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31 March 2011
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In an age where technology has crept into everything, you can either fight the growing tide or jump in. Actually, that's not true. Many people simply dip a toe in, or perhaps have a soak for a couple of minutes. I'm a jump-headfirst-in-the-most-spectacular-way-you-can kind of guy, and it's truly amazing what you can do with technology once you actually get into it. But this isn't a lecture on the joys of tech. This is just an article that I've written in the hopes to show you some of the brilliant time-saving and pain-taking-away apps out there to improve your school experience. Whether you're a Primary Student lucky enough to own an iDevice, a High School student up to their neck in homework, or, in my case, a fairly laid back Homeschooler, then this is the article for you. Below are a few of the apps that I personally think are indispensible for any student of any kind. So, first off...
Awesome notes
As the name states, it's awesome. Taking notes just scratches the surface of what this app can do. I'll run through a few things: Shopping list, To-Do list, a Study guide, a diary, a work journal, travel diary, and anniversary reminder. Those are just the ones it comes installed with, mind you. You can add your own sections as well, and the combinations of different looks are almost limitless. I can't even begin to go into all the different things this app does. Well, actually, I can, and I might get in trouble if I don't, so I'll mention a few. For instance, in the diary section, you can write a little note for the day of your choice, and then pick from a list of pictures to explain what the weather was like, and then choose how you felt, also expressed as a little picture. In the To-Do list section, you can set a due date, choose an alarm to remind you, and there is no limit that I know of as to how far ahead you can set a reminder. It's all done with scroll wheels we've grown to love, so very easy for an iPhone user to pick up. It supports both Portrait and Landscape orientation, and there's a little button that locks orientation, just in case you fancy doing that. I would be lost without this little gem of an app, and I'm sure that once you try it out, you'll be wondering where its been all your life. There's a free version available, but that's limited to 10 notes. You can pick the full version up for $5.29.
iProRecorder
Something students often struggle with is taking notes during a lecture. The lecturer blasts through his lecture, and the students are left scribbling as fast as they can to try and keep up, often without success. iProRecorder is a voice recorder, much like the Voice Memos app that comes with the iPhone, but it does have a few extremely worthwhile differences. The main one for me is the volume boost feature. There is a simple slider that allows you to boost the volume by up to 20 decibels, and the difference it makes is huge. The quality of the recordings is brill, and I almost can't fault the interface. Simple, big buttons make it all easy, and it even records when your phone is locked, ie sleep mode. You can sync recordings via Wi-Fi, and the recordings are downloaded via a web browser. You can organise recordings into a huge variety of categories, with the option to add your own. There are too many features to list, but it is definitely a worthwhile purchase for any student who regularly needs to record lectures. The downside? No Retina support. The result is a slightly fuzzy interface for iPhone 4 and other 4th gen users, but all other users won't notice. Not a biggy, and definitely not worth ignoring this masterpiece of an app. It's on sale at the time I'm writing this, down to $4.19.
So that concludes my app backpack. I know it's only two apps, but they're so multifunctional it's all you really need. Have I missed something? Let us know what your must have apps for school are, or just let us know your opinion on these two.
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