20 must have apps to ease your struggle with studying

How many parents can really keep their children away from mobile devices? Most college students these days can’t even think of walking out of their homes without their smart devices. We came up with a list of apps that make all that screen time worth it. These smart devices could be put to great use for their every tasks including studies, be it school, college or advanced research. We’ve jotted down 20 such must-have apps.

1. Soundnote – Rs 300 ( iOS)

Monday mornings could be really boring, even for students. After a late night dinner or party with friends if you’ve almost fallen asleep half way through the lecture or your brain just can’t register a word at that moment, then SoundNote is the app you should get. It not only records audio but will also track whatever little bit you’ll type or sketch. You can simply tap what you wrote and SoundNote will then play the audio to fill in the blanks.   2. Mathway – Free ( Android,  iOS)

Next time you solve a math problem and want to know if the answer is right, Mathway is a cool and convenient app to look forward to. After all, number crunching can get really tricky. Students don’t have to worry about mobile data or Wi-Fi as it works without the need for network access. Besides bringing instant answers to math problems, it will also let students look at step-by-step solutions, but that would require them to pay a nominal sum. The app solves problems related to Basic Math, Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Trigonometry, Precalculus, Calculus, Statistics, Finite Math, Linear Algebra and Chemistry. 3. Self-control – Free ( iOS)

Life could be really distracting for students in college - movies, parties, chatting and the list is endless. This is when an app like Self-control could come really handy. You can set a start and end time for a specific task and once it completes the app lets you jot down thoughts like if you did it well, how you felt and so on. All this can be glanced at a view later to know how well you follow the schedule.  

4. SnapToPDF – Rs 120 ( iOS)

SnapToPDF is a great way to snap that diagram or chart and later use it in your assignment or research paper by quickly converting it into a PDF . The app is capable creating multi-page PDF files from your photo library, camera roll and so on. It can be easily exported via email attachment or to the DropBox.  

5. Duolingo – Free ( Android, iOS)

Student or not, anyone yearning to learn a new language, look no further than the Duolingo app. It’s a simple and completely free without any hidden charges. You can complete small learning sessions, take tests and also track your progress. The app supports languages such as Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Irish, Danish, Swedish, and English.  

6. Dragon Dictation – Free ( iOS)

Tired of writing or typing notes? Dragon Dictation is the app that will make it easier. It is like a personalised virtual assistant that will type out everything you speak. Users can even send and receive text messages, update Facebook, send tweets and emails using the app.

 7. Dictionary.com – Free ( Android, iOS)

This app needs no introduction. It will serve as a quick lookup for any new word. However, there’s lot more than that ditionary.com has to offer. You can also look for pronunciation and learn a new word every day with ‘Word of the day’. Students can participate in smart word quizzes, gets translations for over 30 languages, learning fascinating facts about language, learn how words are spelled and also their origin.

8. Any.do – Free ( Android, iOS)

There is no dearth of to-do or reminder apps, but this one truly stands at the top of the list. It is a simple reminder/alert app that learns from your behaviour. Over the years, it has evolved to a great extent. It comes with cool themes, will let students set recurring lists, simple drag and drop, swipe to complete tasks, shake to remove a task and so on. It is great daily planner and organiser.  

9. Alarmy (Sleep if you can) – Free ( Android, iOS)

An alarm snooze button can be really evil and the off button much worse. How about an alarm clock that forces you out of bed. The Alarmy app can get really annoying and you can’t simply snooze or turn it off. You will have to take a picture of the bathroom sink or any other registered place to simply turn it off and by the time you will wide awake. There are other such apps too, which ask users to solve math query, but sometimes these queries are so simple you can simply go back to sleep in seconds.

10. RealCalc Scientific Calculator – Free ( Android)

Every phone has a simple calculator for your everyday calculations. However, those who need more than that can look forward to the RealCalc Scientific calculator. The calculator includes traditional algebraic, unit conversions, percentages, result history. It will let you enable binary, octa and hexadecimal settings, trig functions, fractions, 12-digit display and more.

11. Google Drive – Free ( Android, iOS)

Google Drive is a great way to store all your files – photos, word docs, excel sheet and presentations, movies – in the Cloud and access them anytime, anywhere. You can store the documents as files or folders and easily search for them by name and content. It also lets students collaborate on data.  

12. Trello – Free ( Android, iOS)

Managing assignments and projects gets really simple with Trello. Assigning tasks, who will work on what and what’s coming up next, the Trello app instantly sync everything to cloud and the content is accessible to everyone. Making checklists, uploading content, adding comments, it makes collaborative work simpler.

13. Dunno – Free ( iOS)

You may come across several good articles or concepts on-the-move that can be used in your reasearch/project or assignment later. Dunno works as a useful read/research-it-later app. Thought of a good idea, read a good concept, simply mark it into Dunno and you can access it anytime you want.  

14. Toshl – Free ( Android, iOS)

Managing pocket money is as difficult as managing your monthly home finance. Toshl will let you exactly where your money is disappearing. It tracks all your expenses and serves as budget keeper. 15. Rescue time – Free ( Android)

Spend too much time on your mobile and wonder where your day went? Rescue time will now let students know how much time they spent on a particular app or on calls. The app automatically tracks your mobile apps, web surfing and your voice call time. Students can set alerting rules to get nudged when too much time is spent on a particular service/app and even cheer you up when the goals are met. However, for advanced benefits users will need to shell out some additional money on monthly or yearly basis. 

16. Evernote – Free ( Android, iOS)

Evernote is the most popular, simple yet effective note taking app. It syncs across all your devices, letting you write and organise web articles, docs and photos. You can discuss work/projects within the app, forming uncluttered workspace, to-do lists and so on. Students discuss and collaborate by sharing notebooks, creating agendas and discussing projects. It serves as a digital assistant for travel plans, tracing expenses and more. While this a freemium app, it comes with a premium version too. For additional sum, users will get offline access, unlimited uploads, better search, more privacy and so on.  

17. TED – Free ( Android, iOS)

TED Talks could be really inspiring and the new app lets you explore it all. From new thought leadership and medical mavericks to tech geniuses and business gurus, TED Talks lets you explore innovative concepts. The app lets you bookmark talks to watch later, download talks, get notifications and more.  

18. Wolfram Alpha – Rs 164, Rs 190 ( Android, iOS)

How about one site that is capable of answering almost all your queries. Yes, Wolfram Alpha, one of the most useful app, serves as a calculator, encyclopaedia, search engine and more. It has grown substantially and is mature enough to answer most of your queries, whether they are related to web, medicine, food, education or others.  

19. Khan Academy – Free ( iOS)

Khan Academy makes learning simple and easy. It offers materials and resources for free, whether you are a student, teacher or home maker. The app is loaded with several interactive videos and in-depth learning articles, be it civics, history, finance or more. It lets users prepare for entrance exams like SAT, GMAT, MCAT and so on. 20. Vocabulary builder – Free ( Android, iOS)

Whether you are preparing for CAT or planning to take up GMAT, a vocabulary builder is of utmost importance not only to crack the written paper but also while interacting for the group discussion or interview. Magoosh’s free vocabulary game lets you learn words especially picked by an expert tutor. It has audio pronunciations, definitions, and you can participate in quizzes too. The app also lets you track your progress.