Finding new ways to optimize your studying should always be at the forefront of your mind if you’re a student. Far too many people continue to rely on simple pen and paper, or repeating lines and passages over and over again. Students should get smart with their studying; the best way to do this is to invest in apps for schools, universities and other learning institutions.
Many of the Calday team were students back in the days before study apps existed which makes us a little envious—there are so many great options available now! Apps that help you study make the learning process so much less stressful. The only problem is that with so many choices, it’s sometimes hard to see the forest for the trees.
The top 7 useful apps for students
We’ve reached out to members of our team who are former students as well as some of our clients who are currently enrolled at educational institutions to gather their views on the best apps for students. Using a range of criteria, we’ve compiled a list of apps that perform a variety of roles.
We’re not just focusing on apps to help studying, as everyone has their own process. We’ve also included apps to help you organize your work, and maintain your mental and physical well-being. When combined, the seven apps we’ve chosen provide a reliable foundation for better studying and educational success.
Calday
You’ll have a lot of meetings to organize as a student, whether for study groups, meetings with academic staff, or extracurricular activities, which makes investing in a scheduling app like Calday essential. The app is easy to use and supports integration with other apps you might already rely on (for example Google Calendar) ensuring nothing is missed if your university uses legacy scheduling software or a custom service.
It’s also one of the best college apps for students because it offers true flexibility to schedule according to your own needs, regardless of the time zones your professors or fellow students may be in. This eliminates the hassle of coordinating schedules—simply set your availability, and group members can book a time that works for everyone.
Few schedulers are designed specifically as apps for students, but Calday was built with students in mind. For starters, it’s free to use, and the premium version is very affordable at just $10 a month, so students on a tight budget should find it to be a manageable expense.
Scheduling your meetings and study sessions shouldn’t be stressful; you’ve got enough to think about while studying at school or college. All you need to do to simplify your life is to sign up for an account, and you’ll soon realize that Calday is one of the most useful apps for students.
Another successful meeting thanks to Calday’s scheduling.
Notion
It’s not unusual for schools and colleges to have their own workplace systems in place, but many of these systems are outdated or prone to breaking down. That’s why it’s often better to use one of the dedicated workspace apps for college students, as they tend to offer better features and a more personalized experience. One of the best examples of these apps we can recommend is Notion.
Notion provides a blank canvas where users can create pages customized with text, images, links, code snippets, or embedded content such as videos and maps. Users can then add more depth to these multimedia pages by including information taken from their notes, study aids, and more, to create a database of information they can access conveniently. The system also supports structured data management by allowing users to create custom to-do lists and content calendars.
You can even use Notion as a note-taking tool, so you don’t have to go through the process of entering the information into the app after your class is finished. Plus, you can sync with other accounts if you’re working on joint projects, making it easy to share information. All in all, Notion is one of the good apps for school and learning we often recommend.
Grammarly
Being a student will always involve a lot of writing, even if you’re studying something like math, and poor spelling and grammar can make the difference between a pass and a fail grade. To make sure you’re not getting let down by proofreading, you should use Grammarly to check the spelling of essays and other pieces of coursework.
Grammarly uses artificial intelligence, specifically natural language processing, to analyze text for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and style errors. This will help to make sure you don’t get marked down for mistakes, and it can also help improve your writing by making suggestions to improve your essays as well.
Being at an educational institution shouldn’t be about your spelling and grammar (unless you're studying languages, of course); it’s about ideas. That’s why Grammarly is one of the best apps for school—it allows you to adjust your writing style to match the intended audience and ensure your ideas shine through the text.
Using Grammarly is simple as you can use it as a plugin for your browser or as a standalone app; it’s up to you. One final point: you can also use Grammarly as a plagiarism checker to make sure your work isn’t too close to someone else’s.
Quizlet
Creating pop quizzes for yourself is a great way to stay on top of your subject, and if you find the quiz or flashcard format helps you study then we would strongly recommend Quizlet. This is one of the best apps for college students who are looking to study their subject in a more interactive way rather than just pouring over books in libraries. The app offers a huge range of flashcards on various subjects, from languages and history to science and math; there’s something for everyone.
The Quizlet app also includes learn, write, spell, test, and match modes, each designed to reinforce learning through different techniques. You can customize these modes according to your own preferences, and you can create your own quizzes based on information you enter into the system. It’s really simple to use, and members of the Calday team often use the app to practice their language skills.
Apps to help you study need to be simple to use and also retain your engagement—Quizlet doesn’t disappoint on either front. The app can fit into your life easily, allowing you to study on public transportation, at home, during a meal; whenever you need. The app also comes free to use, making it a perfect match for budget conscious students.
Evernote
As a student you're more than likely going to be taking a lot of notes. While for some people simply writing them down on a notepad will suffice, for most of us, it would be better to be a bit more hi-tech.
The best way to organize your notes better is to use one of the specialized note-taking apps for colleges, schools, etc., that will help you take and organize your notes more efficiently. Based on the experience of our team, we can recommend Evernote for this task.
Evernote works across your devices, whether they are smartphones, computers, or something else, so if you have one account, you won’t have to worry about losing track of your notes. The app also includes a detailed search function with custom parameters, which makes it easy for you to find the right information promptly, even if it pertains to a complex or niche field. It also lets students create to-do lists and set reminders, ensuring they stay on top of their deadlines and tasks.
The Evernote app comes as both a free-to-use and premium service, so you have options if you want to take your note-taking to the next level. The pro version integrates with commonly used apps like Gmail and Slack, and provides additional storage and offline access to notes. For note-takers, it’s one of the best productivity apps for students. It’s that simple.
Using apps like Evernote can cut down on the paperwork you have to deal with.
Headspace
Being a student can be stressful at the best of times, which is why it’s important to look after your mental health. That’s why the next app we want to recommend is Headspace.
Good apps for college students are most often academically focused, but many educational institutions are putting a greater emphasis on mental health. We think studying apps should do the same.
Headspace is a great solution for cash-strapped students as you can use it for free (though the best features are hidden behind a paywall). The app offers a wide range of guided meditation sessions, breathing exercises, and mindfulness practices designed to improve mental well-being, even for newcomers.
The great thing about these mindfulness sessions is that you’re able to fit them around your schedule. So, whether you’re up late studying for an exam or have a five-minute break between classes, you can work to clear your head of negative energy. It also includes tools to enhance focus, which can be particularly helpful when tackling complex assignments or preparing for exams.
Being a student is hard enough, so don’t view focusing on your mental health as detracting from your studies. On the contrary, Headspace is among the best studying apps because it helps you learn better than ever thanks to an improved state of mind.
Forest
You won’t see the wood for the trees if you can’t properly manage the time you spend on your various assignments, projects, and classes. Students have a bad reputation for being unable to manage their time properly, and while that stereotype may sometimes be true it’s never been easier to change it. For those who need help with time management one of the best productivity apps for students we can recommend is Forest.
Forest uses a unique approach where users plant virtual trees that grow as they focus on tasks. If they leave the app or get distracted, the tree begins to wither and then dies. The longer a user stays focused, the bigger the tree grows, and over time, users can create entire forests to track their productivity. It’s a really engaging way to manage your time better.
Forest allows you to set custom goals and reminders, generate reports on how you’re managing those goals, and even share your achievements with other app users. Finally, users can accrue virtual coins for staying focused, which can then be spent on planting real trees through the app's partners to reduce their carbon footprint. This app is excellent at what it does; it might not be among the classic school apps for students, but it gets a big thumbs-up from us.