The best apps for student life

By Helena Pozniak

Communication technology makes everything (well, almost everything) about being a student easier, from being in the right place at the right time and handing in work punctually to keeping track of your finances and coordinating a thriving social life.

There are videophone apps, revision apps and organisation apps, as well as the usual social offering. “While ‘fad’ apps provide a laugh, it’s the utility apps that stick around – instant shopping on Amazon, secure mobile banking, fitness gamifications or loyalty apps,” says Jack Wallington, community director at online forum The Student Room.

Here’s a rundown of the best student apps to download:

Personal organisation:

Self Control for Study (Android) will block other apps – social media and so on – for a set length of time, so you won’t be tempted during lectures.

If you’re new in town, Moovit (iPhone and Android) will tell you the fastest way to get around on public transport, as well as giving local live timetables and updates.

OS MapFinder (iPhone and Android) from Britain’s Ordnance Survey works offline too and helps with navigating new places, while The Trainline and Tickety Split can offer some seriously chunky savings on public transport.

If you haven’t time to do your washing and are feeling flush, Laundrapp (iPhone and Android) will allow you to outsource your laundry with a door-to-door service from as little as £2.50 (available in London, Birmingham and Edinburgh).

And if you’re having trouble waking up and getting out of bed in the mornings, then Alarmy (Sleep If U Can) (iPhone and Android) will only switch off a really annoying alarm after you’ve completed certain tasks – shaking the phone a set number of times, or taking a picture of your bathroom sink or front door, for instance.

Security and money:

One of the most common reasons students contact the Student Loans Company is because they’ve forgotten passwords, and there are lots to remember at university – intranet, library, accommodation management and online banking.

Students can keep passwords, credit card details and other virtual identities safe through Dashlane (iPhone and Android), which uses advanced encryption. Students use a master password to log in to synced websites or make a payment without having to remember each password.

The creators of Mobile-pocket (iPhone and Android), a simple loyalty card app that helps organise individual cards and make it easier to collect points, say it could help save students up to £100 a year – many loyalty card users forget them or don’t claim points. Students can simply scan barcodes of their membership cards to create a digital, scanable version for use in shops.

And if you’re scared of losing your mobile during a night on the town, Avast Free Mobile Security (Android) offers malware protection and anti-theft and privacy tools.

Study:

An award-winning app accused of making student life too easy, RefME (iPhone and Android) certainly takes the sweat out of one of the most painstaking and tedious parts of student life – referencing books and publications, and The Student Room users rave about it. At the press of a button, students can scan a book’s barcode or enter the URL of an article to generate a citation, which it then saves and syncs in the Cloud – allowing students to create, edit and manage pieces of work across different devices. “A life-saver,” is how one user describes the app.

And a host of apps now allow students to record whole lectures and listen (and listen again) at their own pace, including Lecture Capture (iPhone) and LectureRecordings (Android).

Share Your Board (iPhone) allows students to photograph and store an image of a whiteboard from any angle, while Studious (Android) silences your phone in class and allows you to store your schedule and locations, as well as track your assignments.

When it comes to revising, StudyBlue (iPhone and Android) helps students create and share handy flashcards.

Brain in Hand (iPhone and Android) is designed for students with autism who might find it difficult to cope with social interactions, manage time or deal with timetable changes. It offers a secure website allowing autistic students to get access to personalised support and share information with carers and parents; during trials, users’ anxiety levels dropped.

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Social:

If healthy lifestyle apps don’t make an impression, Drunk Mode (iPhone and Android) will spare student blushes in the wake of a big night out and is a favourite among users of The Student Room. You can block certain people for up to 12 hours and only get in contact if you’re sufficiently “with it” to answer a maths question – no more random texting of exes, crushes and so on. Users can also enter a list of “Drinking buddies” – also fellow Drunk Mode users – and track their whereabouts.

Sobrr (iPhone and Android) app lets you live in the moment, but any pictures and comments your post on a night out will self-destruct after 24 hours.

Drinkaware: Track and Calculate Units (iPhone and Android), meanwhile, gives users an easy way to monitor alcohol intake.

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Apple Launch: All the latest products unveiled

Harry Readhead 

Apple chief executive Tim Cook unveils the company’s new products at a launch event in San Francisco today.

Among those will be the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6S Plus.

iPad Pro

Apple’s latest 12.9-inch iPad is larger than the previous models and nearly two times as fast as the Air 2. It has a 2732 x 2048-pixel screen and weighs just over 1.5lbs.

The Pro is compatible with the powered Apple Pencil – Apple failed to mention Steve Jobs’ ‘Who wants a stylus?’ rant in 2007 – and a full-sized Smart Keyboard.

Apple has collaborated with Hermès to produce faces and straps that come in different colours and materials. As a result the WatchOS 2 looks far less space-age than its forerunner in most of the concept art, but its makers say it is anything but: 10,000 apps are now available and Facebook Messenger is on the way.

Apple TV

The new Apple TV includes Siri-style voice search, a touch-based remote control and its own App Store. Apple TV now has its own operating system, TVOS, and the company hopes developers will build apps as they do for iOS.

Apple TV now includes Apple Music and console games, including the new Guitar Hero.

iPhone 6s

Apple says ‘the only thing they’ve changed is everything’ with this model. It comes in four different metal finishes including ‘rose gold’ and Apple says the new glass is the strongest in the industry. Users can ‘peek-and-pop’ at media and apps using the new ‘3D Touch’ system. Certain apps have a drop-down list so users can take a shortcut to the function they want to use./Agencies