15 Productivity Boosting Apps All Students Need

While this sounds incredibly challenging, most students are equipped with laptops, tablets, iPads and phones that allows them to increase their productivity greatly. Today's tech-savvy students also have tech-friendly classrooms that allow them to take advantage of technology, take notes digitally, replace heavy textbooks with ebooks, submit assignments online, and even watch lectures from the comfort of their rooms. A majority of students have smart phones that can optimize their study routines and provide indispensable resources through a few simple apps.

We have compiled a list of 15 apps that every tech-savvy university should be using on a regular basis. So, turn your phone from a distraction to an asset with these apps!  

1. Evernote

Evernote is a cross-platform note-taking app which allows you to save all the information you need; you can create a text note, take a photo, record an audio note, and even attach files. It syncs across your devices (Android, iOS, PC, Mac, etc) and even has premium versions for more features.

Available for iOS and Android.  

2. Pocket

Pocket is the answer to every busy university student's dilemma: do I read this article now and procrastinate, or do I risk forgetting about it? Pocket lets you save articles, videos, links, etc that you want to view later on any connected device. This is also a great tool to organize readings that you want to do later for a particular assignment or class.

Available for iOS and Android.  

3. Khan Academy

Khan Academy is famous for it's math tutorials and test prep services. Most recently, The College Board (makers of the SAT) have partnered with Khan Academy to provide free SAT prep courses for students. This app lets you access its plethora of content. It is a great supplemental learning tool to help you understand what's going on in your math class, be it an advanced topic or a relatively simple one.

Available for the iPad.  

4. Dictionary.com

It's important, especially as a university student, to have a dictionary on the go. You could encounter new vocabulary in class, at the library, or even participating in a heated discussion over lunch. For those students who are keen on improving their vocabulary, Dictionary.com's app also has a word of the day feature and a thesaurus tool that boosts your diction!

Available for iOS and Android.  

5. StayFocusd

The biggest challenge with the internet is the endless supply of distractions. Whether it comes in the form of funny memes or important news articles, these are not helping you finish off the assignment that is due tomorrow, or study for the exam next week! StayFocusd is a Chrome extension that blocks certain websites by adding them to a blacklist and limits your time on others on a 'yellow' list. On the contrary, students can also set up a list of approved sites, which blocks everything else. With challenges and time limits standing in the way of you and disabling StayFocusd, this app is the best tool for easily distracted procrastinators.

Available for Google Chrome.  

6. BenchPrep

For students preparing for standardized tests, BenchPrep is a great resource. It offers preparatory material, including practice questions, flashcards, study lessons and interactive courses for undergraduate (AP, SAT, etc), graduate (GMAT, GRE, LSAT, etc) and certification (CFA, PMP, etc) programs across the world. This app is available for both computers and mobile devices, and it syncs students' progress, allowing them to continue studying right where they left off.

Available for iOS and Android.  

7. StudyBlue

Making flashcards are every student's nightmare. It's monotonous, time-consuming, and requires a high amount of effort for something you only need for one test. StudyBlue allows you to create digital flashcards from text, pictures and audio. To make the perfect set of flashcards even better, this app tests you on your weaknesses by letting you filter out the flashcards you know by heart. It also has a massive database of flashcards created by other users for whenever you need an extra boost! (Productivity tip: import your notes from Evernote to ensure that you've covered everything.)

Available for iOS and Android.  

8. EasyBib

Citations are a pain for even the most acclimatized graduate student. For those of us who aren't always sure of the differences in MLA and APA, or are running out of time to turn in that final paper, EasyBib is a blessing! Just scan the book's bar code, or input its ISBN number or title for an instant citation. The app also formats your bibliography and lets you email it to yourself.

Available for iOS and Android.  

9. Dropbox

For those of you who have yet to optimize their storage and backup via Dropbox, we recommend that you do so immediately! Another cross-platform app, Dropbox stores all your data in the cloud, enabling you to access it from anywhere (even through a browser on any computer) as needed. This is also great for collaborating on group projects and sharing notes.

Available for iOS and Android.  

10. Silence

Silence lets you input your schedule and your preferred notification settings for that time period. This app will save you from those embarrassing moments when your phone rings loudly in the middle of a lecture or during a test. All you need to do is set in your class schedule, choose the notification settings and let the app do its toggling magic.

Available for Android.  

11. Study Checker

Study Checker is a great app for students who feel like they have lost control over their study time. Students who want to keep track of how distracted they get should use Study Checker to monitor their time management. It lets you keep track of how much time you've spent studying, taking breaks, procrastinating, etc. It also provides stats for each study session, day, week, month, and custom periods.

Available for iOS and Android.  

12. Any.Do

This is one app everyone with a smart phone needs. More than the average to-do list app, Any.Do does everything from allowing you to create reminders from missed calls to setting notifications to remind you to plan your day every morning. You can share tasks with contacts, add subnotes and even sync it to your computer and other devices for consistent reminders.

Available for iOS and Android.  

13. QuickVoice Recorder

For students who prefer focusing during class and taking notes after, a voice recording app is the best solution. QuickVoice Recorder allows you to email voice recordings to yourself, and even set reminders to play it at a chosen date and time. This app continues running in the background, allowing you to multitask or even take notes while the recording continues in the background.

Available for iOS.  

14. Smart Voice Recorder

Smart Voice Recorder is another option for students who prefer to have a recording of what went on during class. This android app lets you record up to 75 hours of audio. It also auto-detects and stops recording if there's a pause during the lecture, saving you valuable storage space. After you record, you can share the file via email, whatsapp, and even dropbox. Smart Voice Recorder also records in the background, freeing up your device for note-taking, googling, and facebooking.

Available for Android.  

15. Duolingo

Not only is Duolingo a great tool to learn foreign languages, it also has the option of learning English via a foreign language. (Example: French --> English) This is a great app for students who need extra practice for a language class or want to impress . By turning learning into a fun game (with lives and challenges, no less), Duolingo makes picking up a new language fun and easy. This free (and ad-free) app teaches up to the university-level of 6 languages, (according to them, about 34 hours of using the app is the equivalent of 11 weeks of studying the language in college).

Available for iOS and Android.