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Our favorite study apps to research, organize and prepare for tests

Christine Ottoni • August 7, 2019

Up your after class game with these nifty study apps. We’ve picked some of our favorites for getting organized, mastering languages, creating flashcards, doing research and brushing up on your math.

Think of these study apps for students as helpful aids. Supplement your Spanish class with Duolingo, check your homework with Photomath and research your next psychology project with TED’s massive library of Talks.

Organization and productivity

Habitica

Habitica is a video game to help you cultivate good habits. Turn your tasks, like waking up early or reading for an hour, into monsters you have to conquer in-game. When you complete a task or work on a behavior, you’ll earn gold to spend on real-life and virtual rewards. Stay on track and you’ll unlock new game content. When you miss a daily goal you lose health points. Habitica has cool social integration so you can your friends and compete and be held accountable.

Get Habitica for your iPhone or Android.

Microsoft To Do

Microsoft To Do (previously Wunderlist) is a task manager that helps you track and organize your to-do list. Set due dates and reminders so you never forget a task. Microsoft To Do syncs with your phone, smartwatch, tablet and computer so you can view your lists and update them anywhere. New updates (since its Wunderlist days) feature a daily planner, color-coded lists and a dark mode along with a more sleek, elegant design. If you already had the app installed, you can make the switch and transfer your files.

Get Microsoft To Do for free in the Apple App Store or on Google Play.

G Suite

Gmail, Google Drive, Google Hangouts, Calendars and more can help keep high school and college aged students on track and organized. Easily sync calendars and contacts across devices, make group chats for projects and store all your projects in one easily accessible place.

Check out the full range of G Suite apps here.

Languages

Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com’s app offers comprehensive dictionary and thesaurus resources with special features like the word of the day and audio pronunciation guides. Save favorite words and build a vocabulary list of new discoveries. Definitions include word origins so you can trace the history of a word.

Download the free app for your iPhone or Android.

Duolingo

With 23 languages, an awesome interface and a cute little mascot, Duolingo is by far the English speaking world’s favorite language learning app. Every skill and lesson is totally free. Practice actually speaking the language and make sure you get it right. You can even have a conversation with a Duolingo bot to master your skills.

Duolingo is available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

Flashcards

Brainscape Flashcards

Find, create and study smart flashcards with Brainscape. The app gets you access to a huge library of flashcards created by educators on all kinds of subjects including standardized test prep, languages, music, math and more. You can also create multimedia flashcards on the website and within the app. Share your decks with classmates and peers and collaborate to create new ones.

Start studying with Brainscape on your iPhone or Android.

Cram

The paired down, easy to use Cram.com study app lets you browse a catalog of existing flashcards and create your own for personalized study. Easily import sets from files on your computer or Google Drive at Cram.com and sync with your app for studying on the go. Memorize and study from the cards and test your knowledge as you go.

Try Cram for free and see if it works for you. You can get it on Google Play or the Apple App Store.

Research and learning

TED

With the TED app, you get access to their library of Talks, featuring today’s expert thinkers, writers, teachers, professionals, theorists and more on a range of subjects like tech, psychology, sociology, history and science. Check out curated playlists or create your own and download your Talks for offline playback.

TED is available for your iPhone or Android phone.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a great starting point for research into pretty much anything. The app has great features for cursory research like preview mode, definitions, link previews an explore feed and more. Explore knowledge and leave no question or query unanswered.

Download Wikipedia on Google Play or the Apple App Store.

Math and calculators

Desmos

Desmos has an interactive graphing calculator that lets you plot any equation, from lines to parabolas, while also supporting more complex concepts like derivatives and Fourier series. Great for students studying graphing, statistics, calculus and the like.

Desmos is available for your Android or iPhone.

Photomath

Photomath is an augmented reality math map that makes checking math homework a breeze. Use your phone to hover over handwritten equations and capture them with your camera. Photomath will populate the problem along with a solution. Photmath has step-by-step solutions for problems so you can walk through and catch where you went wrong.

You can get Photomath for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

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