Once upon a time, a notebook or agenda was a fine tool for students to keep track of their assignments and tasks. However, as times have changed, students have moved away from carrying notebooks and towards carrying laptops, tablets, and, of course, their cell phones.
With this transition in mind, it’s becoming easier for students to simply keep their plans on an app. These apps usually allow students to access their study plans across devices and allow for extra features such as notifications and reminders to keep you on track. These mobile apps make it extremely easy for students to keep an eye on their study plans with just the help of a device that they carry with them everywhere – their smartphones. They now also have the ability to improve phone signal with many tools at their disposal.
Why Use an App?
So, aside from just the natural procession of innovation, why use an app instead of a notebook? Well, for one, an app fits with the “all-in-one” mentality that we’ve come to expect from the things we buy. For example, phones now play music, so less people are buying MP3 players and iPods. In the same train of thought, why should you buy a second material – a notebook or planner, for example – if your phone can do everything you need?
Just by having access to the internet you can watch the latest academic guides from professional writing services while on the bus or on the way to class. Using apps and all the tools the internet provides simply lets one make the most of their time.
In addition, though, these apps store your information on the cloud. This means that they aren’t dependent on one location to store information. You can access them from another device in the event that you lose or break your phone.
Keeping your schedule and study plans in a notebook, on the other hand, is a bit more rigid. The information that you write in your notebook is static – it isn’t backed up unless you write it down somewhere else. That means that if your notebook gets lost, stolen, ruined, or otherwise destroyed, you simply don’t have your schedule available to you anymore.
With this in mind, an app is probably the best choice for a modern student. An app will help you to keep track of your schedule and the information you store in an app won’t be easily lost. In addition, you can access this information across platforms in a pinch.
Free Apps
If you don’t want to pay any extra fees to keep track of your schedule, there are plenty of apps that allow you to do so.
One such example is MyStudyLife. This app offers all the basics – students can keep track of homework assignments and classes. This, of course, includes the ability to set reminders for tasks and classes and even allows you to sync your schedule and assignments across platforms.
Another similar free app is myHomework. There is a premium version of this app, but if you just want standard features, the basic plan will suit you fine. These basic features include the ability to schedule and track assignments and classes as well as :
- Set and receive reminders
- Sync data across devices
- Create widgets for upcoming homework assignments
Unfortunately, to make up for the free cost, the basic myHomework plan does come with ads. However, they aren’t particularly obstructing and don’t affect the quality of the app.
Evernote is another free app. This app is a little different from the other because it is made to help you work, not just keep track of your work. For example, with Evernote you can take notes including links, checklists, tables, attachments, and audio recordings. You can even create and search handwritten notes.
Paid Apps
As with any service, there are some versions of these apps that come at cost. However, most of the time, those that come at a cost also come with extra features that free apps tend not to offer.
Some apps offer a “basic” version of their services. For these, you can use the free version or pay for the full range of features. However, you should look carefully at the pricing for these apps. While some only ask for a one-time fee, others will ask for a repeated charge – such as an annual fee.
A good example of an app with a basic version is the myHomework app that we have already looked at. This version not only takes away the ads of the basic version but includes extra themes, allows you to attach files, use enhanced widgets, and sync to an external calendar. The myHomework Premium app is an app that asks for an annual fee of $4.99.
An app that only asks for a one-time charge is iStudiez Pro Legend. At the most basic level, this app allows you to create a schedule that is tracked in real time with integration of outside calendars. However, you will also have access to features that will allow you to keep track of your grades.
Conclusion
As a college student, you have a lot of tools and resources at your disposal. Each of these resources are there to make your day-to-day life and studying easier, as are these apps. So, why not use an app to make your study planning a little easier?
