As the ad said when the Apple App Store was new, there is an app for everything. Before returning to school for the semester, there a few apps that are extremely beneficial to computer science students and for most students in general. Apps make student’s lives easier, whether they keep students organized, or make learning easier or protect their device from theft. In particular, computer science students can benefit from using these apps and can help prevent school work overload this semester.
1. iStudiez Lite/iStudiez Pro– (Free/$2.99)
Just about every school issues each student a planner book each school year to all students. But in the digital age, who needs a limited, bulky book that can be lost, destroyed or stolen? iStudiez Pro allows students to track assignments, projects, grades and more on the iPhone, iPad and Mac, essentially taking the place of the paper planner. iStudiez Pro data can sync via the cloud using a web sync account across all devices ensuring all your devices have the most up-to-date data. The app costs $2.99 for the iPhone and iPad version and $9.99 for the Mac version, there is also a limited free version as well on all platforms as well.
2. Evernote– (Free)
As previously mentioned, Evernote is an amazing cross-platform note taking app that can be used for so many different things. It is great for students because it can be used for taking notes, setting reminders, creating list, recording whiteboards as well as recording just about anything else you can imagine.
3. Study Blue FlashCards– (Free)
Flashcards are a great way to memorize information for your classes. Study Blue saves students from carrying hundreds of paper index card by putting them on their smartphone and syncs them over the web. Studyblue makes student’s lives even easier by allowing students to share flashcards with classmates making study groups a breeze. The apps is free and is available for iOS, Android and the web.
4. Wolfram Alpha– ($2.99)
Wolfram Alpha is a scientific search engine that can perform calculations, conversions and other advanced mathematics as easily as a search. Computer science students often need to perform these operations and other queries, often scientific in nature and can be challenging at times. Wolfram Alpha provides an easy way to find the information on iOS, Android, Kindle Fire and even the Nook quickly and probably most importantly, accurately. Wolfram Alpha will save students time and struggle, and is well worth the $2.99 price tag!
5. Wunderlist– (Free)
Wunderlist is a powerful, well designed, free, cross-platform listing app. College students are often notorious for procrastinating and Wunderlist can help make sure you aren’t consistently pulling all-nighters for projects due the following day. Wunderlist offers free cloud sync and has clients available for Windows, Mac OS, iOS and Android and lists can be shared between multiple users as well.
6. Feedly– (Free)
While learning in the content for your classes in school is very important, it is also important to be aware of current events and industry news about what you will be doing once you graduate. Feedly is a powerful news reader to search and subscribe to RSS feeds from just about any source you can imagine. Feedly is the best successor I have found so far, for Google Reader, which was shut down in July.
7. TED– (Free)
Sometimes its hard to get the motivation to do your school work. TED is an annual, invite-only conference where some of the brightest minds in the world give speeches on their work. They also post videos of all their “Ted Talks” online, and are a great way to get inspired. The mobile app, available on iOS and Android, can provide inspiration on the go for when the day seems to drag on.
8. CamScanner– (Free/$4.99)
Students accumulate tons over papers over the course of a school year, which can be a source of clutter and disorganization and can cause issues if an important document is lost. CamScanner turns a smartphone or tablet into a scanner to digitize important documents and make them easily accessible, and thanks to the OCR capibilities of CamScanner, searchable. The basic, ad-supported CamScanner is free but, the Pro version removes advertisements and adds cloud support and other power features.
9. Find My iPhone– (Free)
Smartphones and tablets make life convenient but, when they get lost, they can make life uncomfortable. Find My iPhone works on iPhone, iPads, iPod Touches and iCloud.com and can help locate missing devices. Find my iPhone uses devices’ internal GPS and Wifi triagulation to geolocate devices and can also play a sound to help find it. If a device is unable to be recovered, Find My iPhone can remotely wipe the phone to protect your data.
10. Mint– (Free)
Mint.com provides an aesthetically-pleasing financial management solution that connects securely to your existing online banking. Mint makes it easy to keep a budget and set financial goals. Mint also advises users on accounts one can setup to save money. The mobile app is available for iOS an Android and Mint.com can be accessed on any web-connected computer. Mint makes things a lot easier for college students on a budget.
About the Author
Mike Gdovin has been blogging about technology since 2006 on his blog, Gdovin.net. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic Media from Kutztown University with a minor in Journalism, Public Relations and Business. In addition to blogging about technology, Mike is a video producer, technology consultant and social media expert.
