5 Must-Download Apps for College Students
This year's crop of college freshmen was in elementary school when Apple Inc. released its first iPhone and, along with it, the App Store.
Now, more than 70 percent of college students own smartphones and most use them for schoolwork on a regular basis, according to a 2013 report by Pearson, an education services company.
Keeping up with which apps are the best bets for taking notes, managing schedules and studying for an upcoming exam can be a full-time job, though, with hundreds of new apps released every day.
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Below are five must-download apps for college students.
1. Campus apps: Colleges have started to jump on the mobile craze, and schools such as Ohio State University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have launched apps that allow students to check grades, manage their university accounts and track campus bus lines.
Apps created by colleges often go beyond just schedules and grades, says Chester Goad, director of disability services for Tennessee Technological University.
"Many colleges and universities upload tips and tricks for navigating campus, best places to eat, college traditions and more," he says, adding that these apps often include emergency alerts to help keep students safe on campus.
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2. RescueTime: Want to know how much time you're losing to digital distractions? This app will tell you. RescueTime tracks time spent on email, social media and websites, and identifies top distractions.
Students can set goals to make sure they are using their time productively -- by studying instead of scanning Twitter, for example -- and create alerts to notify them when they've spent too much time playing Candy Crush.
"RescueTime is a terrific app for keeping track of how you spend your time, and helping you avoid distractions," says Goad, adding that he often recommends this app to the students he works with.
The app is currently only available on Android devices. RescueTime also offers a desktop version that tracks time spent on websites and syncs with the mobile app to give users a better picture of how they spend their time online. RescueTime is free, but the Web application does have a premium version for $9 per month, which allows students to block access to distracting sites for set periods of time.
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3. RefMe: Writing research papers can be tedious. Especially when you realize you still need to pull together a bibliography page -- and your paper is due in 10 minutes.
Students can avoid figuring out the nuances of MLA versus Chicago style with RefMe, a free app available on Android and Apple devices.
The app allows students to scan the bar code on books and journals or copy and paste a URL to get citations in various styles, including Harvard, American Psychological Association and Chicago style. These citations are stored in the cloud, so students can access them from anywhere using the application's Web platform.
4. Google Drive: Group projects are a regular part of college life, and Google Drive makes collaborating on these projects a breeze.
Students can use the app to create, share and collectively edit presentations, spreadsheets and documents. Drive has a suite of tools, similar to Microsoft Office, that allow students to edit any document, regardless of when it was created, and students with a Gmail account already have a Google Drive account.
Since Drive is a cloud-based app, students can store up to 15GB of documents, images, music -- or other files for free, and then access them from any device.
"There are other cloud storage options, including Box and OneDrive," says Stephanie Humphrey, a tech expert and former engineer who covers technology trends for Ebony and the Philadelphia Fox affiliate. "For a student, Google Drive stands out for the office tools feature and the cheaper storage upgrades, which can help when you're on a budget."
While Drive is a Google app, it is available for free on both Android and Apple devices.
5. Evernote: There is no shortage of note-taking apps available for smartphones and tablets, but Evernote continues to come out on top.
"Evernote is still the widely accepted gold standard when it comes to note-taking apps simply due to the sheer volume of information that can be stored, organized, labeled and easily accessed later," says Humphrey. "Its utility extends far beyond just taking notes."
Students can use the app to record voice reminders, create to-do lists and snap photos of notes or a professor's PowerPoint slide, among other things. iPad users can even use their Smart Cover to quiz themselves using Evernote Peek.
Evernote is available for free on Android, Apple and Windows devices. The app has a Web version, so students can jot down reminders or search for notes on multiple platforms.
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