by Melissa Aguilar |
As college students, our phones are always within an arm’s reach. Instead of using your smartphone to scroll through endless Instagram photos, be more productive with these apps:
Evernote: This app combines the best of planners, notebooks and folders. Along with basic functions like separating pages into different notebooks, you can attach photos to your notes. Need a place to store business cards? Evernote serves as a virtual Rolodex. Need a reminder for your term paper due next Thursday? You can receive a push notification or reminder email. Already took handwritten notes? With Evernote, you can take a picture of any page and it will convert it into text. In a snap you can convert any information from your app directly to your desktop.
RescueTime: Sometimes you’re reading a book for class until someone sends you a link to an article on Buzzfeed. Then, two hours later, you find out you would be sorted into Gryffindor, are most like Princess Anna and as a condiment, you would be mayonnaise. RescueTime is the solution to the internet rabbit hole. This app keeps track of how much time you spend on distractions and tells you which ones are the biggest time-suckers. You can also get alerts when you’ve been spending too much time on any one site or app.
RescueTime is available for Android.
Mint: Keeping track of money is boring and spending it is fun...until the bill comes unexpectedly. Mint connects to your bank accounts and credit card and automatically inputs every purchase you make. It provides a good visual of how to break down your budget and even helps you set goals. Best of all, Mint is easy on the wallet — it’s free, so you can spend more of your hard-earned cash on whatever you want.
Mint is available for iPhone and Android.
Cram:Flashcards can be really helpful in memorizing all that information for your nursing exam, but it’s not always convenient to drag a stack of notecards all over the place. Cram allows you to create your own personal flashcards with a front and back and can even give you hints when you’re feeling stuck. And unlike a lot of other flashcard apps, you can add photos to your flashcards if you’re more of a visual learner. Depending on how you want to study, you can go through each card individually, or be tested on a set of cards until you get each answer correct. You even have access to other users’ cards, so you can work with a friend.
Cram is available for iPhone and Android.
Venmo: You owe your roommate $5 for a late-night Taco Bell run and your other friend owes you some cash for concert tickets. Venmo makes sharing money between people easy and connects people via Facebook to transfer funds. Instead of promising your friend you’ll pay her back for dinner, you can do it instantly and not have the awkward “you-owe-me-money” conversation.
Venmo is available for iPhone and Android.
Duolingo: For all of us studying languages, this app makes that learning a bit more fun. It offers vocabulary and grammar learning under different categories such as “food” or “colors.” Each lesson has a variety of activities like writing and speaking to get to learn the material better. And if you’ve been studying a language for a while, you can test into a higher level so you don’t have to sit through the basics all over again. Duolingo offers commonly taught languages, but also offers Irish, Dutch and Turkish, to name a few.
Duolingo is available for iPhone and Android.
Companion: Travelling alone around Portland may not always feel so safe, and Companion lets your friends virtually join you on your journey via GPS. Whoever you choose to be your companion is notified via text, so they don’t even need to have the app installed on their device. The app will let your companion know that you’ve reached your destination safely. But if your phone detects dramatic movement, like disconnected headphones, it will ask you to confirm you’re OK. If you don’t respond within 15 seconds, your phone will become a personal alarm and lets you call the police. Even if it’s not an emergency, but you’re feeling unsafe, you can hit the “I feel nervous” button so the app can collect your data and identify problematic areas.
Companion is available for iPhone and Android.
Melissa Aguilar is copy editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at aguilarm16@up.edu.
