Whether you’re studying high school qualifications in school, college, or online, finding the ideal study app can be a godsend.
When it goes well, you suddenly find that the Herculean task of keeping on top of all your classes, assignments, exams, projects, and deadlines isn’t so tough.
Plus, finding the perfect study app can sometimes be the motivation you need to actually make a study plan and stick to it.
(It’s OK, we won’t tell your mum you’ve been lying about your intensive study schedule…)
There are a huge number of study apps out there; here are the stand-out choices guaranteed to have you on top of your A+ game.
1. Forest
If you’re aspen us which of these apps is our favourite, yew might not be surprised that it’s this adorable focus app. What syca-more could you ask for? (Sorry.)
Basically, when you need some extra motivation to stay off your phone and get some work done, you open the app, set a timer and plant a seed.
Your tree will keep growing until either you reach the end of the timer, in which case you get to build your coniferous empire, or you leave the app to check your phone and your tree dies.
Willow you really be so heartless as to let your cute little tree die, just to check your Snapchat?
Promising review:This app really helps me study! This is literally the only thing that prevents me from using my phone during studying and I like how customisable it is (you can grow different trees, unlock new sounds etc.) I normally don’t go for the premium versions of apps but I am considering doing it for this app since I love it so much.’
2. Tide
This gorgeous minimalist app takes pomodoro timers to the next level with focus-enhancing background noise and beautiful imagery.
The stunning design makes you want to open it and get to work – which is frankly no mean feat when you’re looking at 2 hours of logarithmic equations.
It also gives you a daily and weekly overview of your focus time.
Promising review: ‘This app has all the features you need for managing your study sessions. The option to have a schedule and plan short and long breaks make this app the perfect combination of everything I was looking for.’
3. Todait
This high-tech newcomer to the study scene is a huge step up from traditional study planners (and about three lightyears ahead of that grizzled Great British Bake-Off calendar you’re currently using).
It tells you exactly how much you need to study to meet your goals, and automatically adjusts your schedule depending on whether you’re ahead of or behind your plan.
It also gives you snazzy weekly and monthly statistics on your study time and achievements so you can track your progress.
Promising review: ‘Honestly, when I downloaded it I wasn’t expecting much but it knocked my socks off. It really helps me achieve my study goals and I highly recommend downloading it!’
Get it on Android.
4. Smart Study Plan
Similar to Todait, this AI-enabled study planner does the scheduling for you.
Just rank your study subjects on their importance and difficulty, then fill in your availability and preferred study times, and the app will organise a plan for you. No sweat.
Promising review: ‘I didn’t think I would love this app so much. It provides you a study schedule that you can cater to your daily basis. You can change it too so, if you find a course subject hard after a week or two, you can change it again. This is so good. It’s a refreshing idea and I love it.’
You can plan your study with the ease with this gadget and start tracking your grade point average using this smart GPA calculator for high school as it helps you to calculate both weighted and un-weighted grade point average.
Get it on Android.
5. Tinycards
From language-teacher extraordinaire Duolingo comes Tinycards, a colourful flashcard app. It uses spaced repetition and smart learning techniques to help you memorise anything you need to learn.
Create your own specialised stacks or choose from thousands of illustrated topics, including our favourite: Pokemon names. Gotta catch ‘em all.
Promising review: ‘This blows all other flashcards apps out the water! This is the best tool I’ve ever used, my life currently depends on it. I hope it never gets shut down.’
6. Cite This For Me
OK, I’ve got this. Last name comma, first initial full stop. Open brackets, year published, close brackets. Italics, title… wait, are italics MLA or Harvard? *returns to Google for the 90th time*
If you’re dreaming of a time when Harvard and Chicago were just places on a map rather than soul-sucking citation formats, CTFM is your referencing dreamboat.
Just choose your referencing style, plug in the details, and CTFM will roll you out a perfect bibliography every time.
Promising review: ‘This literally made my citing a lot easier. I am terrible at citing and could never grasp the concept, and when I started college and had to do it in APA format my mind exploded. This is an excellent problem-free way to have your sources cited correctly with little effort.’
Visit Cite This For Me or get the Google Chrome extension.
7. My Study Life
This simple class, assignment and exam calendar is designed specifically for high school and university students.
It lets you assign tasks to specific classes and comes with reminders so you don’t forget.
It also supports day and week rotation timetables – no more trying to explain to normal planner apps that Geography is only every second Thursday, oh-my-god-how-hard-can-this-be.
Promising review: ‘Been using this app for the past 3 years of college, and will continue until graduation. Great app, versatile, and easy to use. I really like having an app and a web version. The app is simple to use and overall it works seamlessly to manage my busy life. Highly recommend!’
8. Study Planner
Similar to MyStudyLife, this super-simple app lets you track your class schedule, see your agenda, see the and see the progress of your to-do list.
No bells and whistles – just exactly what you need.
Promising review: ‘Amazing app! Really simple and easy to use and straight to the point. Would definitely recommend to others.’
Get it on Android.
9. StudySmart
Got a chunky textbook or long reading list to get through this semester?
This app gives you an automated study schedule based on the number of pages you need to read per day – ideal if there’s only so much sans-Leo Great Gatsby you can take in one sitting.
Promising review: ‘I thought this was amazing, over half term I could go through tests without forgetting anything before I went back to school in Y6. I am so happy I downloaded it for my SATs! :)’
Get it on Android.
10. Loop
Do you struggle with keeping up a regular study schedule? This habit tracker lets you set goals and monitor how many days you’ve studied.
It also comes with homescreen widgets and notifications so you can be reminded not to skive when you’re about to open your 43rd Buzzfeed article of the day. (The struggle is real.)
Promising review: ‘I’ve always wanted to make this style of habit tracking with a journal, but it just took too much time. This app does the job plus more. I love how it tracks things and puts it into helpful graphs. I honestly look forward to checking things off. It’s so satisfying and I feel so accomplished every time!’