10 cool apps for students

1. Yahoo News Digest
(iOS, Android, Apple Watch)

yahoo news digest

For students who are always on the go, the Yahoo News Digest app could be a lifesaver. This free, simple app delivers the top stories of the day to you in two digests, once in the morning and once at night, at times you specify.

The stories, with photos, colorful quotes and videos, are listed cleanly on the home page and you can click on those you want to read further about and easily swipe through them all. The ipad version of Yahoo News Digest comes with a weekly Katie Couric video show.

2. Duolingo (iOS, Android, Windows)

duolingo

The duolingo app is an addictive, fun way for students to learn a new language. Duolingo pairs new words with pictures much like the Rosetta Stone versions do, only the app is completely free with no ads to get in your way. Learn languages like Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and others through speaking exercises, listening exercises and interactive games that have you match words, select missing words within a sentence and translate sentences by tapping on the correct words. You can save your progress, add friends to compete with and share progress with a parent, friend or teacher. If you already know a lot of one language, you can move past beginner lessons and advance to tougher ones.

I have personally used this app and it is an extremely interesting way to learn! Too much fun!

3. Photo Math (iOS, Android, Windows)

photo math

The brilliant, free app will get you out of suffering over math problems for hours on end. PhotoMath lets you point your phone camera at a math problem, and the app will answer the question and show you the step-by-step explanation. The only downside to this app is that it does not answer handwritten problems- only those appearing in a textbook. It also doesn’t answer more advanced math problems, but fraction, linear decimal and logarithm equations are fair game.

4. Fast Scanner (iOS, Android, Windows)

fast scanner

The Fast Scanner app might not have an attractive interface, but it gets the job done. This app uses the camera on your phone or tablet to scan documents and export them into PDF’s that you can email or print. Fast scanner also allows you to crop and color change your images before you export them into PDF’s. Isn’t it cool? And, yes, it’s free!

5. Vocabulary Builder from Magoosh (iOS, Android)

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Abrogate. Schadenfreude. Eponym. Vocabulary builder from Magoosh is the best vocabulary app to test yourself for the SAT, TOEFL or GRE. After all, vocabulary does make up a good third of these tests.

You can quiz yourself at different difficulty levels on 1,200 of the most important vocabulary words, picked by expert tutors. Choose the best definition for each word, and if you don’t get some right, the app repeats those until you master them. This free app also lets you battle against a random user.

6. Self control (iOS, Android, Windows)

self control app

College students are so easily distracted from the studying process! We can’t live without social networks, we always need to check new photos of our friends on Facebook, or share our mood with the world during a lecture. To avoid such distractions, the SelfControl application has been created: it blocks certain websites that can distract you from studying, and it does it for a set amount of time. So, when a lecture is finish, you are welcome to come back to your fave websites again!

7. Chegg (iOS, Android, Windows)

chegg app

When a new semester comes, and you have to buy many new textbooks to continue your study, do not be in a hurry to sell your soul and spend all your money. Download Chegg, a free application which lets you find rentals of textbooks you need! Just search for a book, and if they have it, put in an order. And when you no longer need a textbook, you can easily rent it again via Chegg. Easy to use and useful to try.

8. Scribd ($8.99/month iOS, Android, Windows)

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Scribd has been called the “Netflix of books”. Whether you are a bibliophile or just need textbooks for your lit class, the $8.99 a month for Scribd’s supply of more than 1 million books, audiobooks and documents is well worth the price. Most recently, Scribd added 10,000 comics and graphic novels to its subscription service from publishers like Marvel, Archie and IDW. The app recommends books for you based on ones you liked in the past and lets you store books to read offline, syncing between your phone, tablet and computer.

9. EasyBib (iOS, Android)

app

One of the most time-consuming parts of writing a research paper actually comes at the end- bibliography. EasyBib helps you to format your list of references in over 7,000 citation styles, including the most common APA and MLA formats. Just type in the name of the book and EasyBib gives you several options to choose from and then makes a citation for you. You can even take a picture of a book’s barcode and generate a citation for it.

10. My Study Life (iOS, Android, Windows)

my study life app

The free My Study Life app replaces any paper planner by keeping track of your workload across multiple platforms and devices. Manage your classes with week and day time tables, keep track of tasks and exams in the cloud and receive notifications to keep you up to date for exams and classes. A clean interface and the ability to color code your classes make the calendar easy to read!!

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