Stepping off your first foot in the college can be very exciting and overwhelming. With the variety of options available on the internet and smartphone is as handy as your own arm, it becomes difficult to choose apps that will help you wisely without wasting your time.
With social media pom-pom at its peak, students tend to waste a lot of time surfing the internet and mindless browsing. Besides your regular apps, there are a variety of applications available on play store and the app store that can help in saving time and prepare for your upcoming journey.
If you are staying away from home first time, odds are that your smartphone will not be equipped with the latest application that will help you in staying productive in your college.
A wise person has said, the only way to get higher returns sooner is to invest early. Similarly, you need to invest in yourself if you want to grow faster and better than others.
Apart from cliché applications that waste a lot of your time in mindless surfing, look at the list of these useful applications which can make your college life simpler and productive.
Here is the list of ten apps which would help you in the day to day college life.
1) Google Drive
It is familiar often used mainly for photos and videos. But it is a lifesaving application when it comes to saving your notes, thesis, books, pdf etc.
It is a user-friendly app by google where you can organize your data very smoothly. It would you in keeping your data at one place which can be available offline to you as well. Up to 15 GB is free for your usage.
How to use: Install google drive and log in with your Gmail ID. Here you can save your documents/ notes/ photos on them. You can read them offline too and share it with other people. Its feasibility and simplicity make us fall for Google over and over again.
2) Splitwise
Hanging out with friends made simpler and less of hassle. Your finance expense is your responsibility once you enter college. When you go out with group money monitoring is very essential. This app helps in dividing the money between friends.
How to start: All you need is your email id to set up an account. The best part is that it sends you monthly update in case you owe money to someone or vice versa. If you have a weak memory in money matters which btw matters the most, it’s a must-have app for you!
3) BHIM
It is not easy to keep cash in handy during college days. You need a payment gateway app for making you go cashless. Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) is an initiative to enable fast, secure, reliable cashless payments through your mobile phone. BHIM will help you in making quicker payments and keep track of your expense and bank account.
How to use: You would need an identification card to upload as your ID proof. It can be used only via registered mobile number which is registered in your bank account. Once you are done with the formalities you will have to set a 4-digit pin for accessing the account securing your future transactions.
And you are good to go now. Make an easy cashless payment, transfer/ receive cash from another bank account in a quick and hassle-free manner reducing paper money!
4) Pocket:
Student life gives you ample time to explore your interest and decide a path for your future. It is very essential for you to stay updated with your interest. Hence with a similar mission, Pocket brings you “read it later” application which will help in saving the article for offline read.
How to use it: You can browse the content from anywhere and use the option of ‘share’ on your Android phone. You will get an option “Add to Pocket”. And it is available for you to read it offline.
5) Grammarly App
It is online Grammar which improves any text. It mainly helps in eliminating grammar errors. The latest application has an integration with Microsoft office which means that all you MS documents can now be reviewed by Grammarly from there itself. It is most helpful in the submission of your paper, thesis, documents, notes. Your grammatical errors are detectable and can be fixed easily. Isn’t that great!
How to use: Once you have drafted you work you can open www.grammarly.com and paste it there for its review. Or if you are working on MS office it has a plugin for Grammarly which can help you in reviewing your work. Once Grammarly is installed on your phone it will automatically detect errors on your social media applications like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.
6) Relaxio
Simple app, simpler purpose. Our brain cannot concentrate in a noisy environment, nor in a complete silence. Actually, our brain needs a little background music to be there while we can listen to our own voice.
Relaxio helps in creating ambient sound with instrumental music on the background. The music is can used for focusing, meditation, learning.
How to use: As I mentioned it is a simple app. I would suggest to use your headphones and experience ambient music while you through your work in college, it is very helpful during exam prep days.
7) Internshala
It is always good to have some money for those cafeteria bills when you can get real-time experience too. Internshala is one such platform for eager students who can choose a profile according to their choice and get direct work from the company. Companies often pay a good stipend for teaching you real-time skills.
How to use: You would require to create an account on the Internshala official website and browse for companies and skill you learn. Once the company accept your application and approves it, you can join them.
8) bSafe:
bSafe is a personal safety app in which users create a "social safety net" of individuals who are notified in case of an emergency or in situations where the user feels unsafe. It has features like location sharing which helps your friends locating you in case of emergency. Also, it can feature fake call in case you want the interruption.
How to use: Create a profile with your mobile number and email id. bSafe would access your location, camera, microphone, and contacts. You can select contacts as guardians whom your location will be delivered when you are in trouble. An SOS button would help to instigate the alert in case of an emergency.
9) TED
It is a global community with inspirational talks by remarkable people. There are over 3000 ted talks available ranging from technology, science, curiosity, behavior, psychology. It helps you in feeding your curiosity solving own issues and finding the right advice at times.
How to use: Once you visit them, they have various categories according to the genre wherein you can choose and listen to your mentors. Join the global team and could help you fill with inspiring talks.
10) Quality Time
It is one of best phone addiction measuring apps. Admit it or not, the phone is one you wake up with, eat, play, talk and sleep with. Phone addiction is very common in youngsters and brings down their productivity if not taken care early.
How to use: Quality time once installed measures how many times a user uses the phone, checks the phone throughout the day. It also helps the user set the time limit of phone usage, alerts it if exceeded by the limit. It helps you in detoxifying your phone addiction, by proving scheduled breaks from the phone.
Conclusion:
The smartphone being an everyday object consumes a lot of time. These apps get you covered and makes you utilize your time in a more productive manner. Apps are solutions to a lot of problems, but make sure you ask the right questions.
Let me know in the comments section any other apps in case I have missed any.