Top 10 iPhone apps a student must have
StumbleUponBeing a student in the 21st century definitely has it perks and one the main perks is definitely technology. Students have computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones that they can use to their advantage and help them improve their studies and boost productivity. By Lior Levin.
By Lior Levin
Smartphones like the iPhone are great because they are small and can be taken anywhere. Whenever students are on the go, they can simply pull out their iPhone to study, check on due dates or work on an assignment right from wherever there are. Let’s take a look at the top 10 iPhone apps that a student should definitely have on their device.
The life of a student can be crazy, but keeping track of everything doesn’t have to be. iStudiez Pro is great for keeping up with busy schedules via the built-in planner. You can track tasks and deadlines, plan homework, track your grades and GPA, and really organize your school life. The ability to sync with iCal also allows you to view and add tasks and deadlines on your Mac. With this app you never have to worry about missing a class or assignment because you can set up alarms to send you alerts via push notifications. There is also a back up feature that lets you send your data to your email in case something happens to your device.
inClass (free)
inClass is a great student organizer that can help you keep track of your classes and assignment due dates. You can set it up so that you will receive alerts before class or when an assignment is due. It will also help you take notes more efficiently and allows video, audio and photo notes. inClass is so smart that it will know what class you’re in and associate the note with the appropriate class. If you have a friend that is absent from class, you can email your notes to them (as long as they’re an inClass user). The multitasking support is great because you can record lectures in the background while using other apps. Best of all, alarms are local so there is no need to be connected to the Internet to receive alerts.
Everyone has to take Math or Science as some time or another, but why spend over $100 on the required scientific calculator when you can get one for $2.99. This graphing calculator app is capable of doing everything those expensive calculators can do and more. You get a powerful function plotter and scientific calculator features with a history tape. It also has multi-touch support and beautiful graph visualizations along with customizable graph colours. There is even a polynomial solver, system of linear equations solver and geometry functions. It also supports multitasking and landscape mode.
If you’re looking for an iStudiez Pro alternative, iHomework is great because it has a lot of the same features, plus a desktop application for syncing. It allows you to keep your work organized while keeping up-to-date with assignments, grades, to-do items, textbooks, and your instructors’ information. You can set alarms for assignments, tests, etc. and receive local reminders - meaning no Internet connection required to receive alerts. If you have a group assignment, it allows you to add information for each of your group members so that you can contact them quickly if needed. Assignments can also be emailed to friends.
One of the best ways to study for an exam is by using flash cards. With your iPhone, you don’t even have to use index cards anymore, you can use an awesome app like Flashcards Deluxe. This app lets you study just about anything via two smart study modes that will automatically focus on the cards that you miss. The Quizlet integration lets you browse and download over 4 million already made flashcard sets. The organization abilities of the app are pretty magnificent because you can search through your cards, use different themes for sets, and organize your decks into folders and categories. You can even include things like pictures and sounds on your cards. There are a ton of other features like Dropbox and Google Docs support (for importing/exporting) and slide show mode.
Bing (Free)
If you need to do some research or need a quick answer, Bing is a great app to have handy. They don’t call themselves a search engine, but rather a “decision engine.” The voice activated search feature is really handy because you can tell it what you’re looking for without having to type. If you are in college and happen to live off-campus, you can use the real-time transit feature to see when your bus is coming. Another awesome feature is Bing Vision, which lets you use your iPhone camera to bring text into view and Bing will recognize and search for it. If you’re going home for the holidays, you can get instant deals and price predictions.
WolframAlpha may just be the smartest app alive and is referred to as a “computational knowledge engine.” It’s a great reference for getting instant facts along with answers to complex questions; you can really tap into expert knowledge and find out things that you cannot find anywhere else on the Web. Where WolframAlpha definitely shines though, is its ability to perform complex mathematical functions and show real-time quantitative data and statistics. It can be used as a calculator, units converter, plot visualizer and much more.
Dictionary.com (free)
Being a student involves writing a lot of essays and when doing so, Dictionary.com will become your best friend. It delivers “trusted reference content from Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com.” You’ll have access to about 2 million words, definitions, synonyms and antonyms. You don’t even need an Internet connection in order to search for words. It has an audio pronunciation feature so that you can hear how to say complex words. There is also a voice-to-text feature that lets you search for words by speaking right into your device. For quick reference purposes, you can even add words to your favourites list.
Most people have heard the name CliffsNotes at one time or another; they are really in-depth study guides that can be found for hundreds of topics and pieces of literature. They’re great for studying for tests and are meant to be used in addition to reading that you do on your own. It has been proven that CliffsNotes have helped thousands of students (and continue to) get better grades on tests. The summaries, quizzes, cram plans and audio CramCasts are great for cramming for tests at the last minute. You can even add bookmarks and note important passages for later review. Each CliffsNote you purchase is for a single subject, book, or play and is $2.99.
iTranslate (Free)
If you’re taking a foreign language class or just want to be able to communicate for effectively with foreign students in your class, iTranslate is the perfect universal translator. It has voice recognition and allows you to create conversations in a whole other language. If you need to hear how a word sounds, you can do so (currently for only 18 of the 50 supported languages). While it does have a ton of features, many of them will require an in-app purchase, but are worth it. For starters, you can instantly translate words, phrases and entire sentences - instant meaning that it is translated as you’re typing. Instant translation via voice recognition is only available for English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Japanese.
For those who are no longer in school, seeing all of these apps for students almost makes you want to be a student again! With so much variety and functionality, these apps can definitely make homework and studying fun.
About the author
Lior Levin works for an MA in Security program in Israel Tel Aviv University.
Comments
Susane75 said:
I feel very Sorry that You, Lior, didn´t put our app from http://waschmaschine-test.org into the top 10. But no problem, perhaps next time.
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