking the same classes as you. There are also groups that allow you to create discussion threads about certain topics related to your college (e.g. the cheapest food on campus).
GroupMe
GroupMe is an app very similar to Facebook Groups, but it allows users to have group chats instead of being stuck in one large thread for the whole world to see. You can create group chats by searching for the name of a class you’re in or a group you want to join and inviting friends who are also in it. Everything that’s said on GroupMe is private, so you don’t have to worry about people finding out what your group is talking about.
For entertainment on the go
Spotify
Spotify is a music app that allows students to pick songs that they are in the mood for (happy, sad, studying, etc.). The best part about the app is that all you have to do is create a playlist, and it’ll shuffle songs from your list for the day! The app also has a radio option, which allows students to pick a genre of music they feel like listening to that day.
Netflix
Netflix is an app that allows students to watch their favorite movies and TV shows in HD quality wherever they are! To watch a show, you have to subscribe to one of its plans (i.e. basic, standard and premium). There’s also a category specifically made for shows and films relating to college, so you can watch something that’s related to your major if you need help studying.
For scanning books or documents
Adobe Scan
This is a free-to-download app that is designed to perform just one function—scanning documents, receipts and pretty much any other text-based document in high quality quickly and easily. However, the free version only allows a maximum of 25 pages in one document. If you have an Adobe account, you can save all your scanned documents onto Adobe Document Cloud so that you can access them on different devices.
CamScanner
This app is very similar to Adobe Scan when it comes down to functionality. It has a free plan that offers basic features, like document editing, PDF conversion, easy document sharing, etc. You can subscribe to their premium or business plan to get more cloud space, translation into more than 60 languages and even team member management functions. It’s also very simple to use and has an intuitive interface, which makes it a great option for anyone who doesn’t want the hassle of dealing with complicated software.
Being more organized, having a better study schedule and keeping up with assignments will help you achieve the best college experiences. Try out these apps to make your college life more enjoyable!
Good luck!
Header Image Courtesy of Pixabay
