College move-in season is in the air. It’s the sound of parents asking if you really need all these things in your dorm or apartment, the smell of dollar store cleaning supplies your roommate picked up, and the taste of many, many microwavable meals.
As you go about your preparation for this year of college classes, such as finding your class rooms, buying expensive textbooks that you’re pretty sure you’ll only open once, and making sure you know where to grab a coffee no matter where you are on a campus, you shouldn’t be neglecting preparing the item you’ll have with you at all times; your phone.
While I’m sure we all have the basics, like Venmo or a meal-delivery service already downloaded, here are some apps you might not have known were out there for your benefit! This is a collection of some fantastic apps that will make your college day easier if you have a few of these on your phone.
Apps to Everyone Should Have
Adobe Scan
Adobe Scan is free to download and turns your mobile device into a powerful scanner that recognizes text automatically (OCR) and allows you to create, save, and organize your paper documents as a digital file.
Scan anything — receipts, notes, ID cards, recipes, photos, business cards, whiteboards — and turn them into PDF or JPEG files you can work with on your smartphone, tablet, or computer.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
First Aid: American Red Cross
Accidents happen. The official American Red Cross First Aid app puts expert advice for everyday emergencies in your hand. Get the app and be prepared for what life brings. With videos, interactive quizzes and simple step-by-step advice it’s never been easier to know first aid.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
bSafe - Never Walk Alone
"bSafe is a safety service that can easily be used by anyone. I see the potential for solving real issues for children and parents and anyone looking for solutions to increase their security. Everyone needs a service like this." - Jada Pinkett Smith
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Wifi Finder
Find Fast WiFi wherever you go with the SpeedSpot WiFi Finder with Offline Maps. The Offline functionality makes it possible to download places that you are traveling to, so you can find Fast WiFi anywhere. The WiFi Finder is getting its data directly from SpeedSpots crowdsourced database of hundreds of thousands of WiFi Hotspots around the world. It is the only database that shows you WiFi rated by Hotspot Speed.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Apps to Help You Study
MyStudyLife
My Study Life is a cross-platform planner for students, teachers and lecturers designed to make your study life easier to manage. My Study Life allows you to store your classes, homework and exams in the cloud making it available on any device, wherever you are.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Brainscape - Flashcards for Learning
Brainscape’s SMART FLASHCARDS foster hyper-efficient studying and strong habits to DOUBLE your learning speed, with the strongest implementation of spaced repetition and active recall of any flashcard app on the planet! (And probably in the universe, assuming some super intelligent alien species out there hasn’t beaten us to it.)
With a knowledge bank created by millions of global users and experts, you can FIND, MAKE, and SHARE flashcards anytime, anywhere, and on any device, while keeping all your content meticulously ORGANIZED and seamlessly IN SYNC across web, mobile, and all your devices.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store! (Includes in-app purchases)
Evernote
Capture ideas when inspiration strikes. Bring your notes, to-dos, and schedule together to tame life’s distractions and accomplish more—at work, at home, and everywhere in between.
Evernote syncs to all your devices, so you can stay productive on the go. Tackle your to-do list with Tasks, connect your Google Calendar to stay on top of your schedule, and see your most relevant information quickly with a customizable Home dashboard.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Coggle
Coggle gives you a clear way to share and understand complex information. It's a collaborative mind-mapping and flowcharting tool that simplifies complex things.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Forest - Your Focus Motivation
If you want to temporarily put down your phone and focus on what’s more important in real life, you can plant a seed in Forest. As time goes by, this seed will gradually grow into a tree. However, if you cannot resist the temptation of using your phone and leave the app, your tree will wither.
The sense of achievement and responsibility will encourage you to stay away from your phone, and will help you make better use of your time. Stop getting distracted by your phone, make you self-motivated and get more things done.
Stay focused. Be present!
$3.99 on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Apps to Help You Find a Job
Pathmatch
Discover careers and companies that match your interests, strengths, and goals. Download our free app to match with careers, build your skills, and get hired.
- Get matched to modern career paths
- Build the profile that will get you hired
- Never miss an application deadline
- Apply for jobs with one click
Free on both Google play and Apple App Store!
CareerBuilder
Whether you are looking for your next job, or your job was impacted by the current economy, we're here to help rebuild the American workforce. Use our app to search jobs, manage your profile and resume, connect with employers and get hired – so you can get back to building your skills and a life that works.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Apps to Help You Learn a New Language
Duolingo
Learn a new language with the world’s most-downloaded education app! Duolingo is the fun, free app for learning 40+ languages through quick, bite-sized lessons. Practice speaking, reading, listening, and writing to build your vocabulary and grammar skills.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Memrise
Learning a language isn’t hard. Short Lessons. Real-life phrases. Get everything you need to go from learning to speaking, fast, with Memrise.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Apps to Help You Ace Math Class
WolfpharmAlpha
Use the power of Wolfram's computational intelligence to answer your questions. Building on 30+ years of development led by Stephen Wolfram, Wolfram|Alpha is the world's definitive source for instant expert knowledge and computation.
Across thousands of domains—with more continually added—Wolfram|Alpha uses its vast collection of algorithms and data to compute answers and generate reports for you.
$2.99 on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Mathway
Mathway is the world’s smartest math calculator for algebra, graphing, calculus and more! Mathway gives you unlimited access to math solutions that can help you understand complex concepts. Simply point your camera and snap a photo or type your math homework question for step-by-step answers.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Apps to Help You Write Wonderous Papers
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford Dictionary of English (ODE) with more than 150 years of research behind it, is globally accepted as the highest authority in the study and reference of the English language.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
(If the OED isn’t your style, you should get either the Dictionary.com App or the Merriam-Webster Dictionary App)
Grammerly
Whether you're tapping out a quick email or writing up a long report, Grammarly’s real-time writing feedback will help you make sure your work is tip-top. The keyboard for iPhone and iPad works in all your apps, no copy and pasting required. The Safari extension has you covered when you type on websites. Plus, with a document editor and personal writing statistics, you can take your writing to the next level.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Researcher: Discover & Discuss
Researcher is where you discover and discuss the latest scientific and academic research.
The only tool you need to stay up to date. With keyword and author feeds, notifications, trending papers, bookmarks, institutional access and syncing with Mendeley or Zotero, staying on top of the latest scholarly literature has never been easier.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Apps to Help You Study Science
Periodic Table
In the Periodic Table application you will find a huge amount of data about chemical elements for free. You will learn a lot of new and useful for yourself, no matter you are a schoolboy, student, engineer, housewife or a person of any other provisions that does not have a refresher to Chemistry.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Rockd
Explore, learn about, and document your geologic surroundings! Whether you are a professional geoscientist or curious about the rocks around you and the stories they tell, Rockd allows you to explore and learn about the geologic record, contribute your own observations, and log your journey through the geologic record.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Apps to Help You Keep Up With Research
Pocket: Save. Read. Grow
THE PLACE TO ABSORB GREAT CONTENT.
Use Pocket to capture the content that comes at you all day long, and curate your own space filled with only the topics you care about. Save the latest stories, articles, news, sports and videos from any device, and any publisher or app. Then fuel your mind with a reading, watching, and listening experience designed for calm eyes, free hands, and fresh focus.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
TED
Get personalized recommendations that match your unique interests, or browse TED’s library of thousands of inspiring, informative, transformational videos for free.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
NPR
The best of NPR’s content in your pocket: read the latest breaking news, stream your local public radio stations, and hear your favorite NPR shows and podcasts. The NPR App is in your hands, wherever you go.
Tap into a world of stories with on-demand access to the best of NPR content—news, live radio streams, programs, and podcasts. Never miss a beat with hourly newscasts, breaking news alerts, and story feeds filtered by topic. With the NPR app, home feels close enough to touch. Stream your local station to hear the stories that matter in your community.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Apps to Help You With Your Health
Pocket Yoga
With Pocket Yoga you can keep up with your practice at your own pace in the comforts of your own home. Simply roll out your mat, place your device in front, and Pocket Yoga will guide you through your entire session.
Choose between 27 different sessions of varying duration and difficulty. Learn the poses with the pose dictionary containing detailed explanations of the correct posture, alignment, and benefits.
$2.99 on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Zombies, Run!
Zombies, Run! is an ultra-immersive running game and audio adventure, co-created with award-winning novelist Naomi Alderman. Every run becomes a mission where you’re the hero, with our immersive audio drama putting you at the centre of your very own zombie adventure story. While you run to the perfect mix of heart-pumping audio drama and pulse-pounding songs from your own playlist, you’ll collect supplies to grow your base back home.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Daylio
Daylio is a very versatile app, and you can turn it in whatever you need to track. Your fitness goal pal. Your mental health coach. Your food log. Your gratitude diary. Mood tracker. Exercise, meditate, eat, and be grateful. Take care of your mental, emotional, and physical health. Good self-care is a key to improved mood and reduced anxiety.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Apps to Help You With Finance
Mint: Budget and Expense Manager
Your spending and financial accounts all in one place. Mint gives you a more complete picture of your financial health by bringing everything together: account balances, monthly expenses, spending, your free credit score, net worth, and more. Connect your cash, credit cards, loans, investments, and more.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Splitwise
Splitwise is the easiest way to share expenses with friends and family and stop stressing about “who owes who”. Millions of people around the world use Splitwise to organize group bills for households, trips, and more. Our mission is to reduce the stress and awkwardness that money places on our most important relationships.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
Apps to Help You Have Some Fun
Scribd
Join the millions of readers who turn to Scribd's digital library for audiobooks, ebooks, magazine articles, podcasts, sheet music selections, and research documents.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
UNiDAYS
Download the UNiDAYS App for free and get instant access to big student discounts on hundreds of top brands, both in-store and online.
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
theScore
theScore brings you news, scores, stats, sports betting coverage, and videos from NFL Football, NBA Basketball, NCAA Basketball, MLB Baseball, NCAA Football, NHL Hockey, WNBA Basketball, English Premier League Soccer, La Liga Soccer, Champions League Soccer, PGA Golf - and every major league and competition!
Free on both Google Play and the Apple App Store!
