Open up your smartphone. You probably have an app for shopping online, a few for ordering food from your favourite restaurants, an app for making payments, one for streaming movies and shows, and definitely some to chat with friends. Well, in recent years, technology has become the answer to everything, so why not use it to hack your way through college as well? Because let’s face it, college is exciting, but it can be stressful too. So how can you get a solution that will help you survive your education, not mess up your expenses, never miss a deadline and still have fun? Well, we’re bringing you our list of the best apps that you should download to make life in college a piece of cake. And yes, we’ve been there, so we know that with college comes a state of perpetual broke-ness. So most of these apps we’ve recommended use the free/freemium model. Let’s dive in!
- My Homework: Finding it difficult to keep track of your deadlines and assignments? Let the app myHomework come to your rescue. You can easily upload your class timetable here, and also set reminders for the deadlines of your assignments. You’ll never miss another submission! At the end of the year, you’ll also have a comprehensive list of all the assignments you have done for each course, so you can feel proud of all the hard work you’ve accomplished.
- Any.Do: College is probably the first time when you’re taking charge of your own life. So what you definitely need to ace Adulting is an app to track your to-do lists. You can add in all the tasks you have to complete, whether they’re related to academics, extra curricular societies, internships or personal errands that you have to take care of. Simply make folders for each category, add your tasks and strike off the ones you’ve finished. If you’ve been waiting for an opportunity to become super-productive, this app’s daily reminder to ‘Plan your day’ might just motivate you into doing so.
- Google Maps: College life can mean a lot of travelling, especially if you’re in a new city. And you definitely don’t want to spend time getting lost on your way to society auditions or exciting parties. Hence it’s a good idea to always keep Google Maps handy. Not only does this app give you locations of different places, it will also help you make sure that the auto-rickshaw driver is not taking you from college to your PG in Chennai via the longer route. In fact, Google Maps can even help you choose which mode of transport works best when you’re planning your travel. And since you’ve upgraded everything else in your college life in a new city, why not upgrade your accommodation too? Professionally managed accommodation like Stanza Living have designed their residences to be tech-enabled. So even your most tedious tasks like complaints, feedback and monthly payments can become possible with a few taps on your Stanza Living – Resident App.
- Toshl: College is expensive. Whether it’s your course textbooks or parties or travel, there could be an endless number of things that would make you shell out some money. So how do you make sure that you don’t wear out your wallet? Use Toshl Finance to manage your money. The app helps you to get money-wise by using tags to organise your expenses. So it’s easy to differentiate the lab kit from the gorgeous new shoes you picked up. This will also be good practice for you to set a budget and learn how to stick to it. The app gets synced to the Cloud, so you can stay on top of everything across all your different devices.
- DocScanner: You know that feeling when the library won’t let you issue a book that you really need? Well, we’ve got a really handy solution. Whether it’s a precious reference book the librarian won’t let you photocopy, your friend’s notes from the class you slept through, or the assignment you finished at 11:59 p.m. for a midnight deadline, you can scan your material using the DocScanner app. Simply use your phone to scan the pages you need, and the app will create an instant PDF for you to send across. This one, however, is not a free app. If you are looking for a free alternative, try AdobeScanner for Android.
- Dropbox: Here’s a lesson we don’t want you to learn the hard way. Hard disks can be unpredictable. They often crash. So how can you ensure you always have a backup copy of your files? Shift your storage to one that’s on the Cloud like Dropbox. You don’t want to lose that assignment or project a day before the submission, right? Also, if you’ve got your files on the Cloud, you can easily add points on the go from any device. Sitting in a boring lecture? Instead of spending your time on Instagram, add some lecture notes to that pending assignment. Had a great idea for a novel on the metro home? Pull up your manuscript and make some additions. Google lovers can use Drive for this exercise
- Pocket: A key part of college is facing assignments that require you to do research. And for most of us, ‘research’ for a certain topic means a simple Google search. But often, when you’re searching for material on a subject, you might get several links suitable for your purpose that you want to go through. If you’re not able to delve through them all at once (because which college student has that much time?), don’t worry. You can easily add the links to Pocket and read them at your own pace, on your mobile device. You’ll easily be able to find material that you found promising for further reference, without having to scroll through your browser history for hours. And for those who want to keep their planning super efficient, you can tag links according to course, semester, year or whatever your preference is, and stay organised and efficient.
- Sleepbot: Okay, let’s get real for a moment. Amidst classes, assignments, extracurriculars, future woes, and your thriving social life, sleep can be an ignored variable in college. So why don’t you give yourself a helping hand and use Sleepbot to track your sleep. You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel when actually getting six to eight hours of rest every night. And yes, you can even use Sleepbot to set alarms for yourself so you might just make it to that early morning lecture after missing out all semester!
So, what are you waiting for? A more convenient and comfortable college experience is only a few swipes away!
