The Best Study and Time Management Apps for College Students

Being a college student is one of those “it takes a village”situations: Family members, friends, professors, and administrators can all help you along the way. But with the right suite of tools, your phone can also be one of your greatest allies when it comes to studying and scheduling. Here are some of the best studying and time management apps every college student should consider.

The best apps for studying and schoolwork

There are many beloved all-purpose study apps out there(like the beloved Evernote) but sometimes you can also benefit from ones designed for specific tasks:

• Quizlet is well known among students, if only for how often you’ll find someone else has already uploaded your homework to it. Yes, this lets you cheat a little, but the app offers more than that: You can make your own flashcards or use someone else’s flashcard deck. If you join the paid version ($7.99 per month), you get access to multiple choice questions and practice tests too. Whatever you’re studying, somebody has already uploaded it to the app. Grab it on the Apple app store or Google Play.
• Otter transcribes audio in real time, enabling you to record lectures and create notes simultaneously. It has a bunch of cool other features: For instance, once you give a speaker a name, it recognizes them and includes their name every time you record them. You can also edit anything that the transcription service doesn’t quite nail and can link it to Zoom or Google Meet to transcribe what’s happening in online classes. You get 300 monthly transcription minutes (30 minutes per session) for free before you’ll need to upgrade to Pro for $8.33 per month. Find it on the Apple app store and Google Play.
• Citationsy is a tool that will create a citation for any book after you scan the barcode with your camera. It can produce citations in Chicago, MLA, or whatever other format you’re being asked to use, and it offers a fast, simple alternative to other citation makers—especially when you’re referencing physical books, which are laborious to manually input into other generators. While it has other app-based competitors that also scan barcodes, not all of them are available for Apple and Android devices. Find it on the App Store and Google Play.
• Microsoft Lens (formerly called Office Lens) turns pictures of whiteboards, physical documents, books, notes, and more into editable text. It can also turn your images into PDFs, Word files, or PowerPoint slides. Find it on the App Store and Google Play.
• SimpleMind helps you create mind maps that can aid in your brainstorming, outlining, and studying. (More on the value of mind mapping for students can be found here.) You can make basic maps for free, but for automatic layouts, the ability to download your map, and the option to add images, icons, labels, checkboxes, and links, you’ll have to pay a one-time $10.99 fee for the Pro versionon Apple devices, and $8.49 on Google Play.

The best apps for managing your class schedule

When you’re juggling classes, studying, work, and your social life, a good time management strategy is key. Let these apps do the work:

• myHomework is a digital student planner that works across all your devices to keep your classes and homework schedule organized. Knowing when everything is due is half the battle, and this app makes it easy to track and mark off assignments as they come (and go). Find it on the Apple app store and Google Play.
• Exam Countdown does exactly what it sounds like: It’s a countdown timer designed to let you know when all of your tests are scheduled to take place. You can create widgets to keep the countdowns visible or set it to send you reminders. It’s on the App Store and Google Play.
• iStudiez Pro helps you organize assignments, plan for tests, and even track your grades, plus it integrates easily with your existing Google Calendar or iPhone calendar. The grade tracker and GPA calculator are especially key for helping you stay on top of not just your individual work, but your progress overall. The basic version is free, but you’ll need to pay $1.99 per month or $9.99 per year if you want to add tasks specific to each assignment or class. Download it from its website for Android and iOS devices.